New Aquarium

[seapony]

just received a jetstream super system Euro 80 gal tank. it came with a tidepool Bio WHeel filtration system. pump moves 940 gph. I have a 55 gal tank now with a FLuval 404 filter. I dont know too much about the bio wheel filtration system and would appreciate any help i can get. I have a reef type system with lots of soft coral and live rock etc. sand bottom.

from what i read in the tidepool manual it seems to be a pretty simple system. I want to move everything over, but want to do it right. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Have had my 55 gal tank for about a year and it is in great shape.

 

[fishfreek]

Ok. So your talking about moving the stuff in the 55 to the 80.

Just want to make sure I was clear on that.

I have not seen the tidepool in operation but from what I understand the basic principle is that its a wet/dry filter with out the bio balls and in its place a large biowheel.

The tank should either be drilled or have a hang on overflow. From the overflow water would go down into the tidepool on the side there teh biowheel is. Usually a trickle plate would all the water to trickle over the bio area. There would then be a sump area for the water to pool and then a pump that you have to pump the water back up to the tank.

Whats so nice about the sump area is you can put your heater and skimmer in there to get it out of the tank.

Since the new tank is larger you will also need to mix up some extra saltwater.

 

[seapony]

thanks a lot. the tank is drilled at the bottom and has two tubes that are inserted. one for water return from the sump and one that returns the water to the sump.
Never thought about putting the skimmer and heater in the sump. but anything that you don't have to put in the tank helps. gonna have to put more sand in the new tank. should i put that in first or the old sand from the 55 gal? also, the manuel for the bio wheel says that I should just add fresh water to top off. wouldnt I still need to do water changes? or are the bio wheel systems that much better than the closed systems?

again thanks for the help.

 

[fishfreek]

Water changes are always required for the simple fact that reguardless of your filtration the water quality will degrade over time.

With saltwater one other item is that the trace elements get consumed by the tank over time. Each tank uses these trace elements at different rates. For a tank that has low consumption you can use the water change to replentish the elements. If your tank has higher consumption rate then adding of trace elements would also be needed.

You do indeed use freshwater to top your tank of on a daily or every other day basis. This is because only H20 evaporates and the salts and elements remain in the tank. Thus you need to replentish the lost water with freshwater.

The only time you need to add saltwater would be when you physically remove water from the system.

 

[lordviporscorpi]