# Bio Wheel with Canister Filter



## never quit (Apr 5, 2010)

Okay, I just got a Magnum 350 pro canister for a 100 gallon tank (I'm still in the process of getting the tank setup). It also comes with two bio wheels. Since the canister will hold a lot of the bacteria, along with the gravel and such, are the bio wheels necessary? The reason I ask is that's about four more hose splices and connections....I'm starting to get paranoid about some part of the canister system developing a leak when I'm gone and wind up with a drained tank.
So, I've got two questions for the experts:

1. Can I maintain a biologically stable tank with only the canister and not the bio wheels?

2. Anyone have horror stores about canisters draining the water out of the tank? Is there something I can do to minimize this preceived problem?

Thanks
Never Quit


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

never quit said:


> Okay, I just got a Magnum 350 pro canister for a 100 gallon tank (I'm still in the process of getting the tank setup). It also comes with two bio wheels. Since the canister will hold a lot of the bacteria, along with the gravel and such, are the bio wheels necessary? The reason I ask is that's about four more hose splices and connections....I'm starting to get paranoid about some part of the canister system developing a leak when I'm gone and wind up with a drained tank.
> So, I've got two questions for the experts:
> 
> 1. Can I maintain a biologically stable tank with only the canister and not the bio wheels?


Yes, you can. In a non-planted tank, there's no such thing as 'too much filtration' though.


never quit said:


> 2. Anyone have horror stores about canisters draining the water out of the tank? Is there something I can do to minimize this preceived problem?
> 
> Thanks
> Never Quit


I have no horror stories, although I know, a canister could totally drain a tank in an houror two at the most (although it's extremely unlikely). If you follow the instructions, I'm sure you'll be fine... but if you're worried, you can always apply some silicone or wrap some plumber's tape around all the connections.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm also a little paranoid about my canister leaking. I have a 2-gallon bucket (from a big-box home improvement store) that the canister sits in nicely. The idea being the bucket will catch leaks early. I don't have an alarm on my tank, but any leak you develop is likely to be a small leak initially. The bucket catches any leaks around my canister and the canister inflow-outflow lines are angled so any seeping water (at joints) should end up dripping into the bucket. I just make a visual inspection of the bucket every day or two for my piece of mind. 

Don't forget a GFCI outlet for all the electrical!

If you want a loud audible alarm, Home Depot sells a water alarm, I think it's called water watchdog, or bulldog, something like that. It's on their web site if not in the store. When that water alarm goes off, it's like a smoke detector, really loud. We use it at work to remind us not to overflow our 100 liter DI water storage tank - you can hear it 100' away easily. Stick the contacts of the alarm in the bucket bottom. Won't stop a catastrophic failure, but those are unlikely - a small steady, unnoticed, leak is much more likely, IMO.

Additional thought - put your intake and returns @ upper or mid-tank level, that would at least limit the amount that would be siphoned out due to a complete failure of your plumbing!


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## never quit (Apr 5, 2010)

Thanks! I was thinking of that, putting some silcon on the hoses....Hopefully, my fears are ungrounded. 

Thanks for the information
Never Quit


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## never quit (Apr 5, 2010)

Thanks for the tips! Those are good ideas....I'll get a GFI and the water alarm would also be a good idea....I just hope I don't need them!

Never Quit


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## lipadj46 (Dec 30, 2010)

I would use the bio wheels otherwise maybe get a canister that holds more bio media instead of the magnum.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

Coincidentally - my 29 gallon tank's bottom failed quite "catastrophically" after I posted here this evening. Talk about leaks! I saved the fish, put them into a 5 gallon bucket, moved the small canister to the bucket and now I have a 5-gallon bucket aquarium. Not pretty, but works and even has a heater... New tank tomorrow, that one was over 17 years old.

Point is that accidents, by definition, are never the ones you plan for!
Now, I've got to go wet-vac the carpet again...


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## never quit (Apr 5, 2010)

Okay, I need to add a little bit more information.....The 100 gallon tank will have live plants. I understand they help out with the biological stability...If I don't need the bio wheels, I'd like not to use them. However, if the tank size is just too big for only a canister filter and the bio wheels are needed, then that's a different story. What do you think? Any experiences?

Thanks
Never Quit


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

never quit said:


> Okay, I need to add a little bit more information.....The 100 gallon tank will have live plants. I understand they help out with the biological stability...If I don't need the bio wheels, I'd like not to use them. However, if the tank size is just too big for only a canister filter and the bio wheels are needed, then that's a different story. What do you think? Any experiences?
> 
> Thanks
> Never Quit


The first question is how heavily are you stocking? If you don't stock really heavily, and don't massively overfeed, you probably wouldn't actually need the HOB at all. The HOB is nice for pulling out debris in the water though. 

Next question, what fish? In a planted tank, you don't usually want a huge amount of current and some fish prefer very slow-moving water.

Finally, you can have too much bio-filtration. Your bacteria can out-compete the plants for nutrients in the water. If it's going to be a planted tank, I'd say lose the bio-wheels.


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

I'm no expert but when we think about it, bio-wheels, bio-balls, bio-ceramics, bio-fiber, bio-sponge....it all comes down to providing a place where a bacteria colony can grow and thrive. Frankly, back in the day, regular old gravel and a UGF were used effectively for bio-filtration.
So wheels, balls, ceramics, foams, fibers - just make sure you have plenty in the canister and logic suggests it will be fine - the bacteria really aren't that fussy.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

DKRST said:


> Finally, you can have too much bio-filtration. Your bacteria can out-compete the plants for nutrients in the water. If it's going to be a planted tank, I'd say lose the bio-wheels.


Not sure that I agree with this. Your bacteria colony size will only grow to what's needed to handle the waste produced by the fish load you have. There won't be an excess of bacteria. So, whether you have the bio-wheels or not, there will be bacteria colonizing on other surfaces.


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## AbbeysDad (Mar 28, 2011)

jeaninel said:


> Not sure that I agree with this. Your bacteria colony size will only grow to what's needed to handle the waste produced by the fish load you have. There won't be an excess of bacteria. So, whether you have the bio-wheels or not, there will be bacteria colonizing on other surfaces.


I don't agree either - plants or no plants, it seems to me that bio-mass population will self regulate naturally.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

I agree totally that the bacteria mass will self-regulate. That wasn't what I meant. My point is the bio-wheels, which work by providing a more aerobic/oxygen-rich environment for the bacteria (allowing greater bacterial activity), are very effective. 

Here is the issue with a planted tank as I understand it: if you have an excess of very effective biological media substrate of any type (providing lots of oxygen to the bacteria, allowing to work at their most optimum) the bacteria can metabolize fish waste faster than the plants can take it up. Fish's "poop" and urine (nitrogenous waste products/ammonia) are plant food . This can lead to less than optimal plant growth. In addition, the more water agitation you have, the more CO2 is driven off from the system. That's another reason to not use the bio-wheels. 

Please feel free to check other threads in this forum or on the planted tank forum for corroboration. Planted tanks are handled a little differently. You want minimal surface disruption and modest, not maximum, bio-filtration. Plants do help the water quality issue by uptake and conversion of waste products, but the bacteria have the potential to out-compete the plants for certain nutrients.


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