Should I remove my bio wheel?

birds fan

birds fan

Member
From what I’ve read bio wheels contribute to increased levels of nitrates. I’ve struggled with my nitrates as I can’t get them below 20. I have a 2 month old 20 gal tank with 1.5” of live sand and about 15lbs of live rock, 2 perc clowns, 1 royal gramma, 10 nass snails, 9 blue hermits and 3 emerald crabs. I am running an Marineland Emporer 280 HOB filter. My water source is RO. I try not to overfeed and religiously change the filter pad ever 2 weeks. Does it make sense to remove the wheel? I assume it’s performing a redundant function since I have the live rock.
Thoughts?
Thanks
 
glowplug

glowplug

Member
yes biowheels are a nitrate factory from what Ive read as well. P.S. if you ever plan on doing any coral whatsoever, pull out those crabs!!!!
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
Originally Posted by glowplug
P.S. if you ever plan on doing any coral whatsoever, pull out those crabs!!!!
why crabs are good for reefs
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
Your LR is your bio-filtration. Get rid of the HOB filter and get a skimmer instead. Do you have a sump ?
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
thats like saying that sand contributes to your nitrates. as long as there is no obvious build up of detritus on it its just biological bacteria breaking down ammonia to trite then to trate. all you need to do to properly maintain a biowhell is rinse it off in old tank water when you do your water change. anything biowheel, LR, bare bottom tank, sump, sand, ANYTHING will contribute to nitrates if you leave detritus built up on it. this falls under properly maintaining the equipment.
 
birds fan

birds fan

Member
So if I rinse the biowheel every other week that should help? I guess I could rinse my filter pad every few days as well. Would that help?
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
its suppose to be a nitrate factory. thats the biowheels job and yours to remove it via water changes. If thats all the filtration, sand, rock and livestock you have I dont see what your complaint is. For the kind of filtration and system your running 20ppm is perfectly normal and acceptable. just make sure you rinse it off with tank water like stated and let it float in the tank when the filter is not running for maintenence.
 
glowplug

glowplug

Member
Ive had emeralds and they loved eating my corals--some crabs good I guess.......but I wouldnt trust an emerald let alone 3!, and yeah maaaayyybbeee cleaning your biowheel is tank maintenence, but everything , i mean everything I have EVER read about them on this board and the super huge board says to get them outta there!!! alas, its your tank your choice
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by glowplug
but everything , i mean everything I have EVER read about them on this board and the super huge board says to get them outta there!!! alas, its your tank your choice
depends on the tank size and what type of tank. I have a six gallon eclipse FOWLR system (well my 4yr old sons which is why its not a reef) with a biowheel and its nothing to do water changes. I can do it with a 16oz drinking cup. Nitrate build up is no concern, I can do an 90% changes if I needed to. You have to know going in a biowheel or any form of wet/dry system is designed by purpose to break ammonia down into nitrate and the rest is left to you. moderate nitrates being no real concern for fish it works fine for a fish only system. Its an ammonia remover not a nitrate remover. If you dont want that start with a berlin system, deep sand bed from the start or be prepared to as you or your system advances.
 
birds fan

birds fan

Member
I would eventually like to get corals and I understand I'll have to get a skimmer but I was unsure how effective it would be. I've seen a variance in user comments on its effectiveness. If I could get my trates down to 15 then add a skimmer I expect I could lower them to 5 or so. Hence, the nature of the original question.
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by Birds Fan
I would eventually like to get corals and I understand I'll have to get a skimmer but I was unsure how effective it would be. I've seen a variance in user comments on its effectiveness. If I could get my trates down to 15 then add a skimmer I expect I could lower them to 5 or so. Hence, the nature of the original question.
once you have nitrates you are already beyond the process that skimmers can help. once you get your nitrates down to 5 though via water changes a skimmer will help keep them there. As for effectiveness it can be anywhere from a complete waste to the best thing you could have ever done, just depends on how good a skimmer you choose. what size tank btw? you CAN and probably should toss the biowheel once you get a skimmer, they work as designed but just arent the best form of filtration for a reef.
 
birds fan

birds fan

Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
once you have nitrates you are already beyond the process that skimmers can help. once you get your nitrates down to 5 though via water changes a skimmer will help keep them there. As for effectiveness it can be anywhere from a complete waste to the best thing you could have ever done, just depends on how good a skimmer you choose. what size tank btw? you CAN and probably should toss the biowheel once you get a skimmer, they work as designed but just arent the best form of filtration for a reef.

I have a 20 gal
 
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