why do you need a BIO-wheel?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

JEAE21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 19, 2007
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I was looking through DrsFosterSmith's catalog and I encountered with this...

Beneficial bacteria tht thrive on the BIO-wheel are nourished by oxygen from the air. The result is biological filtration that processes harmful compounds efficiently without competing with your fish for vital oxygen.

But does this only apply to the filters with BIO-wheel?(emperor & penguin)
Or does this apply to other filters with biological media inside the water, like power filters and canister filters.
 
You don't need a bio-wheel. Pretty much any substrate that is porous will harbor beneficial bacteria. Bio-wheel sucks in my opinion. AC FTW!
 
Bio-filtration is bio-filtration. The Bio-wheel allows wet/dry filteration in a HOB unit. Wet/Dry is the most efficiant form of Bio-filtration because the BB have access to much larger amounts of O2. This allows the BB to react much faster to any changes in the aquarium's bio-mass. I like them personally and use them on all of our tanks but they are NOT the only effective form of Bio-filtration available.

Pick a system...set it up properly and then leave it alone.
 
i don't have any substrate in my tank
do bio media that are not exposed to air get oxygen?(like aquaclear and whisper in-tank)

also wolf, you know how you told me you don't want air to get into canister filters? what about in-tank filters? i just got some air bubbles in the in-take and now the filter is "chirping"
 
There is oxygen in the water. That is how the fishies live. There is more oxygen in the air than in the water. More oxygen means the bacteria can metabolize faster (make CO2 from O2).
Air in impellers makes them work less efficiently and can make them wobble. Then they wobble, the seats they ride on and spin against get worn excessively and unevenly. When the seats get worn, the impeller will squeak or chirp (usually imho). Worn impellers are a sign of bad things to come (broken magnets, mainly). Good luck.
 
it's a brand new filter but do you think it's o.k.? it stopped chirping but i'm worried..
 
shut off the filter and then drain it and restart and there ya go problem solved

Anyways you dont need a bio wheel. Just fill up the ac with lots of bio (replace efficiencey with quantity) in my opinnion bio wheels are just prone to noise and much more expensive than the amount of bio media needed to make up for one. They are nice if you have one dont get me wrong but you dont so dont worry about it.
 
did it and it stopped! thanks
so pulling out the filter outta the water let go the air or what?

i kinda like the bio-wheel because of it's looks.lol wolf said that whenever i wanna see bio-wheels spin i can go clean his tanks, haha.
yeah and i guess i can't get one since he also told me that emperors don't work too well in turtle tanks.
 
remember always to fill your hob with water before turning it on. Keep on pouring water into the filter until you get a good flow going
 
yeah i forgot on my aquaclear and i heard it buzzing..
what happened there though? air getting in the pump?

so if you run any kind of filter, would it be best to have the airpump on the other side of the tank?
 
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