Removing BioWheel

[offsetfactor]

I have a biowheel HOB filter on my 30g. I noticed last night while rinsing the biowheel that there is substantially less amounts of micro bubbles in the tank without it in the filter. I think it causes too much splashing causing the bubbles. Question is, is there a way to remove it completely without throwing the tank into a mini cycle? I have 35lbs of live rock and 30lbs of live sand, tank has been up for about 3 months. I assume there is enough bacteria in the rock/sand, but i want to be sure before removing it.

 

[201_0_o_datsnj]

i have an emperor 400 with 2 bio-wheels on it. if i were you, i would suggest leaving them in. it holds tons of bacteria and theres no such thing as too much cuz of die off. once your tanks reaches equilibrium, some bacteria dies. the wheels will always have bacteria on them and you could possibly use those bio-wheels to help start a qt tank if u want. just dont clean them cause you're gonna kill the bacteria. just wipe the sides(white parts) so they keep spinning. hope i helped a bit

 

[dawman]

In the bio-wheel filters water just passes by under the wheel and turning it . Really shouldn`t make much difference in micro bubbles . I wouldn`t remove it either .Also you are not supposed to clean the bio-wheels except for rinsing them off with saltwater from the tank .

 

[offsetfactor]

Originally Posted by Dawman
Also you are not supposed to clean the bio-wheels except for rinsing them off with saltwater from the tank .
Thats what i do.
The wheel picks up water as it turns and when it drips off it causes bubbles that are then circulated through the whole tank...like i said they are significantly less when the wheel is out, almost nonexistent.
There have been many debates on here about biowheels and nitrates and ammonia removal, both pro and con. I am just trying to weigh my options.

 

[gregghia]

Originally Posted by offsetfactor
Thats what i do.
The wheel picks up water as it turns and when it drips off it causes bubbles that are then circulated through the whole tank...like i said they are significantly less when the wheel is out, almost nonexistent.
There have been many debates on here about biowheels and nitrates and ammonia removal, both pro and con. I am just trying to weigh my options.

You can go either way. I think for every ten opinions half will be for and the other against. I have 2 tanks now all with HOB filters. Aquaclear and Marineland. I don't use any of the media that come with them. I use carbon and filter floss in the 3. They do an awesome job. Once i took the wheels out I noticed less microbubbles and reduced noise. Going on 6 months now wiht no problems at all. Again I don't think you will go wrong either way. You can always put something else in there if you feel. I kept of few of those ceramic rings in the bottom of the filter. Don't know if its doing anything but makes me feel better

.

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by offsetfactor
Thats what i do.
The wheel picks up water as it turns and when it drips off it causes bubbles that are then circulated through the whole tank...like i said they are significantly less when the wheel is out, almost nonexistent.
There have been many debates on here about biowheels and nitrates and ammonia removal, both pro and con. I am just trying to weigh my options.

Being that your tank is new and not well established , it can cause you some problems removing them . I`ve had bio-wheel and emperor filters for years and years and never had any of the so called "problems" that people think is the cause . A buddy of mine has 28 tanks in his basement and all use bio-wheel or emperor filters with the wheels , no problems. Nitrates and Ammonia are not caused by the bio-wheels , usually overfeeding and not maintaining the tanks is cause .

 

[aztec reef]

I say it's personal preferance , I would remove it, the biowheel doesn't hold enuf bacteria to cause a cycle nor a spike if anything.. We have to remenber he has about 35lbs of liverock and 30lbs of sand..

 

[gregghia]

One last thought... when you get these HOB filters the companies always promote they are for freshwater and marine on the box. I would hope they have done extensive testing on these things before they would label "OK" so I don't think the wheels are harmful. I think the spikes that happen are from smoe other factor that folks cant explain and maybe the wheel gets the bad wrap. I heard so much bad about them thats why I never used mine. BTW I have three wheels laying around if anyone needs them!

 

[dawman]

I`ve been in fish and saltwater for many years and this forum is the only place I`ve ever heard of the bio-wheel causing problems . Personally I think it`s just some hype that someone started . As for them not holding enough bacteria to cause a cycle , can`t agree with that . I`ve boosted the cycle on many tanks removing a wheel and puting it in a new filter or taking a new wheel and let it soak in an established tank or a sump

 

[aztec reef]

I threw my Biowheels to the Trash like 6 years ago... and i don't miss them

 

[offsetfactor]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
I say it's personal preferance , I would remove it, the biowheel doesn't hold enuf bacteria to cause a cycle nor a spike if anything.. We have to remenber he has about 35lbs of liverock and 30lbs of sand..

Thanks, that is what i was thinking, that the rock and sand would be enough to sustain it. I have no ill feelings about the biowheel, i just cannot stand how dirty the bubbles make the tank look.
On the cautious side, i was thinking i could stick the wheel in my QT, since it is empty right this second, if any problem arises in the DT...

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Dawman
can`t agree with that . I`ve boosted the cycle on many tanks removing a wheel and puting it in a new filter or taking a new wheel and let it soak in an established tank or a sump
that's totally different than taking a biowheel from a tank that has 30lbs lr & 30lbs of sand..and it's 3months old.. plus it all depends on the Bioload. No tank is the same..

 

[201_0_o_datsnj]

yeah ive used one biowheel for my 20g and it helped the bacteria build up quicker. it only has 2 clowns and 3 small pieces of lr to build a "cavern" and a anemone. everything is good as far as lvls of ammonia and what not. i think wheels r great IMO. every1 has their opinions and reasons y. can ne1 who doesnt use them say why they dont, just for a perspective.

 

[gregghia]

You know you can just float the wheel on the surface. If you have a big tank you won't notice it. It still spins an there are no bubbles.

 

[offsetfactor]

Wheel is floating in QT now...i am planning on testing the water later tonight to see if it effects anything, but my gut tells me everything will be fine.

 

[lesleybird]

The whole concept of a wet/dry filter is that the bacteria is on an object that is in contact with a lot of oxygen where the bacteria's metabolism is faster in removing amonia than the bacteria in the water which does not have as much concentrated oxygen......means that the biowheels and other wet/dry filters can detoxify the amonia at a lot faster rate than the bacteria completely under water on a rock or other surface. This is helpful if something dies in the tank, you overfeed, over stock you fish... Lesley