Bio-wheel filter question

[stumpy]

I am using a Penguin Bio-wheel 330 on my 30 gal tank. When I do my 10% water change every week I take out the filters and spray off all the brown gunk with the kitchen sink sprayer. Is this the correct way to do it? When the filters go back into the Bio-wheel they are saturated with tap water. I have never tested my tap water. Will this hurt any thing? Also, how often should I throw them away and put in new ones?

 

[JG]

I have the magnum HOB 's on my tank. When I clean them, I just add a drop of dechlorinater to the unit before putting it back to work.

As for throwing the filters away, I would say probably every 2-3 weeks. The charcoal will become ineffective after a while.

You will also get mixed opinions on the bio-wheel in a salt tank. Some like them - some say they cause too much of a nitrate problem.

 

[Guest]

You really want to use old SW to do this since the FW will kill the friendly bacteria.

KG

 

[BillyZ]

I'll second KG's caution. If you're using tap water the chlorine and other elements found in the tap water will kill all the bacteria in your bio-wheel and the bacteria is the whole point of the bio-wheel .

IMO, what I would do is when you do your water change, drain off that 10% you're changing out into a bucket. Take the bio-wheel and swish it around in that bucket for a few seconds.

HTH

 

[stumpy]

I did remove the wheels a couple months ago. From what I read most people were doing that. If I run carbon in a seperate bag do you think I could run the filters for longer time. I know this is a expensive hobby but I try to save where I can.

 

[stumpy]

Bump..............sorry, just trying to get a answer from my last question.

 

[Genix]

the concentration of the chlorine is not going to be high enough to kill anything by the time it reaches the biowheel.

yes adding more carbon would extend the life of the carbon in your cartrige but i think excessive amounts of carbon will strip some goods out of your water. not sure about that one.

oh and i have an emperor 280 on my stocked 15 gallon nano reef. it's got a massive biowheel and operates at 280 gallons per hour. i probably only have 10 lbs of LR and i have zero nitrates.

 

[tecwzrd]

I use 70 lbs of lr but love my HOB Magnum 350 as well that has two large bio wheels and keeps the tank very clear. I use AC for 2 weeks and then the micro polisher for 2 weeks but in the 8 years I’ve used Magnum I’ve never once had to clean or even rinse the bio wheel. The sleeve can be NO3 contributors if not properly cleaned/replaced and I feel the plastic mesh that holds the AC has small enough holes to keep anything large off my bio wheel so I just don’t use them.

I know that some people also keep lr rubble in the holder for additional lr filtration but if you have a decent amount in the tank then I would just use it for AC.

Also when I do clean by HOB (about 3 times a year) I use an old tooth brush and scrub everything off by hand using my old SW from the last pwc.

 

[Hollywood]

I am kinda doing them same.

Well I have a very similar filter system and I do exactly would you are doing. I have been told though you should take out the bio-wheel things. I can't remember why but someone on this fourm told me to. I would like to here what someone say's about the tap water on the filter pad question cuse i dunno....

 

[tecwzrd]

Re: I am kinda doing them same.

I have been told though you should take out the bio-wheel things.

I just added the lr after curing for 5 weeks. I’ve read that the lr will accomplish the same bio filtering that the wheels do but until they have been in for a while I’m hesitant to remove the wheels as I have 0 NH3, NO2, & NO3 currently.

Some say they are NO3 factories but in the 8 years I’ve used them I haven’t seen it. But I am pretty diligent about doing 10% pwc each week and I’m also just fowlr and not doing a reef anytime soon.

 

[Genix]

i don't understand how a biowheel is going to be a nitrate factory. i mean, yeah it converts ammonia and nitrite to nitrate...but that's the point! does it somehow take away from the anaerobic capabilities of the LR? additionally, biowheels use oxygen from the air to keep the aerobic bacteria alive instead of the oxygen in your water.

 

[tecwzrd]

i don't understand how a bio wheel is going to be a nitrate factory.

I agree that since the bio wheel is hit with water after it has already gone through the AC or other media it shouldn’t have any “built up” waste that contributes to a NO3 spike.

The process is essentially the same for converting ammonia to nitrite to nitrate whether it's done by the bio wheel or the live rock. The difference comes after the conversion of nitrite to nitrate... The pore structure of the live rock (or the grain-size/depth of a sand bed) creates anoxic zones; not commonly associated with the bio wheel, that foster bacteria which can/will process nitrates converting them to nitrogen, which is then liberated from the tank as the bubbles you see rising from the rock/sand bed. The bio wheels are referred to as nitrate factories because their end product is just that...nitrate...and they are so efficient at it even when used in conjunction with live rock they can overwhelm the live rock's ability to convert same to nitrogen. Thus, most prefer to exclude bio wheels from reef systems...though they can be quite handy for dealing with large/fluctuating bioloads in FO/FOWLR systems that can handle a higher nitrate load.

Once I’ve had my lr in the tank for a couple of months I plan on reducing the amount of bio wheels I currently use (2 now) to 1 then none.

 

[Guest]

Not really sure I agree with your statement. Most biowheels (or any HOT) fileters become nitrate factories just like most Wet / Drys. The reason is that since they are filters, they catch nitrogenous waste which is slowly released back into the water. Without them, the skimmer removes any uneaten food thereby reducing the overall nitrate level. The same thing can be accompished with any mechanical filter if the media (bioballs or polyfilter) is rinsed regularly with old SW to remove any crud.

KG