Biowheel

Do biowheels and bioballs do the same thing? I have a Marineland emperor 400. If not what do biowheels do?

 

Both provide a medium for the growth of beneficial bacteria. Similar to a Wet/Dry or Trickle filter.

 

I was told to remove biowheels as they are nitrate factories.

 

People say the same about bioballs.

The Emp 400 is well used across the hobby. Freshwater and salt. I have 2 but didn't like the noise.

 

I have used the emperor 400 with a fish only setup. It worked pretty well, once again, for fish only. I wouldn't use one for a reef tank unless you are working with corals that tolerate dirtier water such as xenia, clove polyps, anthelia and stuff like that.

 

by the way, BMX, I like all of your questions. Means you are trying to do things the right way.

 

Thank you. I decided that the best decision is to remove the biowheels since I will be doing a reef. I had bad experiences with previous tanks and now that I have a steady income would like to do everything right.

 

since I took the biowheels out will there still be bacteria in the rocks and sand to convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates?

 

Good call. Live rock can take care of the biological for you. HOB certainly have ease of maint going for them.

What a sump can do for you is first, add more water volume to your system. This is a good thing because mistakes that you make or when the unexpected happens, they happen slower in a 100 gallons of water vs 50 gallons. Second, gives you a place to hide equipment so the display tank (DT) looks clean.

Are you planning on running a protein skimmer?

 

Yes I plan on having a 10 gallon sump with a protein skimmer and UV sterilizer. im going to most likely have a pretty small protein skimmer because the sump is so small but I heard that just means it will need more maintenance. I am also considering a cannister filter so the display has less in it.