How Can You Test Efficiency

[squeakytoy]

I have a question...

I just inherited a 70 gal corner tank, and I have come across something that has kinda stumped me. It was made by Cole Enterprises out of Texas for the DC Chamber of Commerce. I mention this only because I have not been able to find out anything about the tank model, (#1400 Mirage) and one of it's features seems way ahead of it's time. It is a corner tank, and as such, it has a 7 gallon "partition" for bio balls in the back corner. Now the thing that has me stumped is that the buildout directions show a bubbler being placed in that portion of the tank, not the front where the fish are! There is even the air stone that must have fallen off the line still back there, so it's not a typo. My question is this: The big advantage of the bio wheel is the exposure to oxygen as explained very thoroughly by Great Lakes in the FAQ's section. Would seven gallons of BioBalls with a bubbler have greater surface area/efficiency than a standard biowheel setup? Is there any real world way to test this without killing off fish or overloading on purpose? This tank was built back in '89, so if this is theory is correct, than these guys were way ahead of their time, and were really good at keeping secrets. Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks

 

[rabbut]

7gal of bioballs would have far more surface area than a bio-wheel set-up, purly due to the volume we are talking about. An air stone won't put a lot of flow across the bio-balls, so contact time will be high. The filter you describe will be very efficient, removing most ammonia and nitrite first pass, but it won't drive a large tank due to the low flow rate. It could probibly be easily modified to take a water pump? to increase flow and thus the size of tank it can run

Just my 2 cents
Rabbut

 

[squeakytoy]

I forgot to add a few things... First of all, its a freshwater tank, with community tropicals. Also, it has a magnum 350 driving the water exchange, so additional filtration there as well. My big question though is to the efficiency of the biological filtration. The tank is very 80's sci-fi looking, as it stands 6' tall on the stand. It's made of black plex, and has a 24 in dome popping out the front. Just a big bubble coming out the front and it gives a tremendous magnification effect! We want to stuff it full of small fish and I want to find out what kind of load that type of filtration could take without running the risk of poisoning them. I keep looking at the tank and the first thing that comes to mind is 2001-a space odyssey. "my god, it's full of stars!!"

Thanks for the quick response,

 

[pastabake]

I would agree with Rabut, the bioballs are much better than biowheels.

I wouldn't say that they were ahead of their time though, I'd see it more as how trends and fashion affect the hobby.

It sounds like a great tank .. I like the idea of the magnifying dome.

 

[squeakytoy]

The reason that I said they were ahead of their time was the fact that they were adding oxygen to the biological filter, rather than leaving them to pull from the water. The bio wheels point out that they are far more efficient because they have the cyclical exposure to air, and they only came out about 8-10 years ago. This is the first time I have seen someone bubbling their bioballs(!!!) It makes a lot of sense to me in theory, and I was wondering if anyone had put it to the test, or had any personal (semi-quantifiable) experience. I will post some pics when it gets finished... It's just that as I fix one thing, something else breaks. Sigh...

 

[OldMan47]

I don't know where you have been but I got a used filter with a biowheel at least 20 years ago.

 

[squeakytoy]

I don't know where you have been but I got a used filter with a biowheel at least 20 years ago.

Apparently, I was doing my research before I commented, m'kay? Marineland pioneered the Biowheel, debuted in 1990.

http/www.marineland.com/sites/Marineland...lt.aspx?id=1912

thanks for the educational input though...

 

[squeakytoy]

However, now that this topic is back to the top, What is the ideal water flow through the bioball chamber? Are we talking tickle to allow for the max contact time with the media or is it a strong flow to maximize water exposed? Also is there an advantage to one over the other for encouraging bacteria growth? I would assume slow would be better, but I have only been an aquarist for about a year, with my previous filter a biowheel.