May be in your, and the fish's, best interest to buy a small powerhead and attach it to a biowheel. That is how I provide bio filtration to my Q-tank and it works very effectively. Good Luck. Experience is knowledge.
Those poor fish...
- Thread starter Riptide
- Start date
Thanks Rudy. The clown ate a bit this afternoon when I got home on my lunch. I think he's going to be OK. One thing I have noticed is that marine fish are much fussier eaters than african cichlids. Mbuna and the related haplochromis type species are pigs at the dinner table, sometimes even splashing water down my shirt when I open their lid to feed them. These marine fish... much more tenuous at the dinner table.
I was happy to come home and find that my order from dr. fosters arrived several days before expected. I already put my 48" compact fluorescent fixture in place and am going to get the UV sterilyzer running on the 55 this evening.
I noticed that the 55 (which hasn't cycled yet) is getting some brown growth on the substrate of crushed coral. Will the UV sterilyzer help kill off that brown algae? I have heard brown algal growths are fairly normal for a brand new tank.
Will be doing a 50% water change in the QT tank tonight. Hopefully it will go well.
I was happy to come home and find that my order from dr. fosters arrived several days before expected. I already put my 48" compact fluorescent fixture in place and am going to get the UV sterilyzer running on the 55 this evening.
I noticed that the 55 (which hasn't cycled yet) is getting some brown growth on the substrate of crushed coral. Will the UV sterilyzer help kill off that brown algae? I have heard brown algal growths are fairly normal for a brand new tank.
Will be doing a 50% water change in the QT tank tonight. Hopefully it will go well.
Crushed coral? Ya know, since you have a long wait to get the tank going anyway, and it is a new tank, this would be a perfect oppurtunity to change that crushed coral over to sand. A deep sand bed (DSB) would greatly aid your tank in the long run. Crushed coral will eventually cause nitrate problems, where a DSB will acually prevent them.
All you need is a few bags of play sand from Home Depot.
Also, avoid the bio-wheel suggestion. Bio wheels contribute to nitrate problems as well. Again, OK for short term, but in the long run they hurt more than they help.
All you need is a few bags of play sand from Home Depot.
Also, avoid the bio-wheel suggestion. Bio wheels contribute to nitrate problems as well. Again, OK for short term, but in the long run they hurt more than they help.
Corax, Please explain your position on the Biowheels further. I have had nothing but GREAT success with it for my Q-tank, which has been up and running for over a year. Granted the bio load on my q-tank is likely quite low. Inquiring mind wishes to know.
I would not recommend anything short of a trickle down filter for a 55 gal or greater f/o tank. Did I mention I built my own trickle for my 125. All for only about $30, not counting filter media and sump pump of course. DIY is the way to go if you have the patience, which in my case is a big if. LOL :laugh:
Corax, thankyou for the suggestions. To be honest, I kind of prefer crushed coral. And to be further honest, the reason I like it is twofold: I like the look of it better than sand and sand is just plain old trendy right now. Kind of like percula clowns (ie, nemo): everyone has them. Which is why I got the little maroon instead. I think he's prettier anyway. 
If you truly believe it is a necessity to change over to the sand I will do so. But I would prefer to keep it the way it is for now. Don't get me wrong though, I *do* appreciate your suggestions even if I get stubborn sometimes. Don't forget to say "I told you so" if this ends up causing me problems: I can take it.
I also am curious as to how the bio-wheels could introduce nitrate into the tank? Shouldn't any healthy biological filter produce nitrate, short of live rock which supposedly helps to remove it somehow? I will remove the bio-wheels once I get all my live rock in the tank and the spike from that is over with if you think it's necessary. I am only going to buy live rock that should present minimal die off: from my LFS, fiji that has been in his tank for at least 3 weeks curing.
Coming from freshwater, it is hard for me to understand how I can overfilter a tank. A trickle down filter ONLY for a 55g? It just seems... inadequate. I have an emperor 400 right now w/bio-wheels, prizm pro deluxe (good up to 300g), and tonight I will be putting my new double helix 36w UV sterilyzer on there. There is also a powerhead in the tank providing additional aeration. In the end, I want 55-60lbs. of LR in the tank with the maroon and 3-4 other small fish (dwarf angel, small wrasse, blenny, maybe a gramma) and some little hermit crabs for cleanup.
If you truly believe it is a necessity to change over to the sand I will do so. But I would prefer to keep it the way it is for now. Don't get me wrong though, I *do* appreciate your suggestions even if I get stubborn sometimes. Don't forget to say "I told you so" if this ends up causing me problems: I can take it.
I also am curious as to how the bio-wheels could introduce nitrate into the tank? Shouldn't any healthy biological filter produce nitrate, short of live rock which supposedly helps to remove it somehow? I will remove the bio-wheels once I get all my live rock in the tank and the spike from that is over with if you think it's necessary. I am only going to buy live rock that should present minimal die off: from my LFS, fiji that has been in his tank for at least 3 weeks curing.
Coming from freshwater, it is hard for me to understand how I can overfilter a tank. A trickle down filter ONLY for a 55g? It just seems... inadequate. I have an emperor 400 right now w/bio-wheels, prizm pro deluxe (good up to 300g), and tonight I will be putting my new double helix 36w UV sterilyzer on there. There is also a powerhead in the tank providing additional aeration. In the end, I want 55-60lbs. of LR in the tank with the maroon and 3-4 other small fish (dwarf angel, small wrasse, blenny, maybe a gramma) and some little hermit crabs for cleanup.
Last edited:
1.) Sand vs Crushed Coral - Crushed coral is bad for trapping waste in it. Over time, that waste will break down and turn into nitrate. In a sand bed, that waste is actually digested by the critters living in it. Various snails, bristleworms, etc.. They will remove the waste before it ever becomes a problem. Furthermore, the lower levels of a DSB, the anaerobic area, is inhabitted by bacteria that will process the nitrate in your tank. You will not see this while using crushed coral. If it were my tank, I'd already be scooping the coral out =)
The short answer is, biowheels are bad for your tank in the same way a wet/dry filter is. Both are notorius for being nitrate factories.
The short answer is, biowheels are bad for your tank in the same way a wet/dry filter is. Both are notorius for being nitrate factories.
I will remove the bio-wheels once the tank has finished the initial cycle and I get some more pre-cured live rock in there. I'm going to leave them for the moment, but they won't be permanent based on the advice I'm seeing from you and several others.
I'm going to leave the coral for now - and will vaccum it with the siphon every two weeks when I change water. It's only about 1" deep in front and 2" deep towards the back so there isn't a huge amount of it in there. Should be fairly easy to keep clean between the siphon and the eventual scavengers I plan on having (ie hermit crabs).
If I'm wrong and the coral ends up causing a serious problem I will remove it. I've been wrong before.
I'm going to leave the coral for now - and will vaccum it with the siphon every two weeks when I change water. It's only about 1" deep in front and 2" deep towards the back so there isn't a huge amount of it in there. Should be fairly easy to keep clean between the siphon and the eventual scavengers I plan on having (ie hermit crabs).
If I'm wrong and the coral ends up causing a serious problem I will remove it. I've been wrong before.
I was hoping for a better explanation than that if you do not mind?
Or are you going on hearsay versus practical experience?
What do you suggest as an alternative means of filtration on a 125?
I ran a biowheel filter, an Emperor 400, on my 29 for 6 months. I watched week after week as the nitrates climbed steadily. I read that biowheels can contribute to nitrates due to the wet/dry nature of their mechanical operation. Apparently, as the biowheel material, or rather the bacteria on it, is exposed to alternating water/air/water/air, nitrate is produced at a far quicker rate. I do not know the reason why this is, but it also happens with those nice expensive undertank wet/dry filters. So I removed my biowheels and within a month or so my nitrate started to vanish. Now, the nitrate consistantly reads zero.
All the tank has is the Emperor 400, empty, for circulation, 40ish lbs of LR and a DSB. The same setup will work on any size tank, as long as you scale accordingly.
Had I not observed it myself, I wouldn't preach about it.
I also don't suggest biowheel for planted tanks, but that's a whole different argument alltogether =) Remember, nitrate = plantfood, thus GOOD for a planted tank... But not if it robs the c02 in the tank.
All the tank has is the Emperor 400, empty, for circulation, 40ish lbs of LR and a DSB. The same setup will work on any size tank, as long as you scale accordingly.
Had I not observed it myself, I wouldn't preach about it.
I also don't suggest biowheel for planted tanks, but that's a whole different argument alltogether =) Remember, nitrate = plantfood, thus GOOD for a planted tank... But not if it robs the c02 in the tank.
I've removed the bio-wheels last night and decided to not wait until I had more stuff in there. That seemed a wiser course of action (to get them out now, rather than later).
So, correct me if I'm wrong here, but with the bio-wheels out of the picture I am relying on two things for bio-filtration: the small amount of live rock I have (15'), and the small amount of area present in the emperor 400's filter box for bacteria to affix to. Other than that all I have running is my protein skimmer and a power head. I intend to add more LR, but with only a single fish to keep in there for a while the 15' should hopefully be enough to support him.
What do you think about taking some of the smaller loose pieces of LR and putting them in my emperor's filter box? Would that assist w/bio filtration? It wouldn't be wet/dry, so it shouldn't cause the problems the bio-wheels do right?
So, correct me if I'm wrong here, but with the bio-wheels out of the picture I am relying on two things for bio-filtration: the small amount of live rock I have (15'), and the small amount of area present in the emperor 400's filter box for bacteria to affix to. Other than that all I have running is my protein skimmer and a power head. I intend to add more LR, but with only a single fish to keep in there for a while the 15' should hopefully be enough to support him.
What do you think about taking some of the smaller loose pieces of LR and putting them in my emperor's filter box? Would that assist w/bio filtration? It wouldn't be wet/dry, so it shouldn't cause the problems the bio-wheels do right?
