Take out Bio-Wheel on eclipse?
- Thread starter shag26272
- Start date
- Location
- Virginia
The rationale is that it only holds aerobic bacteria, and you want to promote a good balance with anaerobic bacteria, the end result being that you create a "nitrate factory" affect with a bio wheel. This is an often debated theory, though (although most reefers go the way of removing anything that promotes only aerobic bacteria, myself included), and you'll find proponents of each side. Also, in one of my LFSs, I saw a new product they are promoting that is basically a giant bio wheel on a coral propagation tank. Don't know the story behind it, if it's significantly different from a bio-wheel or not, but it's there.
I've got 2 Eclipses running here at home, a 5g and a 25g. The 5 has been running since January and the 25 since February.
Out of sheer laziness I have not removed the biowheels but have no significant nitrates (under 5 ppm which is consistent with my Berlin style 55 that has no filtration, except a kick-butt skimmer). Both tanks have at least 1 lb per gallon of dense Fiji rock.
IMO if you've got enough dense LR to perform the anaerobic part of the cycle, the biowheel will neither hinder nor harm.
While bio-wheels and bio-balls are often referred to as "nitrate factories", I think this is a bit of a misnomer. The media themselves do not PRODUCE the nitrate (as a factory produces products) but rather they harbor nitrates, a byproduct of the bacterial breakdown of wastes. Over time, there is not enough anaerobic activity within them to break the nitrates down into nitrogen gas, and that's where they falter.
Either way, if you've got enough flow and enough live rock in your tank, you shouldn't notice a difference either way.
One good thing about bio-wheels is if you want/need to get another tank going in a hurry, and the bio-wheel is the same size on the new tank as the old, you can swap an established biowheel into the new tank, and have virtually "instant" cycled tank.
HTH
Jenn
Out of sheer laziness I have not removed the biowheels but have no significant nitrates (under 5 ppm which is consistent with my Berlin style 55 that has no filtration, except a kick-butt skimmer). Both tanks have at least 1 lb per gallon of dense Fiji rock.
IMO if you've got enough dense LR to perform the anaerobic part of the cycle, the biowheel will neither hinder nor harm.
While bio-wheels and bio-balls are often referred to as "nitrate factories", I think this is a bit of a misnomer. The media themselves do not PRODUCE the nitrate (as a factory produces products) but rather they harbor nitrates, a byproduct of the bacterial breakdown of wastes. Over time, there is not enough anaerobic activity within them to break the nitrates down into nitrogen gas, and that's where they falter.
Either way, if you've got enough flow and enough live rock in your tank, you shouldn't notice a difference either way.
One good thing about bio-wheels is if you want/need to get another tank going in a hurry, and the bio-wheel is the same size on the new tank as the old, you can swap an established biowheel into the new tank, and have virtually "instant" cycled tank.
HTH
Jenn
i have an 85 gal with 2 eclipse#3 models as a hood. i have 2 custom sea life 55 watt power compact retro fit smart lites installed. i have tested weekly for nitrate. i run my skimmer 24/7. i have had my bio wheels running for 6 months now and my corals are healthy and growing. the eclipse system has limited my options on how i can grow. for example , when i bought my skimmer i had 2 cut a hole in the side of the hood. what a task! i am gonna loose the eclipse and have a canopy made so i can get a sump and some more powerful lighting. if i had the chance to do it all over again, i wouldnt have went with eclpise. imho, you can have a nice tank with eclipse, but until more products come availabe to use with the eclipse, i wouldnt recommend it.
I used a visi-jet for about 2 months...then it went into my salvage box
Perhaps for a 29 it might be OK but for a 55 it was trash, and it's *supposed* to be rated up to 75 g.
I've got the next step up the skimmer food chain....a Sea Clone (I know....it was given to me, I didn't buy it!) and actually with the right fine tuning (no mods) it works. I use that tank for isolation/quarantine, so it only has one resident fish and one in for rehab so bioload isn't an issue.
Jenn
I've got the next step up the skimmer food chain....a Sea Clone (I know....it was given to me, I didn't buy it!) and actually with the right fine tuning (no mods) it works. I use that tank for isolation/quarantine, so it only has one resident fish and one in for rehab so bioload isn't an issue.
Jenn
I just ordered a 55 watt csl Power compact yesterday. I have a visijet PS protein skimmer that fits entirely inside my tank so i didnt have to cut a hole. It has been working pretty good since i set my tank up about a month ago. I probabally will not use eclipse for my next tank bc of the limited options though.
SeaClone doesn't have a really great reputation as a skimmer. Take it from me and buy the best skimmer you really really want.
Here's my opinion on the bio-wheels. If you plan on stocking and/or feeding heavily, then the bio-wheel will provide you a lot more capability than just LR and LS. I don't necessarily think that it's a nitrate factory, but it can be a significant nitrate contributor. I removed my biowheel and my NO3 went from 20ppm to <10ppm and is at zero now that my sand be is really working.
Unless you think that the biowheel is making a truly useful contribution to your system, I would remove it. You've got more than enough biological filtration capacity in the LR.
Ty
Here's my opinion on the bio-wheels. If you plan on stocking and/or feeding heavily, then the bio-wheel will provide you a lot more capability than just LR and LS. I don't necessarily think that it's a nitrate factory, but it can be a significant nitrate contributor. I removed my biowheel and my NO3 went from 20ppm to <10ppm and is at zero now that my sand be is really working.
Unless you think that the biowheel is making a truly useful contribution to your system, I would remove it. You've got more than enough biological filtration capacity in the LR.
Ty
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