(((bio-wheels)))

[eha1322]

IS A - 125 penguin bio-wheel any good for a nano??? ??

[jburke30]

Greetings eha1322,

 

Personally, I like them, but many would tell you that they are nitrate factories. The dicussion has gone around the list many times in the past, and many have stated that bio-wheels product nitrate. However, I don't belive that's reality at all. After some research I have found that the best explanation is that these types of aerobic wet-dry filters are exceptionally good at converting amonia to nitrite and then to nitrate. While this sounds like a great thing (and it can be in some circumstances) the problem is that these filters ignore the final step of the cycle by not being able to do anything with the produced nitrate. This can often cause nitrate levels to soar very quickly in small nano-tanks (at one time my nitrate levels we above 100 because of decaying matter in the substrate).

 

So in other words the nitrate production happens so quickly that the rest of the tank is unable to use or convert the nitrate. Also at high levels of nitrate, +50, higher algae effectively starts dying off, and lower forms easily take over (cynobacteria, yech =).

 

If you're planning on using a bio-wheel (I do with no issue) you'll need to make sure that you have some means to use up the nitrate (algae scrubbers, or other denitrifiers), let the tank settle in for a bit longer than most (a month at least), and keep a close eye on nitrate levels in the tank and be prepared to handle high levels with water changes quickly.