Biofilters in the UK

[Lithril]

Anyone know where I can get a biowheel system for 3' tank I should be getting soon? The lfs has never heard of them and there doesn't seem to be too much on the web for them (although I havent looked that hard yet). I've just got a Fluval 2 for my 10 gal tank but with the increase in size of tank and some of the problems I had with an old interpet combi filter (heater/filter) I'd like to get something decent for the new tank... especially as I intend to keep puffers.

Cheers for any help.

 

[ste2k3]

the only bio wheel filters available in the uk, to the best of my knowlege is the biostar from AB aquamedic. these can be bought from any good marine outlet that stocks aquamedic products, although they would probably have to order it for you.
why do you want a bio wheel. they can turn into a nitrare factory if your not careful. this is the same with trickle filters. I would get an external filter. if you do get the biowheel, I would wash it in tapwater every 2 weeks in tapwater, yes I did say tapwater. this isto kill off all the bacteria and stops them speeding the nitrogen cycle up.

 

[Alien Anna]

the only bio wheel filters available in the uk, to the best of my knowlege is the biostar from AB aquamedic

Youch!

Have you seen the price of those things? £144 + p&p! I could get a complete tank set-up for that.

The nearest thing to a biofilter in UK is the Juwel column filter system. I have one in one of my tanks. It's a fantastic biological filter, but a slightly less impressive mechanical filter. Still, mine is working better since I discovered I was supposed to clean the little sieve thing that leads into the powerhead )

I believe Fluval have bought out a similar product called the Fluval Biolife. It's a little cheaper at £45, but that's still a fortune really, considering you could get a bottom-of-the-range Eheim external for the same price.

 

[ste2k3]

sorry, i meant that aquamedic are the only ones to make a biowheel that turns providing wet n dry filtration. I agree with alian anna that they are expensive, although the juwel filters do havequite a slow flow through them.

 

[Alien Anna]

sorry, i meant that aquamedic are the only ones to make a biowheel that turns providing wet n dry filtration. I agree with alian anna that they are expensive, although the juwel filters do havequite a slow flow through them.

Ah, but you won't find gouramis and angelfish complaining about that

 

[Lithril]

OK cheers, I just thought with everyone hyping up the biowheels that I would have a look into them. Must admit I'm a big fan of Eheim filters, if they're that cheap then I'll probably go for one of them. Does using sand as a substrate make any difference to the type of filter that I'll need??

OK this will probably receive an onslaught and I'll say this whilst hiding behind somthing large and solid... in your opinion bio wheels aren't worth the extra expenditure and it would better spending the money on a good quality mech/bio filter? B) <------ in disguise...

 

[Alien Anna]

Lithril,
in UK biowheels are basically unobtainable - the marine wet-dry filters aren't ideal for freshwater tanks (at least according to my research) and are extraordinarily expensive. Until we can get Penguin Bio-wheels or other more reasonably priced brands in UK we're basically stuck with Eheim or Fluval, internal canister or external filter.

Of those I'd say the Fluval is the better internal canister filter, but the Eheim is by far the superior external - and externals are generally superior to internal canisters anyway.

I have seen a Dutch site that sells to UK selling an Eheim "hang-on-the-tank" filter but it has built-in cartridges that unavoidably contain carbon (not so good for your plants). It was quite cheap, however, even taking the Euro exchange rate into consideration. Click here for the Eheim Liberty. Note it only mentions "chemical and mechanical filtration" so presumably it isn't a great bio-filter. Could be a useful addition to an UGF system, I suppose.

I'd suggest if you have £45 buy an Eheim Ecco 2231 external filter. I've never heard a bad word about them, except for the price. They are rarely sold on Ebay in anything like working order - unless they are new from dealers (who sell them at an average price more than you can buy elsewhere online), which suggests to me that the only people to get rid of them are those leaving fish-keeping altogether. Fluval externals, OTOH, are always being sold 2nd hand, usually because the owner has "upgraded". I'll leave it to your imagination what that means!

 

[Lithril]

Okie I must admit I was expecting to pay about £35 for a filter, I should be able to find the extra to get a decent external filter.... hmmm now where did I put that credit card

Cheers for the help, the GF is going ape at home as I'm always checking on here for new threads and info, at work at the moment so I spose I'll just drive the ppl here mad instead. You've all been a fantastic help though, its getting worrying when a novice is giving the lfs advice

What type of filter is the ecco (me being incredibly lazy and not searching the web first )

 

[Alien Anna]

What type of filter is the ecco (me being incredibly lazy and not searching the web first )

Scroll down the page for that link I gave you for the Liberty and you'll see a picture of one. It's an external canister filter - two tubes go into your tank and you usually store it underneath. The deal on this site is pretty good since it comes with all the filter media, but you can basically stuff it with any media you fancy (from nitrazorb and ceramic "sponges" to bog standard filter floss).

Every time I see that picture I start drooling, but if I didn't keep buying so much other fish stuff I could probably afford one

 

[Lithril]

Just had a look at it and you've convinced me... free delivery too, I'll wait till I've actually got the tank and think I might be buying one of them