Bio wheels? Are they any good at all?

Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any real benefit
at all?

Ive seen some on ebay and they claim to remove nitrites and ammonia and can
help with oxygenation etc?

So, are they any good and does anyone know of any in the uk as all the ebay
ones seem to be US ones pretty much.
--
Donegal Paul - On the mend
Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
Vespa T5 Millenium - intact
www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?

"Donegal Paul" wrote in
message ...
| Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any
real benefit
| at all?
|

They don't REMOVE ammonia and nitrites persay.
What they do is provide an excellent environment for the
bacterium that process the waste in your tank. The alternating
immersion\emmersion seems to be superior to media that is always
underwater.

"Billy" wrote in message
...

"Donegal Paul" wrote in
message ...
| Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any
real benefit
| at all?
|

They don't REMOVE ammonia and nitrites persay.
What they do is provide an excellent environment for the
bacterium that process the waste in your tank. The alternating
immersion\emmersion seems to be superior to media that is always
underwater.


They are pretty good when they work. You may have problems with thw wheel
getting stuck, or not turning if water flow decreases. I tried a few, one
worked well, 2 kept getting stuck.

Limnophile

"Limnophile" wrote in message
...
| They don't REMOVE ammonia and nitrites persay.
| What they do is provide an excellent environment for the
| bacterium that process the waste in your tank. The alternating
| immersion\emmersion seems to be superior to media that is always
| underwater.
|
|
| They are pretty good when they work. You may have problems with thw
wheel
| getting stuck, or not turning if water flow decreases. I tried a
few, one
| worked well, 2 kept getting stuck.
|

Correct. It is important to keep the axles and axle-ways clean and
free of debris. It is normal for an established bio-wheel to 'hitch'
or stop on occasion, but if it stops long enough for the pleated
fabric to start drying, you have a problem. I prefer the filters with
a spray bar that is directed at the wheel to keep it rolling. Even
with the wheel loaded up with 2 years worth of gorp and slime, as
long as I keep the axles clear, it never stops.

Donegal Paul wrote:

Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any real
benefit at all?
Ive seen some on ebay and they claim to remove nitrites and ammonia
and can help with oxygenation etc?

They are very beneficial. They do not remove the ammonia products
themselves, but rather they provide a place for bacteria to grow, and
the bacteria do the actual work. A bio-wheel is pretty much a powerful
wet/dry filter in a very small space.

I have bio-wheels on three of my four tanks, and they do a great job on
all of them. The only problem I ever had with one was when a snail
managed to climb into the biowheel chamber and jam the wheel. Aside
from that I've had no trouble with them at all.


--
Eric Schreiber
www.ericschreiber.com

On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 13:36:54 -0000, A strange species called "Donegal
Paul" wrote:

Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any real benefit
at all?

Ive seen some on ebay and they claim to remove nitrites and ammonia and can
help with oxygenation etc?

So, are they any good and does anyone know of any in the uk as all the ebay
ones seem to be US ones pretty much.

You would have to buy a US one and then get a small step-down
converter to run on UK mains electric as the company that makes them
does not sell in the UK.

I am going to get a Penguin 170 Bio-Wheel, which will be in addition
to a Eheim external power filter I'm going to use on a 30g tank.

John

"Donegal Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi all, im a little confused by these, are they actually of any real
benefit at all?

Ive seen some on ebay and they claim to remove nitrites and ammonia and
can help with oxygenation etc?

So, are they any good and does anyone know of any in the uk as all the
ebay ones seem to be US ones pretty much.
--
Donegal Paul - On the mend
Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
Vespa T5 Millenium - intact
www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?


See:

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs.asp

Check out the scientific literature by the director of Marineland on that
site as well.

"luminos" wrote in message
...


See:

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs.asp

Check out the scientific literature by the director of Marineland on that
site as well.





yup, that certainly is an unbiased analysis of biowheels ;op

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

"Margolis" wrote in message
...
"luminos" wrote in message
...


See:

http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs.asp

Check out the scientific literature by the director of Marineland on that
site as well.





yup, that certainly is an unbiased analysis of biowheels ;op

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq






Idiot. You do not get published in peer-reviewed journals with biased
articles. Idiot.

"luminos" wrote in message
...


Idiot. Idiot.





hmm, you must be right. Just because marineland developed, makes, sells and
profits from biowheels must mean that they are totally unbiased about them
;o(

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq