Bio wheels are bunk? (some observations)

[creepyoldguy]

That still doesn't mean they are no good. As stated before, bb grows on everything, so to say they are junk would be lying or innacurate

 

[lipadj46]

That still doesn't mean they are no good. As stated before, bb grows on everything, so to say they are junk would be lying or innacurate

I would say then that they seem to me to be poor bio media and poor bio filters in general, and relative to marineland's claims they are bunk.

 

[rhodes_96]

With the bio wheels, because of their constant contact with moving air and water, they colonize bb very quickly as apposed to ceramic rings inside a canister or sump. The downside is amount of bacteria that can colonize is very limited compared to that of ceramic bio media, and they are very susceptible to drying out and killing off most of the bb if the wheel is left inactive for a few hours .

 

[SnukeMouse]

The downside to biowheels is when the holes in the spray bar get clogged and the wheels stop turning. Other than that they seem to work well.

 

[creepyoldguy]

I would say then that they seem to me to be poor bio media and poor bio filters in general, and relative to marineland's claims they are bunk.

There is a sticky on filter media. I'm nit sure if the bio wheel is discussed or not

 

[Jc1119]

I would say then that they seem to me to be poor bio media and poor bio filters in general, and relative to marineland's claims they are bunk.

I currently run a wet dry, 5 canisters and 3 marineland hobs on my various tanks. One of my biowheels is probably 8 years old and has been used to instantly cycle 3 tanks in the last few years. I don't know if they work as well as marineland claims, but zero ammonia and nitrite in every tank I've used one on is proof enough for me.

 

[Bderick67]

The downside to biowheels is when the holes in the spray bar get clogged and the wheels stop turning. Other than that they seem to work well.

Marinelands penguin filters don't have spraybars.

 

[Jc1119]

Marinelands penguin filters don't have spraybars.

But the emperors do. And even if the spray bar gets clogged there is still plenty of water running under the wheel to keep it wet. I think the spray bar is a bit unnecessary but either way, if the wheel stays wet biofiltration will occur

 

[Bderick67]

if the spray bar gets clogged, then its way past due for a cleaning.

 

[Joe M]

Easy, there is only so much bacteria needed to support the tank. One would assume there was some in the bio media that was put in the canister and some was in the emperor bio wheel. When the emperor was removed (with all its media and wheels) all that bacteria was removed. That left just the bacteria in the canister which is not enough (in theory) to support the entire bioload so you would expect at least a small uptick in ammonia while the bacteria colony grew in the canister.

In theory, maybe. But with all the other places in the tank for BB to grow, and the canister with old media, any spike resulting from this would most likely be unreadable by an API kit, as creepyoldguy stated.

Many things that are true in theory aren't true in reality. I'm guessing that you had a miniscule spike, but you didn't notice it. And I don't see how that justifies your claim that a product is "bunk".