Which would you want?

[Undawada]

I find that aquaclears are better all-round filters, since they have better mechanical filtration than biowheels.

Biowheels excel at biological filtration, and are better than AC filters for that purpose.

It depends on what you're looking for, but if I only had ONE filter to pick, I'd go with Aquaclear...

Personally I'd do both, if budget permits.

 

[vantgE]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=83508

Read my comparison here i'm quite proud of it but there really is no advantage at all to any other filter over an aquaclear. The biowheel is a gimmick and does not allow for extra biological filtration just puts it in a different place the ac isd the better buy and better filter no doubt about it

 

[Dorkhedeos]

so the extra oxygen doesnt do anything to the bacteria?





Edit: oh yeah, i remember something about bacteria needing more food for a bigger colony, so the bio wheel cant have any extra bacteria than an aquaclear if they are in identical tanks right?

 

[gale]

I don't doubt that the bio wheel filters work well but their customer service STINKS. I don't know if Hagen cs is better but it can't be any worse, so I'll be replacing my biowheel filters (one of which is a couple months old and keeps quitting on me and one is older and now making a funky noise in the motor) with aquaclear filters.

 

[vantgE]

so the extra oxygen doesnt do anything to the bacteria?





Edit: oh yeah, i remember something about bacteria needing more food for a bigger colony, so the bio wheel cant have any extra bacteria than an aquaclear if they are in identical tanks right?

The oxyegen will make it more efficient a biowheel is a more efficient way of biological filtration but a penquin or an emporer is a less efficent filter in total, and costs more both are limited by surface area

 

[Inchworm]

Edit: oh yeah, i remember something about bacteria needing more food for a bigger colony, so the bio wheel cant have any extra bacteria than an aquaclear if they are in identical tanks right?

Hi Dorkhedeos

Your beneficial bacteria will only multiply to the size that can be supported by the number of fish in your tank. The ideal situation is to have it reach that size. When you add additional fish, it will increase to a size that will utilize the ammonia they produce. If you remove some fish, the bacterial colony will shrink.

The benefit of having an AquaClear is that there is a lot of room in the chamber to add more filter media. This way, if you do add more fish there is more surface area for the bacteria to grow on.

 

[littlefishie]

ACs can be modified to take a biowheel if you're good at DIY, and you can also use your own filter media, like floss instead of sponge, and your own choices of carbon. It allows you to purchase floss/carbon/zeolite etc in bulk, and save on your filter media.

 

[rrdrummer5]

As long you use the biowheels that you can add extra media in they are great. I prefer the biowheels because the aquaclears keep the bacteria on a sponge that sits inside the filter instead of on a rotating wheel. In my experience the sponge on the aquaclears tend to get very messy over time(because u cant clean/replace them or ull kill the bacteria). Just IMO though.

 

[squeeker]

Aquaclears all the way. They last forever, they are easy to clean, the media capacity is huge, you don't have to buy expensive cartridges.

Plus, I don't believe the bio-wheels do anything. It's a load of poo.

 

[vantgE]

As long you use the biowheels that you can add extra media in they are great. I prefer the biowheels because the aquaclears keep the bacteria on a sponge that sits inside the filter instead of on a rotating wheel. In my experience the sponge on the aquaclears tend to get very messy over time(because u cant clean/replace them or ull kill the bacteria). Just IMO though.

I rinse out my sponge with dechlorinated watter once a month there is no problem doing this and will not affect the health of your tank substantially, so you can clean them and if you are running another sponge or biomedia piece in your tannk yopu could replace one entirely at a time but there is no need to do this sponges don't really wear out or get clogged

 

[jacblades]

most of my tanks have aquaclears.

i like that i can customize my media.
i hate carbon and never use it so that pretty much rules out anything with a cartridge.

i have 2 10 gal quarantine tanks that have about 30 inches worth of small fish in each of them right now. no ammonia, nitrate or nitrites

 

[ravekiss]

Aqua Clear all the way!!

 

[modernhamlet]

Whatever you do, don't agonize over it. Having owned both Aquaclear and Penguin/Emperor filters, I have to say they both provide reliable, efficient, and cost-effective filtration. You won't be disappointed with either.

 

[qjim206]

i voted for the BIO-WHEEL why? not sure! but i do think the bac needs lots of oxygen and lots of oxygen it gets with the BIO-WHEEL i think. correct me if im wrong. but i do have every other filter also, wispers, jebos,canister, sponge (air and powerhead), emperors, aquaclear and never really noticed much diff between them i reckon its all in perception

one question i have is with a canister? how does the bac get the nessasary oxygen?