bio-wheel can increase fish capacity?

[nkh]

i'm a total newbie at this so please don't hurt me ;-)

i received a 21 gallon tank kit as a birthday gift. after getting some basic
advice from two local pet stores, i installed the included undergravel
filter/power head, put in 30lbs of gravel, used water conditioner, add some
bacteria starter/booster and started it running. i waited a couple of days
and then bought 4 goldfish (all orandas: two 2.5-inchers and two
1.5-inchers). the woman at the aquarium store seemed to think that 4
goldfish were fine in there. it's been only two weeks now and i've already
done a partial water change (about 40%) and the goldies seem very, very
happy and healthy so far. now, to my total dismay, i'm reading that it is
recommended to have only 1 goldfish per 10 gallons...ugh, that means i have
two fish too many. i read somewhere that using a bio-wheel will allow me to
maintain more fish in the aquarium since it is so efficient at removing
ammonia. so, my question: if i add a bio-wheel to the system and do a good
water change every two weeks, can i safely keep the 4 goldies i have now? is
there any way i could even *add* 2 or 3 more? i've been reading as much as i
can but i can't seem to find the correct answer for this question. thanks.

my other question is, how do they manage to keep so many fish in the
aquariums at the store?? they all look like 15-gallon models to me and
easily have 8-10 goldies in there.

cb

[Gunther]

In article >,
says...
> i'm a total newbie at this so please don't hurt me ;-)
>
> i received a 21 gallon tank kit as a birthday gift. after getting some basic
> advice from two local pet stores, i installed the included undergravel
> filter/power head, put in 30lbs of gravel, used water conditioner, add some
> bacteria starter/booster and started it running. i waited a couple of days
> and then bought 4 goldfish (all orandas: two 2.5-inchers and two
> 1.5-inchers). the woman at the aquarium store seemed to think that 4
> goldfish were fine in there. it's been only two weeks now and i've already
> done a partial water change (about 40%) and the goldies seem very, very
> happy and healthy so far. now, to my total dismay, i'm reading that it is
> recommended to have only 1 goldfish per 10 gallons...ugh, that means i have
> two fish too many. i read somewhere that using a bio-wheel will allow me to
> maintain more fish in the aquarium since it is so efficient at removing
> ammonia. so, my question: if i add a bio-wheel to the system and do a good
> water change every two weeks, can i safely keep the 4 goldies i have now? is
> there any way i could even *add* 2 or 3 more? i've been reading as much as i
> can but i can't seem to find the correct answer for this question. thanks.

Well, it's partly a religious issue, I think. The fact of the matter is
that goldfish like clean water. 10g per fish is a good rule of thumb
that allows you to keep up with water maintenance to keep it clean.
Any less leaves too little margin for error or slackness on your part:
miss one scheduled water change and the fish are in real trouble.

PetCo's training manual teaches its employees that 2gallons per
inch of goldfish is the rule. By that metric, you're OK for a while
(8" of fish = 16gal). And I agree, up to a point: for now, you can
probably manage it with agressive water changes. By agressive, I mean
40-50%/week. And start saving for a 55G setup with something other
than UG filtration. In about 3 months you'll either need more
water or fewer fish.
>
> my other question is, how do they manage to keep so many fish in the
> aquariums at the store?? they all look like 15-gallon models to me and
> easily have 8-10 goldies in there.

They are pros, they usually have filtration systems that in effect
replace the water continually. But they also are there to make sure
you don't see dead or sickly fish. For all you know, half of those
8-10 fish die every night and get replaced, yes?

Gunther

[[email protected]]

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/care1.htm#essentials
the easiest course for people new to keeping GF is bare tank. no gravel and an
external filter like a whisper or aquaclear. the tank needs to be "aged" first with
a salt brine (add salt till it doesnt dissolve anymore)
no point in adding the bacteria until you have the fish in the tank. look for
biospira, it actually works!!!
take 2 fish back
what are your water quality parameters, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH? get tests
for all these and keep ammonia and nitrates to almost zero with water changes, keep
nitrates at or below 20 ppm. get high quality, high protein GF food and feed much
less of it. a couple flakes or pellets per fish per meal 2x per day.
biowheels are not really great for GF. get an external or one where you can stuff
the thing with polyester batting. the media of choice. Ingrid


"nkh" > wrote:

>i'm a total newbie at this so please don't hurt me ;-)
>
>i received a 21 gallon tank kit as a birthday gift. after getting some basic
>advice from two local pet stores, i installed the included undergravel
>filter/power head, put in 30lbs of gravel, used water conditioner, add some
>bacteria starter/booster and started it running. i waited a couple of days
>and then bought 4 goldfish (all orandas: two 2.5-inchers and two
>1.5-inchers). the woman at the aquarium store seemed to think that 4
>goldfish were fine in there. it's been only two weeks now and i've already
>done a partial water change (about 40%) and the goldies seem very, very
>happy and healthy so far. now, to my total dismay, i'm reading that it is
>recommended to have only 1 goldfish per 10 gallons...ugh, that means i have
>two fish too many. i read somewhere that using a bio-wheel will allow me to
>maintain more fish in the aquarium since it is so efficient at removing
>ammonia. so, my question: if i add a bio-wheel to the system and do a good
>water change every two weeks, can i safely keep the 4 goldies i have now? is
>there any way i could even *add* 2 or 3 more? i've been reading as much as i
>can but i can't seem to find the correct answer for this question. thanks.
>
>my other question is, how do they manage to keep so many fish in the
>aquariums at the store?? they all look like 15-gallon models to me and
>easily have 8-10 goldies in there.
>
>cb
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Watkins Lady]

Ingrid, I have heard you mention a few times about the bio wheels. I have
one on my tank and wondered why. I noticed the last few times I did water
changes and rinsed the media that there was "fluff" and cloudy water coming
out when I turned the filter back on. Could this be caused from the wheels
(there are 2 compartments / 2 wheels on this filter). Should I take the
wheels off?

Watkins Lady

[[email protected]]

do you empty the biowheel completely when cleaning the media? was there water in the
compartment where the course filter material sits?
the biowheel itself does not (or so I been told) does not need to be cleaned. that
is the advantage of a biowheel. Ingrid

"Watkins Lady" > wrote:

>Ingrid, I have heard you mention a few times about the bio wheels. I have
>one on my tank and wondered why. I noticed the last few times I did water
>changes and rinsed the media that there was "fluff" and cloudy water coming
>out when I turned the filter back on. Could this be caused from the wheels
>(there are 2 compartments / 2 wheels on this filter). Should I take the
>wheels off?
>
>Watkins Lady
>



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Gail Futoran]

"Watkins Lady" > wrote in
message
...
> Ingrid, I have heard you mention a few times about the bio
wheels. I have
> one on my tank and wondered why. I noticed the last few
times I did water
> changes and rinsed the media that there was "fluff" and
cloudy water coming
> out when I turned the filter back on. Could this be
caused from the wheels
> (there are 2 compartments / 2 wheels on this filter).
Should I take the
> wheels off?
>
> Watkins Lady

Chiming in, since I have biowheel power filters
on all my tanks:
-the biowheels contain the good "bugs" and
should not be cleaned or replaced unless
damaged to the point where they won't turn.
As they get "coated" with good bugs, they'll
turn much slower than at first. That's good!
Check out Marineland's site:
http://www.marineland.com/science/biowheel.asp

-the filter material should be cleaned in
extracted tank water as you clean filter
material in any other power filter.

-about every other partial water change I
clean the filter itself well. (I.e., about once
a month.) I drop the biowheel in extracted tank
water (or in the aquarium itself), rinse the filter
material in extracted tank water, then rinse and
scrub lightly (with bottle washer) inside the filter
using regular old tap water. I figure there are
plenty of bio bugs on the wheel and the filter
material and not enough icky (chloramines)
tap water gets into the tank to cause a problem
I also clean the impeller with a small bottle
brush, since it can gunk up. Pretty much anywhere
I can reach with a bottle brush I clean.

HTH - Gail

[saki]

"Gail Futoran" > wrote in news:5dbsc.55073
:

> -the filter material should be cleaned in
> extracted tank water as you clean filter
> material in any other power filter.

I'm new to the Bio-Wheel myself and wonder if I could ask for a
clarification.

I have the Penguin Mini Bio-Wheel running on a small tank with two small
goldfish. After setting it up two weeks ago it's performing marvelously.

How often, though, does one change the square, flat filter cartridge that
fits into the external compartment? Do you just rinse this and reuse a few
times, or change it for a new one every couple weeks?

Your info is much appreciated. My fish are much livelier since introducing
this filter.

----

[Gail Futoran]

"saki" > wrote in message
...
> "Gail Futoran" > wrote in
news:5dbsc.55073
> :
>
> > -the filter material should be cleaned in
> > extracted tank water as you clean filter
> > material in any other power filter.
>
> I'm new to the Bio-Wheel myself and wonder if I could ask
for a
> clarification.
>
> I have the Penguin Mini Bio-Wheel running on a small tank
with two small
> goldfish. After setting it up two weeks ago it's
performing marvelously.
>
> How often, though, does one change the square, flat filter
cartridge that
> fits into the external compartment? Do you just rinse this
and reuse a few
> times, or change it for a new one every couple weeks?

That cartridge has carbon in it. A lot of hobbyists
(me included) don't use carbon except for special
purposes, like following medication - which I
avoid in the main tanks anyway.

Other than that there's no real purpose for carbon
except to make $ for the manufacturers. I cut
out the carbon and use the cartridge as a barrier
for a piece of foam filter insert made by AquaClear.
I usually have to cut it down a bit to fit my
filters but it lasts a long time and adds mechanical
filtration as well as additional biological filtration.

I rinse the filter material (including the black
plastic cartridge) in extracted tank water each
time I do a partial water change. My tanks are
well established with lots of plants so I don't
need to do a PWC more often than once
every two weeks. But goldfish are generally
messier than tropical fish, so maybe once per
week is a good idea. Other posters might have
good suggestions about that. My only goldfish
are in an outdoor pond.

> Your info is much appreciated. My fish are much livelier
since introducing
> this filter.

I really like the Marineland power filters. We
get a fair number of power outages around here
and in >8 years only one mini power filter has
died following a blackout. And the power outage
might not have been the cause. It was my oldest
power filter.

Gail