Bio Wheel tank

[Draven]

I had my self set on a 2.5 gallon MiniBow for Nelson. Now after reading about Bio Wheels in the Hardware section of aquariums, I was wondering if instead I should get the 3 gallon Eclipse that I saw instead?

At first I knew nothing of bio wheels and was afraid that it would stir up the water too much for him. Is this still a possible problem?

Suggestions?

 

[Mesome]

maybe just get a 10 gallon tank and a mini bio wheel and a couple dividers...then you could probably have 3 bettas very comfortably for about the same price...not sure about the water movement though...maybe someone else has a better idea.

 

[GuppyDude]

im not sure if i understand wat u want to know about water movement but if im not helping dont reply.

they sell these corse dividers for betas so if the filter is in one side of the divider the other side gets filtered to. the material the divers are made of is big enoght to let solids pass through them without getting stuck but small enogh so the betas cant fight.

hope i helped a lil

 

[jacblades]

if the 3 gal has the biowheel, i would go for it, BUT it really doenst help tremendously if you dont have your tank cycled and for most people, a 3 gal is too small to cycle.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Biowheels don't have any effect whatsoever on the water current/flow. They are just there as a place for bacteria to grow, and work wonderfully as far as that goes. I know of some people who keep a betta in an Eclipse 3 with no problems, but others have found that the filter included is too strong and their bettas hate it. It depends on the betta. The nice thing about the Minibow 2.5 (I have two of them), is that you can adjust the filter's flow rate. I have one of mine at about half, with a betta in it, and he's quite happy.

 

[asmack]

Which Minibow 2.5? There's two of them:

http/www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=...20&dept_id=%2D2

http/www.petco.com/product_info.asp?sku=...56&dept_id=%2D2

The 1st one has a Whisper filter; the second one has an underground filter. Which one is better?

 

[fourplayfishy]

undergravel suck seriously bacteria grow so bad in them... i know when i had my guppies when i was little they all got sick and died because of my undergravel filter

 

[MrMup04]

i have a 3gallon eclipse that i'm not using right now, but it did house a betta

 

[Draven]

As always you've all helped confuse me even more

SO BioWheel is good, but not in a 3 gallon? Some say its okay, others say no. I'm still in a toss up over a MiniBow 2.5 or an Eclipse 3 gallon.

 

[MrMup04]

i would go with the eclipse, a bio-wheel in a 3gallon doesn't hurt

 

[FishNoob]

I have my 2 betta's each in their own 2 gallon Eclipse Explorer II, and they love it. The Explorer II's have a bio-wheel, and the output from the filter isn't too much for them. Best of all you can get the Explorer's for around $27 + shipping.

I cycled both tanks with some filter media from my 29 gallon. Just waited until the ammonia got to around 1 ppm and added the filter material to the Explorer tanks.

Check it out:
Eclipse Explorer II at Big Al's

Ed

 

[wuvmybetta]

As always you've all helped confuse me even more

SO BioWheel is good, but not in a 3 gallon? Some say its okay, others say no. I'm still in a toss up over a MiniBow 2.5 or an Eclipse 3 gallon.

It really depends on your betta,Draven. As far as the tank goes, I think everyone agrees they're nice. The filter is another story, that's up to your betta. It will be easy to tell if he likes it or not Now you have to decide whether you're going to cycle the tank and do partial water changes weekly using a small gravel vac (2 bucks at Petsmart) or if you're going to do 100% water changes. I'd go for the cycled tank.

 

[Draven]

Now you have to decide whether you're going to cycle the tank and do partial water changes weekly using a small gravel vac (2 bucks at Petsmart) or if you're going to do 100% water changes. I'd go for the cycled tank.

Of course I was planning to do weekly water changes. Does having a biowheel make this different or something? I don't understand the difference between a weekly change and cycling?

 

[wuvmybetta]

ahhhh,gotcha!! I was wondering if you knew what a cycle was!! No problem,here ya go..

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10099

That will explain what exactly a cycle is. Then you can decide what you're going to do with your tank

 

[Draven]

Well this is an entirely new thing I never heard of yet. I have something else to look into before introducing my betta to a new home. So, the BIO wheel is supposed to help breed the good bacteria or what?

Once a tank is cycled, you don't have to worry about it again do you? Obvious checks would be made when also testing pH, but it's not like I would need to cycle weekly or anything, right?