Which power filter?

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nam2212

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 8, 2004
Messages
15
Location
Memphis, TN
I need to know what the appropriate power filter size is to use on a 40G reef tank. It will probably have about 75 lbs of LR and live sand. I was looking at the Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel filters. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
jaiden said:
biowheels aren't ideal for SW. You should be OK with a good skimmer

How about the Skilter, the power filter with the built in protien skimmer? Would that be a good idea. Also, why are the bio-wheels not good for SW? I have a 29G Eclipse Reef Tank. Should I remove the bio-wheel? Thanks.
 
no. they outright suck.

Get a bak pak ($100) or a remora with a maxijet 1200 ($163)

bio wheels increase nitrates. most people remove them
 
I have never heard anything good about skilters. As far as the bio wheels they can produce more nitrates than they can get rid of. They are good for freshwater but not salt. An aquaclear 500 would be o'k
 
jaiden said:
no. they outright suck.

Get a bak pak ($100) or a remora with a maxijet 1200 ($163)

bio wheels increase nitrates. most people remove them

I have a Red Sea Prizm Pro Deluxe. I know that a lot of people don't like them, but mine works great. It pulls some really nasty stuff out of the water. My nitrates are at 0 every time I test them, about once a week. Will the bio-wheel be a problem in time or if I were going to have a problem, would I have it already? Thanks for all the help and I apologize if these are rediculous questions. I am new to the SW reef hobby.
 
The Prizm Pro might be ok, but the standard Prizm is junk...not even enough for my 40gallon tank that's lightly stocked. I've had so many problems clear up since I upgraded to a CPR.
Since the Pro works the same way, I think you'd be surprised how much MORE skimmate you can get out with a CPR or Remora.
However, the only skimmer worse than a Prism are the Skilters.
 
Nitrites at 0, Ammonia at 0, and Nitrates I can't get below 20ppm. So I'm guessing the reason I can't get my Nitrates below 20ppm is because I'm using a dual bio-wheel, lol. Man...This whole time I was using a dual bio-wheel thinking it was a good idea and I now find that I should not even have one :roll:
 
I feel you man. I had one on my tank for about a month before I found out they were probably adding to the 40ppm nitrate I had at the time :mrgreen:
 
My first reef tank was a 40 gal. I used teh Emperor 400 on mine and left the biowheels on. I had no problems with water parameters. Nitrates were always great. If you have plenty of LR, a DSB and run a good skimmer I see no reason to ditch the biowheels.
 
lando said:
My first reef tank was a 40 gal. I used teh Emperor 400 on mine and left the biowheels on. I had no problems with water parameters. Nitrates were always great. If you have plenty of LR, a DSB and run a good skimmer I see no reason to ditch the biowheels.

I have all of the above and my water parameters are always fine. If I decide to remove the biowheel, do i just pull it right out? Will that not signifcantly reduce the amount of benificial bacteria in my tank? Thanks for the help.
 
Bio-wheels create a wet and "airy" enviornment for aerobic bacteria to grow. This type of bacteria doa good job at removing nitrite, but are not so good at removing nitrate. In a FO, FOWLR or FW tank this is not a big deal. For a reef tank it can be. This is why the proper enviornment for anaerobic bacteria must be provided (i.e. LR and a DSB). If you have plenty of LR and a DSB, removing the biowheels should not greatly decrease the amount of benificial bacteria.
 
lando said:
Bio-wheels create a wet and "airy" enviornment for aerobic bacteria to grow. This type of bacteria doa good job at removing nitrite, but are not so good at removing nitrate. In a FO, FOWLR or FW tank this is not a big deal. For a reef tank it can be. This is why the proper enviornment for anaerobic bacteria must be provided (i.e. LR and a DSB). If you have plenty of LR and a DSB, removing the biowheels should not greatly decrease the amount of benificial bacteria.

Allright. Thanks a lot. I will pull them out then.
 
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