View Full Version : Emperor Bio Wheel
nattybrack
06-27-2003, 1:52 PM
I have a 55 that I have has set up for 1 yr. I had a small aquaclear and a whisper 60 (I think 300gph). I took out the small aquaclear, 3 months ago and added an emporer400. The media (bag) for the emporer has a lot of biological growth on it, but my bio wheels appear to be pretty sweaky clean. How long (on average) does it normally take for the wheels to start growing / collecting biological material?
dave76
06-27-2003, 2:10 PM
I think it took my penguin 330 (marineland biowheel) about 3-6 months before I noticed anything like that on them and after a year or so they are really gunky and dont turn as well.
nattybrack
06-27-2003, 2:16 PM
Filter seems to be working like a champ, although I'm lookin' forward to some good gunk. Another couple months then... guess I can stop checking every morning. LOL. Much appreciation for the info.
brianfl
06-27-2003, 3:12 PM
Your bio wheel should have changed colors (to a brown) in a few weeks.
nattybrack
06-27-2003, 3:16 PM
Nope... It may be a little bit darker but it's not a deep brown. The spray bars are working well. I packed the extra trays with a lot of substrate. Possible I over packed, and this is why the wheels aren't changing? Or other possibilities?
zzyzx
06-27-2003, 10:13 PM
Originally posted by dave76
I think it took my penguin 330 (marineland biowheel) about 3-6 months before I noticed anything like that on them and after a year or so they are really gunky and dont turn as well.
The biowheel(s) only need to turn slowly to quite effective. When the wheels are new, they turn like a greased pig. Once the wheels become saturated with water and bio-film, they are suppose to slow down. Unfortunately, the Penguin design has a well known operation flaw in that the biowheels can stop turning altogether because of the filter clogging or crud getting on the bearings. I noticed the Mini model is pretty much hassle free, though. As you probably already know, the Emporer design is a lot more reliable and corrected the Penguin problem.
What? My first post? That's news to me:)
dave76
06-27-2003, 10:42 PM
My first penguin 330 that I had on my tank exibited some of the problems u speak of. It would stop turning sometimes. But only on one side. Then I got a new one. I put one of the established biowheels in the new filter in hopes of speeding the culture of the new biowheels and it moved just fine. So then I cleaned my first one throughly and it worked just fine. Oh yea I knew as long as the bio wheel is turning it is doing good.
Eric86
06-28-2003, 1:33 PM
haha my penguin 330 took around 2-3 weeks and I had a decent amount on the bio wheel... wierd...
brianfl
06-28-2003, 4:16 PM
You might want to get rid of some of the substrate. Although it suprise me that it hasn't changed colors much. Mine usually start in a few days. I think I have about 8 of them currently running. The only thing I fill them with is floss.
Have faith. Just let it run. They didn't spend that million in R&D for nothing.