Should i replace my media on bio-wheel?

[virus]

i have this penguin biowheel filter and its been like a month into cycleing and i was wondering if i can wash/change the media becasue of the bio-wheel? ohh and guess what! i saw a crayfish looking skin thingy and thought my crayfish had died, and i checked everywhere under my pots etc and he wasw nowhere to be found and i was bummed, then i looked in a hour lator and There he was!!!!! hes a shifty fellow indeed! i dont know i guess he shead his outer skin or sumthing like a snake cuz he got bigger!

 

[greenmaji]

He molted! Thats great news!
just rinse your pads out in a bag filled with aquarium water.. I wouldnt trust the bio-wheel to keep enough bacteria for the tank (its risky business considering it can send you into another cycle..ack!)

 

[QTOFFER]

You can rinse your penguin filter pad without fear. There's enough good bactaria all over your gravel and ornaments. I rinse my Penguin Mini pads weekly and discard them only when they are falling apart. It's never necessary to clean the biowheel itself - rarely, you'll just have to remove salt deposits from the axle if it stops spinning.

Congrats on your crayfish' successful molt. I leave the shed exoskeleton in the tank for a few days - the crayfish usually eats it to reclaim some of the minerals. What kind do you have - blue, red, brown?

 

[greenmaji]

if the pads are properly rinsed you retain much if not all the bacteria.. so there should be very little worry.. You can always cultivate new bacteria on a new pad by placing it in the filter 10 days or so before the swap, if your really conserned..

 

[virus]

waht about the bio wheel does that have the NO2 and NO3? adn whats molted mean? and hes blue

 

[krap101]

moulted means he shed his skin

 

[greenmaji]

I think your refering to the bacteria that convert NH3 to NO2 and then the bacteria that converts NO2 to NO3 being on the bio-wheel.. I would only think of the bio-wheel as a supplement to your bio-filtration, Ive had them and from my experiance they didnt really have as much bacteria as I thougt it would have before getting one..