Using a biowheel that's been dry for over a year?

[scrapulous]

Hello,

I'm new here. This is my first post. I hope to learn a lot here.

I have an Eclipse 12 gallon (I think) tank. I set it all up a few years ago, but my fish kept dying of pinecone disease, and Petsmart said my water sample was perfect, so I have no idea why they kept dying. I initially replaced each fish as it died, but eventually I just gave up when the last one died.

The tank has been empty for about a year and half. I just cleaned it out and would like to start over. What about my old bio wheel? I've read you aren't ever supposed to replace them, but what about if it's been dry for so long?

The other reason I think I should replace it is because all my fish died and I don't know why. I feel like a fresh start with all new filters might be best.

What do you think?

Thanks.

 

[melosu58]

Once you get it going again the nitrifying bacteria will repopulate on the wheel.

 

[Speakerman]

Hi welcome to AA.

The biowheel should be fine to re-use, just wash it out really well and make sure that once it's in the filter it spins freely.

Wash your tank out really well, if it had sand it in, I would throw the old sand out and get new sand, if it had gravel in it, I'd take the gravel out and wash it really well with water.

If your tank has calcium stains or anything on it like that, you can take a 1-1 ratio of water and vinegar and scrub the glass, then rinse several times with high pressure.

Make sure that when you start the tank back up, you cycle it properly (if you don't know how it's easy to learn via this website).

good luck!

 

[scrapulous]

Thank you for the quick responses. I did wash the tank with vinegar water, got new gravel (I didn't like the old gravel, anyway), and replaced the carbon filter. It's running right now with no fish. I'm planning to add fish in a few days.

So, should I wash the bio wheel with tap water, since my tank water right now is just tap water with a little water conditioner in it? Or should I use the tank water?

 

[Speakerman]

You can take the bio-wheel outside and spray it off with a water hose, use high pressure but not high enough that you feel it may damage the pleats.

It's running right now with no fish. I'm planning to add fish in a few days.

you may want to read up on cycling an aquarium. I suspect last time you tried your fish deaths may have been caused because of this.

You'll want a test kit to monitor the water's parameters. ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, mainly.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, you can wash it with tap water, wash it really well. Since you are restarting the tank, it's not cycled, so there's no issues with using tap water. Also, how are you planning on cycling the tank? If you just start adding fish without cycling, you may end up in the same situation where fish start dying due to ammonia spikes or nitrite spikes.

 

[scrapulous]

Thank you for recommending cycling. I have never heard of this before. I read in the past to get the tank set up and run it for 3 - 5 days without fish, then add a couple fish, wait a couple weeks, then add one or two more, etc. While I don't think that was my problem the first time, since the fish lived for almost two years before they started dying, I do want to do it right this time.

I read an article here about cycling and why it's important, but is there anywhere I can find a list of steps to cycling? It's all so new to me that it would be helpful to have it all spelled out.

Thanks!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Check here......

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

Oh, and you are not a dummy, lol. It's just the title for the thread, lol. When I saw the post I thought, OMG, he's probably going to think I called him a dummy, lol. I forgot when you post links, it uses the title of the thread for the link, lol. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. You got lots of good help here.

 

[scrapulous]

Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for. I should have gone to "getting started" first!