Anatomy Of A Biowheel Filter

[This Old Spouse]

I have several tanks (listed in my signature) and I'd really, really like to know how my filters should be set up. Feel free to knock me back to newbie status.

All the filters I have are used. They're all the BIO-Wheel type. My questions revolve around the type of media I should be using for maximum benefit. When I go to the LFS to find media, all that's available is filter cartridges with carbon. I know I shouldn't be using carbon unless I've gone through a round of medicating, so what should I use in the meantime? I've just been taking the cartridges and cutting them open and disposing of the carbon, but this hardly seems the right thing to do.

There are also media baskets that I currently have filled with Ammo-chips. What should I use in there? I've seen mention of floss and sponges, but is there somewhere I can look to see what all this means and what I should be using?

Should I be putting floss or something else in the strainer at the bottom of the filter intake tube?

Also, I have a type of sponge filter that just hangs on the inside of the tank and shoots the water out at a fairly high velocity. Should I be using this on one of my tanks? I'd like to set up a 15g tank and since I have this filter just sitting around doing nothing I'd kind of like to use it, but really don't know how.

Any help and gentle criticism is heartily welcome. Thanks, everyone.

 

[PEneoark]

Is you tank cycled? If so, you have no need for ammo-chips. I have a penguin and an emperor, and I fill the blank media carts with extra bio media.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Is you tank cycled? If so, you have no need for ammo-chips. I have a penguin and an emperor, and I fill the blank media carts with extra bio media.

extra bio media?

 

[PEneoark]

Yes, bio-media. You may see these little ceramic rings or noodles in your LFS. They are rather porous, and since they are placed in the flow of water, beneficial bacteria will grow there.

The reason I add extra to the bio-wheel filters is redundancy. If my wheel stops for some reason, I still want water to flow over bacteria colonies in my filter.

I am a redundancy nut though. I have two filters on each tank lol

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yes, bio-media. You may see these little ceramic rings or noodles in your LFS. They are rather porous, and since they are placed in the flow of water, beneficial bacteria will grow there.

The reason I add extra to the bio-wheel filters is redundancy. If my wheel stops for some reason, I still want water to flow over bacteria colonies in my filter.

I am a redundancy nut though. I have two filters on each tank lol

I have two filters on my 55g tank too. I just feel you can't have too much filtering going on!

So, I can put ceramic rings or noodles in the media baskets. Is there a filter cartridge setup I can use instead of the carbon-filled cartridges? What about sponges?

 

[PEneoark]

I just use the normal blue filter pads meant for my filter. I have not experimented with retrofitting anything for those filters. The only filters I use sponges in are my Aqua Clears.

 

[OldMan47]

Spouse, in your position I would be using almost any form of biomedia in that filter housing. The carbon in a typical cartridge is so little in amount that it will pose no problem at all. Just pop one of the cartridges in and you will have a fresh surface for biological filtration to begin to develop. It will not be a mature filter in any sense since the media will be brand new. I have a few filters with simple media holders that I fill with ceramic media. My Marineland Emperor HOB comes with a media holder and, although it is only about 1/2 inch thick, I can fit quite a bit of ceramic media into it. After that, I simply rinse the media lightly each time I clean the filter and put it right back to work. Once cycled, that filter has served me well.

 

[This Old Spouse]

So, what about getting an external filter for my 55g? What are the advantages?

 

[OldMan47]

An external is far more flexible than a typical filter Spouse. For a 55 gallon tank, I am using a Rena XP2. It provides media flexibility that no HOB or internal can ever match. Although I have experience with Rena products, I am well aware that Marineland/Tetratech, Eheim and Fluval all make filters in the same size range. I am sure any of them would work well for you.

 

[This Old Spouse]

An external is far more flexible than a typical filter Spouse. For a 55 gallon tank, I am using a Rena XP2. It provides media flexibility that no HOB or internal can ever match. Although I have experience with Rena products, I am well aware that Marineland/Tetratech, Eheim and Fluval all make filters in the same size range. I am sure any of them would work well for you.

I saw somewhere that using an outdoor pond filter would work just as well indoors for the aquarium and cost much less. Any truth to that?

 

[OldMan47]

I bring my pond filter indoors at the end of the season. By using a power head I am able to adapt that pond filter to indoor use. I cannot recommend a pond filter for indoor use under any circumstances but in my case it happens to work. Because mine is compatible, I am able to use mine that way. Do not count on that happening every time.

 

[JoshuaA]

I'm curious to wonder how a "Biowheel" filter works, I've never ever seen one in the UK. Would someone care to bless me with the knowledge ? Is it just a glorified HOB?

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'm curious to wonder how a "Biowheel" filter works, I've never ever seen one in the UK. Would someone care to bless me with the knowledge ? Is it just a glorified HOB?

Will you tell me what an HOB is??

Here's a biowheel:

The wheels are what keep the bacteria going.

 

[JoshuaA]

HOB = Hang on back, filter

Those Biowheels just look like HOB's with a wheel stuck to it ! Interesting, never ever seen one before. Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

The biowheel is a simple pleated paper wheel that rotates using the water flow to move it. It stays wet by the water running over it and thus it provides a good surface for bacteria to grow on. A mature biowheel is good enough to be the only biological media in a tank but if it stops rotating, it stops removing ammonia and nitrites. I have had a few of them over the years and they can be a bit of trouble keeping them running. After a while the wheels start to show wear at the axle area where the wheel rotates. Once that happens, the darned things can become a real problem to maintain. Replacement wheels are made but, if the axle damage is not to the wheel itself, the new wheel won't help much. In the end, every wheel filter that I buy ends up having at least one other biological component for safety's sake.