help!!!! bio wheel died

[maigen]

my city suffered some really high winter winds today which caused my hydro to go out while i was at work. my bio wheel drained & then i presume when the hydro came back on ran dry until the motor burnt out......it's definitely pooched!!!!

what can i do to prevent this from happening again? is there a different type of filter that i can buy that won't do this? this was my only source of aeration....how long can my fish live in a 20 gallon with no aeration? everything's closed & i won't be able to replace my busted bio wheel for another 20 hours.

[JSchmidt]

If your tank isn't horribly overstocked, you can aerate the water by filling a clean glass with tank water and pouring it back into the tank from a height of about 12". Do this for 5 minutes every hour or so and your fish should be fine. (You probably don't need to do it so often, but the more the better...)

Also, keep the biowheel moist. If it doesn't dry out completely, the bacteria may well survive. You can put the biowheel in a container where it's 1/4 submergered and rotate it every once in a while.

Sorry about your power outage... those are hard to predict...

Jim

[rodney10954]

****
that sucks
im going to have to look into a back up power supply
never though about what would happen if the power went back on and the filter was dry
i have an emperor 400 and that thing is hard to prime

[lkunz]

After Hurrican Isabel hit my area, we didn't have power for 5 days. When it did come back on, one of my filters seemed burnt out. I gave it a really good cleaning, poured water into it with a glass, pluged it in, and after a little gurgling, it started.

I hope you are as lucky as I was.

[JSchmidt]

Not a bad idea... just be sure to clean the impeller and impeller well, not the biowheel itself...

Jim

[tomm10]

First, check to make sure your biwheel isn't functioning. Take the intake tube off and make sure its clear. Also make sure the impeller is clean and spins freely. Put it back together and fill the filter with tank water then plug it in. they sometimes need a little time to prime before it starts to work.

I posed the same question about power outtages not too long ago since I get them fairly frequently. Someone suggested a battery power air pump from PennPlax that plugs into the wall in order to detect a power loss. When the power goes out, the pump turns on (provided there are fresh batteries in it). That should provide enough aeration. you can find ithere (http://www.petsmart.com/fish/shopping/air%5Fpumps/products/product%5F28275.shtml) although you may find it cheaper elsewhere.

My problem is with a heater for blackouts. It was also suggested that a UPS system for computers could be used to run the filter and heater for a while. That option is a bit more expensive though

[maigen]

:D

thx for all your help.......i took the whole thing apart & cleaned it really well......filled it up, plugged it in & after a bit.........wooo hooo it works!!!!!!!!

[Karlsbad]

Originally posted by rodney10954
****
that sucks
im going to have to look into a back up power supply
never though about what would happen if the power went back on and the filter was dry
i have an emperor 400 and that thing is hard to prime


I thought that you couldn't use a computer UPS for motors, but reading APC's website(mfr of most widely regarded to be top of the line UPS's), it says you can use one of their smartUPS's with a motor.

APC knowledge base question about motors and non computer equipment (http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=VjjtlnYg&p_lva=&p_faqid=1356&p_created=1010390400&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTkmc F9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1tb3RvciZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPTMmcF9 wcm9kX2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9wcm9kX2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9wY WdlPTE*&p_li=)

I got my smartUPS 700 new on Ebay for $125.00 then saw some going for $100 :mad: If you're just talking about a filter which seem to be all 25 watts, you could get several hours of backup, even if you have a heater that isn't more than like 200 watts and doesn't come on much, I think you'd get over an hour of use.

I wouldn't trust one of the hundreds of rebuilt units on ebay to do what APC states makes the smartUPS ok for use on a motor though. If you want to go used you could get a 1400 used for $90 bucks shipped, and that would probably keep your 25 watts running for an insane length of time. These are heavy items though you have to count shipping.

Ebay search category computers / UPS battery backups terms APC Smart (http://search-desc.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=APC+Smart&catref=C3&socolumnlayout=3&lotr=1&from=R10&sacategory=44962&sotextsearched=2&BasicSearch=)

I wouldn't splash water on one of those babies though :eek: