Do i clean my biowheels...or just the rest of the filter???

[hotwingz]

My wheels are turning really slow on one of my 350's and they look like because they might be too heavy to turn as for they look like theyve done a lot of cleaning! So do i clean them as i would the filters or just let them be.

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[dlfn1]

i usually just rinsed them with some dechlorinated water and used a toothbrush to clean them if they got really cruddy.
u might want to clean the plastic ends that the biowheel turns on, there might be some gunk in there slowing it down.
i didn't like the biowheel, so i got rid of them.

 

[hotwingz]

Ya i just cleaned the bearings on them and they work better now. Thanks though. And i like them just fine. I have mine set up with sponges too so they do pretty good. Id love to get a canister but space and cash dont allow for it. So for now im just running two 350's on my 55.

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[Avatar]

But how do the tank and the fish look?

Extra soft toothbrush and tank water if you must, but know that it's not the RPMs that do the cleaning work - it's the colonies of bacteria that are slowing down the rotation. Slower might be faster in this case....

If it was mine and it was still turning at all I'd likely leave it be depending on the manner and magnitude of crud as the longer the water is in contact with bacteria the greater their ability to metabolize and break down the waste/toxins (ammonia)in the water - think wet/dry system.

 

[hotwingz]

Ya i figured a little extra time in open air was good for them. But they would freeze up for a second every once and a while. A bearing clean fixed it. And the question was.t necassarily i how to fix it, but should i clean them and how. But that got answered anyways

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[Hawkman2000]

I found that the white parts of my bio-wheels were catching on the main case. I sanded them down, prob. solved I have seen this on other penguins as well. but not all of them. When the paper on mine gets to cruddy, I just shake'm off in the tank and let the mechanical media pick it up.

Like you I would love to replace my 350 with a 305 or 306. But I found the bio-media cartridges for the 350 to be very helpful.

 

[hotwingz]

Ah thats a good idea too! I got plenty of junk floating around when i turned and took the filtr off the tank for further cleaning. But what i found to be the real issue was that under the bio wheels there was some bio build up. I cleaned the excess of, cleaned the media and their working ok now. It was more or less a flow issue. But im using in one filter a cartradge an eacy side with a ceramic bio bag and polishing pad, and the other side an old carbon bag (figured its old enough now to have more of a place for bacteria to colonize than its oroginal use) plus a polishing pad. And on my other filter the same set up only another polishing pad instead of carbon. Its been doing pretty good for me. I do have driftwood in the tank and the carbon has helped with some tannin issues. So thumbs up thumbs down? How do you find my filter set up?

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[fischfan13]

I've been keeping Marineland filters with biowheels for about a dozen years.
I have never cleaned a biowheel.
You are killing beneficial bacterial by brushing or rinsing off the wheels.
The wheels rolling around slowly or even VERY slowly do not have any impact on your filtration.

IMO, leave the wheels alone.

 

[lonlangione]

I agree with Bill. If your bio-wheels are moving slow it's probably becasue your water flow is slow.

 

[dogofwar]

Best to keep the biowheel alone. If you really need to clean it, dunk it in a bucket of tank water...

Matt

 

[monfrey29]

Agree, leave the wheels alone.:thumbup:

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[Hawkman2000]

Agree, leave the wheels alone.:thumbup:

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Yah.. like I said, mine were jamming on the case, thats why mine had to be sanded down. Other than that I just wipe the buildup off the case with my finger. I'e had more issues with pieces of plant matter on the impeller, and build up in the intake tube causing flow prob.

I set mine up so I never have to use the blue cartridges again (unless I have to use carbon). I got some 3/4" foam and cut it to fit in place on the rite size carts, wrapped some 100mic. cloth around the grey media cartridges which are filled with Seachem Matrix. once every weeks or 2 I ring out the foam in tank water, and blast out the cloth with a garden hose in my laundry tub. I've been using the same pieces of cloth for about 8 months now, and my water is crystal clear. Had some pH fluctuations and cycle issues when I removed the gravel substrate and changed to sand. But it has been working very well. I have read very good thing about poret foam as well.

I just wish Hagen made a Bio-Wheel line of ACs.

 

[hotwingz]

Ok thats a good idea...with the foam! I was looking for a way to do something other than cartridges when mine wore out. And ya i think the whole filter needed a good cleaning now it has better flow.

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[Hawkman2000]

Don't know if your going to read this, but I stopped by petsmart today (killing some time) and noticed the 30 mic filter foam for a rena filter. It is approx 1/2" thick and almost the exact same size as the rite size C cartridge. Should work pretty well.