Bio-wheel and power outage- did I do the right thing?

[EricMack]

OK, so we had a little power outage this morning. About an hour and 15 minutes. About ten minutes into the outage, I took the bio-wheel and submersed it into a big glass of water taken from the tank. The power came back on about an hour later.
Did I do the right thing? If I didn't, what should I have done, and what now. Thanks!

 

[BrianNY]

You did exactly the right thing Eric. As long as the biowheels do not dry out, the nitrifying bacteria will live

 

[dud]

Probably good that you used the water from the tank, not from the tap.

 

[dud]

BTW, anybody knows how long a power outage it would take to significantly destroy the bacteria population in the biowheel? Say Eric didn't do anything during the outage, what do you suspect would've happened to the bacteria in the biowheel?

 

[grimlock3000]

submersed it into a big glass of water taken from the tank.

Probably good that you used the water from the tank, not from the tap.

No doubt a good idea To make it easier, next time you lost power, just toss the Bio Wheels right into the tank.

BTW, anybody knows how long a power outage it would take to significantly destroy the bacteria population in the biowheel? Say Eric didn't do anything during the outage, what do you suspect would've happened to the bacteria in the biowheel?

If any part of the wheel dries out, that bacteria dries. Simple as that. My father's tank lost power a few months ago, he had 4 Bio Wheels of bacteria die off since it happened when no one was home. Put the tank into a mini-cycle when everything started up again. This is one of the reasons why I refuse to use a Bio Wheel...

 

[EricMack]

Thanks for the re-assurance, everyone. I wonder how long it would take for the wheel to dry, and kill everything off (say I was not home)? Of course, the bottom third of the wheel would still be submersed in a little water, I think.

With my luck, If I threw it in the tank, I'd knock out the loach!

 

[grimlock3000]

The ammount of time the wheel takes the dry out really depends on the temperature and humidity at the time. If the room is 85F with 5% humidity, the wheel would likely die off is less than an hour. At 60F with 98% humidity, it could likely make it a few hours since the moisture would evaporate very slowly in those conditions.

 

[TankGirl]

I routinely store biowheels in my tanks- floating hidden behind decorations or plants - and find them to remain viable and are extremely useful tossed into cycling tanks. I use them as convenient and portable seed media. They are either submerged or rotating in the current if they are floating.

 

[bobtrop]

What about when doing water changes on a tank? Should the biowheels be placed in some water until you are done or will just leaving them in the filter be OK?

 

[grimlock3000]

What about when doing water changes on a tank? Should the biowheels be placed in some water until you are done or will just leaving them in the filter be OK?

Most people leave the filters running during a water change

 

[bobtrop]

Biowheel and Power Outage

I don't believe it will run when the water lowers to a certain point, since the water level in the filter will be the same as the water level in the tank. Am I correct on this?

 

[grimlock3000]

I don't believe it will run when the water lowers to a certain point, since the water level in the filter will be the same as the water level in the tank. Am I correct on this?

Once the filters get going, you might be surprised how high they can pull up water. Here is my AC200 (on the back) pulling up water from way below the level of the filter itself...

 

[TankGirl]

I am annoyed by the major splashing during water changes, so I do turn my filters off during that time. Since my water changes take mere minutes, there is no harm to the biowheel during that time. If you take longer to do yours, toss them in the tank while the filter is off, or follow the advice above and keep 'em running!

 

[dud]

I would think as long as the water intake of the filter is under water, the filter will keep pumping the water.

 

[TankGirl]

Yes, it sure will. Major splash action.

AC is very good about providing extensions for their HOB filters so you can run that intake all the way down to the substrate, if you wish - and never have to shut it down for WC. I prefer to shut everything down at the same time so I don't forget my precious heaters - if I forget them I'm fried!