View Full Version : using an old biowheel
hi, i hvae a biowheel that was runnin for a few months, it turned brown, i got a new filter so it got taken down, put in the basement and it dryed out, do you think if i used it again, the bacteria would come back to life? or what?
sumoschro
01-06-2004, 11:33 PM
I'm not 100% percent sure but im pretty close, I dont think they'll come back to life.
Prometheus
01-06-2004, 11:58 PM
No they won't. atleast any of the good ones anyway...
I am unsure how all the dead bacteria would effect your new tank, ie: if they would help (as a food source for new bacteria), harm (all that dead stuff gunking up the works) or be indifferent to 'healthy' bio-wheel...
Contact marineland and ask, but they'll probably tell you to buy a replacement wheel...
blitzen25bm
01-07-2004, 2:19 AM
if you wanted to reuse it would just wash it and do a bleach soak and rinse it out really good. then just let it recolonize, its not going to do anything helpful after all the bio already died.
Dapple2
01-07-2004, 4:00 AM
Just toss it back in there, it'll be fine. The old bacteria will have died already, but it should gain a new colony quickly. I'm not a big fan of bleaching stuff ersonally, I always swear I can still smell bleach no matter how much I rinse.
JSchmidt
01-07-2004, 8:20 AM
I agree... I'd skip the bleach, give it a good overnight soak, then a vigorous rinsing, and back into service.
Jim
blitzen25bm
01-07-2004, 2:33 PM
yea you probably dont need the bleach if you dont want to, it does get rid of all the stuf stuck in the pleats, probably would only help the micron cartridges instead of the bio wheels. so if its not totally beat up just toss it back on.
Originally posted by Dapple2
Just toss it back in there, it'll be fine. The old bacteria will have died already, but it should gain a new colony quickly. I'm not a big fan of bleaching stuff personally.
agreed
most of the stuff is "inside" them not outside anyway, or at least in mine. not much to clean so i just tossed mine back on and ran them.
soaking and rinsing isn't a bad idea either tho. just skip the chemicals.
*this is assuming it's dried and not "fermented". if it got moldy or anything, toss it.
LMOUTHBASS
01-07-2004, 4:56 PM
all the good bac is gone anyhow just buy a new one their not expensive
Dapple2
01-07-2004, 7:34 PM
Some people are on a tighter budget than others though. I know as a student, I have to save up for my fish purchases, so if I don't need to buy something I generally won't (well, okay I might if it's a nice plant for a good price, but then I *needed* it, lol). The old wheel really should be perfectably servicable.
if your up for the challenge i would pull the ends off the wheel, take the pleated media sheet out and soak/scrub it in some warn water to remove the dirt and calcium deposits. i did this with a penguin 125 and it worked well. its just i bit tricky reassembling the wheel, but if i can do it anyone can.