Just bought a Penguin Biowheel

[adiliegro]

Can I use TWO filters on my tank or would it be best to just replace my old one? Im currently cycling and dont want to get rid of the filter in the old one because of the bacteria that is growing and maturing there. Can I just pull the filter media out of the filter and put it in the back of the Penguin? What should I do with it?

I just dont want to mess up.

[chasgood]

Remind me. what size size tank you have and filter.
What penguin did you just get?
Most likely running both will be fine. Taking out the old one could prolong the cycling.

[adiliegro]

20 gallon tank. Just got the Penguin Biowheel Powerfilter 170.

[Madame_X]

If they'll fit, I would use both filters for a while until the Biowheel in the new filter has had a chance to colonize with bacteria. Run them concurrently for a few weeks to be safe.

[adiliegro]

I can make em fit, I think, but just cutting off about 3 inches of plastic from my hood...shouldnt be much of a problem.

[pkremer]

Running both filters shouldn't hurt anything. I've been told many times that you can't really OVERfilter an aquarium, you just speed up the rate that you remove the ammonia and nitrites. I agree with Madame_X, run them both for a while until you can start to see some bacterial growth on the biowheels, then you should be able to remove the old one.

Paul

[adiliegro]

How will I know if there is bacterial growth in the biowheel?

[pkremer]

The biowheel will start to look discolored. There will be areas that start to get visibly dark. After 3 months in my 38 gallon aquarium, I swear there are areas on the biowheels that look like they are caked with sludge, but it is spinning away and ammonia and nitrites have been absent for months now.

Paul

[adiliegro]

so when the wheel gets to looking bad, thats good? LOL. Cool!

[chasgood]

here is some good info on the biowheel.

http://marineland.com/science/pdf/BIOwheel_QA.pdf

here is a pic showing how I rebuilt the cartridge on my filter.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photop...cat=543&page=2

[TankGirl]

This is an excellent idea, adiliegro!

I think you will find things speeding up with the addition of this filter. How are the fish doing? I've not been getting behind on reading the threads lately!

[adiliegro]

The fish are doing a lot better, although I think they are starting to get a little stressed from the nitrites. My water is now clearing up and i expect it will be crystal clear by tomorrow night. Will add the new filter as soon as it gets here tomorrow. My nitrites ares till kinda high and the nitrates are hovering around 12.5 mg/l (not moving up much at all)...but there is NO ammonia in my tank. So, Im hoping things will move right along pretty fast after i add this filter tomorrow.

[TankGirl]

Me too, I think you will notice an increase in the process. A sponge filter would do a similar thing, since they have such great surface area for bacteria to grow.

[adiliegro]

I got it in and its working great! This thing is actually breaking the surface of the water like I think its supposed to do now...the original filter that came with the tank didnt do a good job of that. Anyway, the filter in the old one is cruddy as well as is the bag of rocks (from an established tank). There is crud all over both of those. What should I do with them? Leave them in or change the filters out? I know the bacteria is in the filters so I dont want to do anything wrong.

[TankGirl]

Crud is good! Don't disturb the crud! (Please don't tell my kids I ever said that) That is your "filter" too, so leave it be for now, though I know it is unsightly.

[chasgood]

You might rinse it out in a bucket with water from a water change.