Bio Wheel Power Filter turning slowly and noisy

yeh mines like that. do you use carbon?

 

No. I did at first then planted my tank. I've read the debates about carbon and tried going w/out. My fish & water were the same so since its better not to have w/ plants I stopped. Haven't had carbon in there in months. I have the jar just in case, but haven't needed it.

 

I've got a Penguin 115 biowheel. I like that it can pull water from low and mid tank and has good water flow. My only complaint is that it's a lot louder than my Aquaclear and my model doesn't have adjustable water flow. The loudness wouldn't be a problem if the tank wasn't in my bedroom. lol.

 

That's the same proble I had until I padded it out in sponges.

 

I have three Marineland Biowheels of different sizes. They have been in my tanks for 3 years and work very well. I originally had filters that came with the aquarium kits I bought and slowly changed them over--I did keep the originals as backups. I haven't had any problem with the Bio wheels.

 

biowheels are good for bacteria to colonize.

 

I have 4 emperor 400's and love them .I put matrix in the second media option

 

Is the idea, more surface area for BioBactertia?

if the biowheel is pleated, does this give a lot of surface area for bacteria to reside? here is there blog on it

Marineland's patented bio-wheel is a very effective filtration design. The bio-wheel filter has become the most widely used because it is the ideal culture site for the beneficial bacteria responsible for biological filtration. When put together with emperor's dual pump action and three-stage filtration (biological, chemical, and mechanical), you get power and performance that unmatched by other power filters.

Are you able to also put loose carbon , ammonia material in the filter?

 

I picked up a 29 gallon used tank off craigslist it came with a peguin bio wheel filter. the tank was still up and running so I thought it would be a good idea to leave some water in the gravel and I put some old tank water in a bucket and put the filter cartridge and bio wheel in there hoping to save some bacteria to get the tank to cycle quicker. I got home and set it up but the bio wheel doesn't spin. I ve cleaned the intake tubes,also removed the little plastic holders the wheel sits in and cleaned them.
should I just replace the wheel or could it be a different problem.


Also there are a lot of posts on here that mention a product called prime. who makes it? what does it do? will it remove ammonia from tap water for water changes?

I'm still new at this thanks for the help.

 

HI Kevin,
There's a difference between a bio-wheel not spinning, and spinning very very slowly.

Bio wheels will typically slow down dramatically, and it is actually a really good sign.

As the beneficial bacteria builds up on the wheel, it gets heavier and thicker, making it spin more slowly. This in turn means that the water is in contact with bacteria for longer, and hopefully removing more and more toxins.

So long as the wheel still spins at some rate, even really slowly, as long as it stays wet, it is doing its job.

Worth mentioning though, make sure the wheel is not being impeded, and the axles move freely etc.

I used to have an Eclipse 3 system that did the same thing

Q. My BIO-Wheel isn't turning. What should I do?
Don't panic. Chances are the wheel is not permanently stopped. Irregular rotation, including brief pauses, is normal. As long as the wheel continues to move periodically and remains wet, it is functioning properly.

Prime is a water conditioner from a company called Seachem. It does not remove ammonia persay, rather it detoxifies it for 24 hours.

 

Thanks For the info Ryan. I haven't seen it move in a few hours . It is pretty heavy so I guess that's a good thing. I guess ill put a mark on the plastic part and see if it moves by the morning.

I asked about prime because I have varying levels of ammonia in my tap water. today it was over 1ppm. What would be a good way to remove it before adding it to the tank. I ve been using top fin water clarifier but that dosent always get it to zero.

 

Can you spin the biowheel manually? Sometimes mine will not spin if the artridge behind it is too gunked up. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about getting the ammonia to 0 in your tap, I have over 2ppm in my tap. I use prime to detox it for the 24hrs, in which time the biological filter filters it out.

 

Good point Lexi... water level in the tank can also play a part in slowing the wheel.
If it's not there already, try bringing the water level to around the lip of the filter output.

 

HI lexi. It spins freely by hand. It may be moving very slowly so I marked it and ill check it tomorrow.

I'm still new at this so I thought it would be a bad thing to add water with ammonia in it to my tank. I never used prime before but it sounds like that would be a good idea.
I have a basic understanding of what the cycle is I just don't want to mess up ............again.

Thanks for the addvice
Kevin

Thanks Ryan . I didnt even think of the water level affecting it. I do have the water about two inches below the output.

 

Thanks Ryan . I didnt even think of the water level affecting it. I do have the water about two inches below the output.

Yeah mine used to slow when the water level dropped, lift the water level, and see what happens

 

Prime is great if you have ammonia in your tap. Basicly having ammonia in your tap is like having a extra fish come visit and leave a big mess every time you do a waterchange. Once a tank is cycled though, it can gradually build enough extra bacteria in the filter to accomidate this extra waste and filter it out. It takes some weekly waterchanges but eventually it can cycle the excess ammonia out in 24hrs. The prime will protect your fish in that timespan.

When I cycle a tank usually it takes about a month after the cycle is finished , doing weekly changes before I reach this point. So I dose prime with the waterchange, and then to the tank every day until the ammonia drops to 0. Each week it takes fewer days to get back to 0, until it hits zero within 1 day.

 

Thanks Lexi. I'm gonna pick some of the prime up and try it .

 

Thanks for the help guys!! Ryan I added some water now its moving, very slowly kinda stops and starts, but its moving.

 

Glad to hear you got it going.

 

HI so I currently am cycling my tank & would like to run a new filter, a better one and eventually just have 1 filter. The one I have came with the tank & I don't believe its very good. I was looking on chewy and found one that I believe would do an excellent job however my tanks only 37 gallons. Would this be overkill? Is there such a thing with filtration to over do it. I plan on stocking
10 neon tetras
5 or 6 ottos
A few ghost shrimp & snail
& still uncertain of the centerpiece fish. Or if I could add a few more neons. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

 

A cartridge filter? Within 6 months you will switch over to the media of an aquaclear or tidal. Why waiste your money.

 

Ive heard the bio wheel filters are really good & was suggested through another thread a while back. Yes the filter I just started cycling a week ago is a cartridge one.

 

Honestly to me at least why waist you money on a cartridge that lasts 6 months vs a sponge that lasts 6 years. My aquaclear is old enough to vote and I think I changed the sponge 3 times and that's only because I stole some for new tanks.

 

I've never used sponge filter. Can you suggest one for a 37 gallon?. And how's it work exactly. Just stick it in with the other one or just swap them out completely

 

This is a great filter! The two sections are really useful, as you can put quite a lot of media in them.
The filter is for tanks up to 90g, but I have seen and heard people say that it is good up to 50. Like all HOBs, you need to watch out for fine gravel being sucked up the inlet - as the sand grinds down the impeller putting it off balance and then the filter gets noisy. Best to use the mid level section on the intake and keep it open.

The only issue you may have is with high flow blowing shrimps off balance, but the filter output can be adjusted by using the spray bars - even to the extent of some of the water going back into the filter container and not driving the biowheels too hard.

If you don't mind the back of your tank being overwhelmed by filters - go fo it!

 

Honestly to me at least why waist you money on a cartridge that lasts 6 months vs a sponge that lasts 6 years. My aquaclear is old enough to vote and I think I changed the sponge 3 times and that's only because I stole some for new tanks.

Oh okay aqua clear I see it now lol

 

Aquaclears as well as the tidal line have a big area with a sponge and ceramic media. The sponge lasts for years unlike the cartridge design.

 

The Marineland is a great filter. Best is it’s cheap. But as David says it’s best when you get rid of the cartridges and replace them with sponges. In front of the sponges add other filter media like matrix,biohome,lava rock....... the aqua clear comes with sponges so you are already ahead of the game. The tidal also comes with a sponge. Though I believe the aqua clear is a much bigger sponge.

 

The Aquaclears are only a little bigger in the filter media compartments. Looking over the specs they are pretty equal though I have never had a tidal. My Aquaclears are old enough to vote so to me they are the tried and true work horses. But I may try a tidal if one of my Aquaclears ever gives up the fight.

 

HI so I currently am cycling my tank & would like to run a new filter, a better one and eventually just have 1 filter. The one I have came with the tank & I don't believe its very good. I was looking on chewy and found one that I believe would do an excellent job however my tanks only 37 gallons. Would this be overkill? Is there such a thing with filtration to over do it. I plan on stocking
10 neon tetras
5 or 6 ottos
A few ghost shrimp & snail
& still uncertain of the centerpiece fish. Or if I could add a few more neons. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

HI Lauren...

If you're willing to remove and replace half the tank water every week, your current filter would work fine. A filter doesn't keep the water clean, it only moves the water to keep oxygen mixed in it. The weekly, large water change is the real filter, because you remove the old, polluted water and replace that with clean water. Save your money and just perform a 50 percent water change every week.

Pretty easy,

Old

 

HI Lauren...

If you're willing to remove and replace half the tank water every week, your current filter would work fine. A filter doesn't keep the water clean, it only moves the water to keep oxygen mixed in it. The weekly, large water change is the real filter, because you remove the old, polluted water and replace that with clean water. Save your money and just perform a 50 percent water change every week.

Pretty easy,

Old

Your kidding right?? Filters don’t clean the water! Yes water changes help clean the water but so do filters.

 

I have four of them in service. In my view it is an outstanding filter. Be sure to put a quality medium in the clam shells.

As for over filtration I run at the very minimum 10x the water column in GPH filter flow.

My 46 gallon has 700 GPH, my 44 has 750 GPH, my 150 has over 1,500 GPH.

 

Your kidding right?? Filters don’t clean the water! Yes water changes help clean the water but so do filters.

Lauren...

No. I wouldn't give out false advice. The filter does a poor job of keeping the tank water clean, because it doesn't remove the polluted water and replace it with clean. It simply takes in toxic water and returns the water a little bit less toxic. I have tanks that have no mechanical filtration, I just remove and replace most of the water every few days. By performing a large water change regularly, you replenish oxygen and minerals that are removed by the fish and plants every day. The weekly water change is the true filter, not the mechanical gizmo.

Old

 

HI Lauren.. My two cents, I used that Marineland biowheels for a couple of months and found it too noisy for me, especially when water levels dropped and that "trickle" sound coming from the two sections was just a lot of noise. Also, I became obsessed with checking to see if the wheels were turning properly. This was some OCD on my part, sure, but a couple of times I did notice a stoppage or slow down of the wheels if some "gunk" got gunked up in a certain place too much. It also takes up a lot of space in the back, which I found to be clunky as well. I changed to an Aquaclear HOB and have been very satisfied ever since. The sponge does lasts forever. Just really need to swig it around in some siphoned tank water to clean it and you are good to go again for months. And of course, along with regular water changes. Any way, my two cents. Hope that helps.

 

I have this same filter except for a larger tank. It does its job well. I think the bio filters are good but the cartridges/mechanical filters get clogged quickly and have to be changed every two weeks or so.... At least on my tank.

 

I use a Marineland Biowheel filter as well, and I think it is great. You do need to replace the cartridges every month or so, but they aren't particularly expensive IMO and you can add additional filter media in to do additional filtration (I add in a carbon sponge). I also think it does a better job of keeping the water clear than other filters I have used in the past.
The trickling sound of the water flowing back in the tank can be noisy when the water level gets low. I really love that sound and find it super soothing, but if you are "less tolerant" of noise or if your tank is right next to your bed and could keep you awake it might not be the best choice unless you are very diligent about keeping the water level very high.

 

I have the Emperor 400 on a 36 gallon bow front and it doesn’t seem to overwhelm in terms of the water flow. Like others mentioned, I like it because of the cost ($40 on Amazon or Chewy/Petsmart) and you can definitely customize the filter contents inside. I currently use the existing filter cartridge + a bag of Fluval biomax in each right and left hand side of the filter compartments. There are a lot of videos online on Youtube that show how others customize their filter space in the Emperors. I also like the biowheel and the fact that the Emperor has a dedicated spray bar to make sure that the biowheels are turning.

As others have mentioned, make sure the water level is high enough on your tank so that the water splash noise is minimized.