Biowheels - Good or Bad?

[mag395]

I have a 29 gallon tank that has been cycling for a little over 2 weeks. It will be a FOWLR tank. The hood is an eclipse hood with a built in biowheel. I heard that biowheels are bad so I took it out. My nitrites are still very high >1. I did a 20% water change but the levels are still high. Should I put the biowheel back in?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[happyvac]

Bio-Wheels really aren't necessary as long as you have LR. The only other filtration you should have is some Mechanical/Chemical. You could just stick with it (minus the bio-wheel) for water movement and put some carbon in it now and then.

 

[blue00si]

Biowheels are a breeding ground for good bateria. I use one and it "helps keep levels normal". I would put in back in.

 

[lion_crazz]

yep, as long as you have about 30-40 lbs. of live rock, you are fine.
If you do not have that much live rock, put the wheel back in.

 

[drf0524]

Bio-Wheel's are not bad t all.. I would put them back in...

 

[lion_crazz]

They are definitely not bad, unless you have an abundance of live rock. That is when they become bad, just like bioballs. Some of the good bacteria will die off because you have so much live rock.

 

[sleasia]

bio wheels are fine for small tanks and probably provide adequate surface area for beneficial bacterial growth and also circulation. They are not adequate for large tanks though. I'm using an emperor on my QT and its working fine.

 

[hapshot]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
They are definitely not bad, unless you have an abundance of live rock. That is when they become bad, just like bioballs. Some of the good bacteria will die off because you have so much live rock.
Actually, bioballs become bad when you have lots of liverock because porportionally, bioballs have much greater surface area than liverock thus the good bacteria will die off the liverock.

 

[mag395]

Ok thanks everyone, I only have 25 lbs of LR so I'll put it back in.

 

[lion_crazz]

Yeah, you're right. I mispoke.

 

[mag395]

Do think having the biowheel out added to my cycling time?

 

[sleasia]

hapshot...I'm not getting how that makes sense. ultimately bacteria will grow on all surfaces and will either multiply or die off to the degree that it is supported by nutrients in the tank , given you are not killing it off with medications, poor water qual etc. Please enlighten me on this bio ball live rock thing because I have both and no nitrites/nitrates

 

[uberlink]

The idea is that the bacteria on the bioballs consume the nutrients from the water that would otherwise be consumed by the bacteria on the LR. The bacteria on the LR therefore starve. Combine that with the fact that bioballls sometimes trap detritus and nitrates, and you have a good reason not to use bioballs if you're using adequate LR.

 

[glowplug]

I have a biowheel question-- Everytank I have seen with biowheels, 1 or both of them stop spinning, all the time, they take constant monitoring to make sure they are still spinning. That said, wouldnt all the good bacteria die when exposed to just air for more than a few hours?

 

[mag395]

I have a tank with a biowheel and it has never stopped spinning. Make sure the metal pins are in the right slots. Maybe there is some build up on the wheel or the pins that is stopping it.

 

[sleasia]

Thanks uberlink for explaining this to me. I don't have enough live rock at this point to scrap my bioballs. If I do reef next year I will definately consider this.