eclipse biowheel?

[powderblue]

i have a fowlr 37 gallon eclipse system with a berlin airlift skimmer, 5 inch dsb, and about 25lbs of lr.
my water numbers are good: nitrates 10-15, ammonia low, ph 8.3
question: i am currently using the stock biowheel in the eclipse hood and i am wondering if i should take it out.
my guess is that the wheel is assisting my relatively small amount of live rock in the bio filtration.
do you think i'm right about this, or is the wheel only doing harm by trapping waste and producing nitrates?
also, what about the chemical/mechanical filter, i am using that as well?

 

[jond]

I don't believe your bio-wheel will cause any higher of nitrates. I think it is a fair system that can work well, especially if you figured out a way to mount a skimmer with it. I would just say to make sure you change your carbon once a month.

 

[old salt]

How did you get the skimmer to work with your eclipse hood? I've got one too and the lfs said it's more pain than it's worth to make work... is it the kind that hang off the back? do you have any pictures??

 

[powderblue]

easy- i got a small old-style 12" berlin airlift and it fits in the back right corner with the head poking through next to the biowheel. it barely fits but it fits just the same. the i run the air stone through the back right hole into a small air pump. when i want to clean it i just slide the top part out and dump it. it does a really good job and my reef is quite healthy. the only thing i'm missing is adequate lighting for most corals. right now i just have a bunch of live rock.

 

[rabid seacow]

I scrapped my 30 gal Eclipse just last last week and changes really happened.
I purchase a prism skimmer in Feb thinking I could mount it in back. I was wrong. So I had to resort to putting the thing on the front whenever I went to bed or felt like it.
Then I really caught the reef bug so I bought a 14K MH pendant and took off the eclipse.
Big difference....at least in temperature!!
It actually went down 6 degrees using MH as opposed to two 15W NO bulbs.
with the eclipse the water was always 78-80 degrees. With it open, it now runs at 73-75 with the MH on for 12 hours a day.
The only bad thing is now the evaporation. With the Eclipse I rarely ever had to do topoffs. Now it's a different story. Nitrates have also gone down using the skimmer.
I think ill move the eclipse to a 20 gal FO setup as it was a great beginer setup for me.

 

[b_ball12_99]

My bio-wheel hasn't hurt anything. I'd leave it in.

 

[burnnspy]

Actually your biowheel is a source of nitrates in your tank. I recommend taking it out, in a week I will venture that your nitrates will be lower. My 29gal reef has zero nitrates and I to use an airlift skimmer, but with no other filtration.
BurnNSpy

 

[powderblue]

I appreciate the response Burnspy. If I do take the biowheel out, is there a chance that ammonia levels will rise? I only have about 25lbs of live rock, so I am concerned that there will be insufficient biological filtration if it is removed.
My bio load is:
25lbs lr and 5-6" dsb
1 small (2") flame angel
1 small dottyback goby (1.5")
1 small blue hippo tang (1.5")
2 medium cleaner shrimp
2 feather dusters
10 small hermit crabs (assorted colors)
4 small snails
Also, why not use a chemical/mechanical carbon filter pad? If I change it every month, what harm can it do? It seems like it helps keep the water clear and clean.
Thanks for your time!

 

[powderblue]

burnspy?
anybody?
+ +
-
/

[hr]

 

[jond]

I know that bio-wheel are not popular with the berlin crowd. I do however think that the opinion of "they are nitrate factories" is a load of crap. Yes, if you want to have 1.5lbs of live rock per gal. and a 5" sand bed, than scrap the bio-wheel. Other wise keep your tank clean and change your carbon once a month. Just my two cents.
I think I told you, but I just ditched my eclipse, but just to get way better lights. You can get a PC retro that fits easily and you can keep low light corals.
Good luck.

 

[luke]

People underestimate LR. You could run a succesful reef with 10 lbs in your system. It is just a matter of looks.
The bio wheel is a nitrate factory because it trapps detritus and you can't clean it, then you pump the entire tank volume over it 6 times an hour, this is definitly a recipe for nitrates. So in escene the biowheel is a load of "crap" but it is not being cleaned so you have nitrates .
You may experience a small ammonia spike when you remove the wheel. This is not due to the LR not being able to handle it, it is due to the fact that your tank is in an equalibrium now and you are taking a peice of that balance out. But the ammonia will fall and the trates too.
Luke

 

[jacrmill]

why take it out and probably experience an ammonia spike to lower nitrates that are at 10 or 15? doesnt sound worth it to me. to me you risk losing an angel and tang. the goby would probably be ok but i dont get why you would risk it. sounds like your system is running great and 10-15 nitrates is not that bad unless you wanna keep corals which you didnt say anything about. from what i understand most fish will be ok with nitrates up to about 60. it just comes down to are you willing to risk having an ammonia spike and possible losing an angel and tang to lower your nitrates 10 points from a nontoxic level?

 

[burnnspy]

When you post questions in the reef section, some people will assume you have a reef or plan on running one. Therefor your questions with that as an assumption, in a reef tank nitrates are BAD and so are BIO-anythings.
My reef water is emaculate, so I don't understand a need for chemical or mechanical filtration.
BurnNSpy

 

[east tx]

I'm confused, I have a reef tank.
It has a Tidepool Bio-Wheel filtration.
Are you saying that this is bad????
Or should I have gotten something else??