colonizing a bio-wheel 150

[Corp000085]

Here's my setup right now:

10 gallon tank
10 zebra daneo
4 tiger barbs

magnum 350 canister filter (yeah yeah, its OVERKILL, but it was given to me so i use it)

Anyhow, I've had the magnum for about 2 years, it works great, and its obviously colonized with bateria. The water is crystal clear and very healthy. I'm moving and have to be out of my apartment by next monday, so today i bought and hooked up a penguin 150. So far so good with the new filter (i really like the new design... i had a penguin before, but it splashed too much and was quite noisy. this one is quiet and with that new shield, there's zero splash.) I've got both of them running simultaniously. Is one week enough to establish the new filter so i can take the magnum off? I'm moving into a new house and i'm getting a donated 75 gallon tank, so i'd like to use the magnum on that.

 

[Corp000085]

Anyone?? I'm just wondering how long it will take the penguin 150 to become sufficiently cycled with the rest of the tank so i can remove my magnum 350. 1 day? 5 days? 5 weeks?

 

[iceolated]

I don't think you'll get a 'definite' answer on how long it will take to colonize the new bio-wheel. That can depend on a lot of things.

When I had to replace a bio-wheel, I let it colonize for about a month before I took the backup filter off the tank. Maybe that's too long but without a definite way to tell, I figured better safe than sorry.

Something I have heard, although never tried, is soaking the new bio-wheel in a biological supplement such as Cycle. Supposedly soaking the wheel in the bacteria gives it a 'head start'. However, never having tried it, I can't speak to its success.

Regards,

Gary

 

[Corp000085]

thank you... i'm probably only going to let it run till i have to move the tank this weekend, then i'm going to remove the canister. it is in dire need of a cleaning, and i'm simply going to remove it, clean it up, and store it before i move. If i notice that in a week the tank is getting cloudy and nasty, i'll hook it back up and let it do its thing for a long period of time.

 

[Corp000085]

Well, i took off the magnum 350 this morning, and the tank is still crystal clear. I'm hoping the bio wheel is cycled enough to get it through this first week. Between the bio wheel running since saturday, the rest of the tank being cycled and healthy, and having hearty fish in the tank, i think it will be just fine.

 

[Corp000085]

i moved last week, and the tank is crystal clear still. So, if you're wondering how long it takes for a bio wheel to be viable in a cycled, filtering tank, go with 4 days at the most running the new bio wheel filter and whatever old filter you have.

 

[Bloo]

Out of interest - did you do and ammonia, nitrate and nitrite tests during this process ?

 

[RES]

I'm new to this & hoping someone can give me advice on Emperor 400.