Biowheels and nitarte sponges

what are the pros and cons of both of these?

 

really no one? ive heard biowheels can be no3 factories but will the sponge do anything?

 

I've heard the same thing, even though I have never had a bio wheel. As for the NO3 sponge, I have used everything out there to lower my No3 and none of that chit works(IMO). I did find out what was keeping my NO3 @20ppm thou. It was my sponges and filter pad. I started to clean them at least once a week and they have come down to 5-10ppm, which is fine by me. I hope this helps, Luna

 

I've used biowheels on freshwater systems before. The whole point to the biowheel is that it provides a large, highly oxic surface area for aerobic bacteria. These are the guys that convert ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate.

When I ran it on a (freshwater)tank that was going through the initial phases of the cycle it kept ammonia levels very low, but nitrites and nitrates were very high. On other tanks that I've had go through the cycle, ammonia levels were initially much higher, and it took a couple of weeks to establish a filter flora that processed ammonia -->nitrites -->nitrates

In sum, they're a great way to rapidly reduce ammonia, but they can result in a lot of nitrates. I suppose if you combined the biowheel with some type of nitrate sink it could be used on a reef tank, but it doesn't seem to be a very common technique. Of course my experience should be taken with a grain of salt (or lack therof) since it was with freshwater systems, perhaps they function differently in a marine setting.

 

wouldnt these wheels stop spinning after time. It seems that i cant even keep the ones on freshwater spinning due the swell they go through, and build up of algae and whatever else.

 

I've had one running on my freshwater tank for 2 years with no problem. Is yours a Penguin brand?

 

i believe it is.

 

I use one on my 10 gallon, I think its a penguin, never clean it but do clean the Pads once a week and replace once a month. Wheel keeps on a rolling, getting kind of jerky but still rolling. As I remember it was the same for my fresh water system.

It is my only filtration for the 120, as far as nitrites and nitrates go not a problem and I have been running the same wheel since last July 12th.

 

i must have gotten a dud lol. I use a fluidized bed now, due to giving up.

 

Nitarte (nitrate) sponge works to remove potential nitrates by adsorbing ammonia and nitrite, and claims to remove nitrate by fostering anaerobic bacteria deep within the pores of the media. I am skeptical about the "anaerobic" bacteria claim, but I do beleive nitrate sponge should do some work on removing ammonia and nitrite. I think that one of the most effective ways to denitrify aquariums is to add live rock, which fosters anaerobic bacteria deep inside the pores, much like the nitrate sponge claims to do. Bio wheels do a great job at converting ammonia and nitrates, but nitrate sponge adsorbs them. Also, Bio wheels add nitrates almost uncontrollably, and nitrate sponge probably just removes ammonia and nitrate without even touching nitrate that's already in your system.