Bio-wheel filter and cleaning question

[logans]

My tank has been cycling for the last 2 months so I have done virutally no cleaning of the tank. Now that it is done cycling I was wondering how often I should clean my tank and what parts do I clean as well? Do I just clean the glass and the objects in the tank? Do I clean the filter as well? I don't want to clean out out the bacteria that has grown while it has been cycling for the last 2 months.

I know I am not supposed to clean the wheel on the bio-wheel filter since that has bacteria that has grown on it. I do have another question for others who have a bio-wheel. Do you ever have problems with the wheel not spinning. Mine seems to have stopped spinning. It will spin real slow then stop for a while then spin some more off and on but nothing like it did when I first got the filter. It used to spin much faster and never stopped. I did clean out the filter to make sure the intake wasnt clogged in any way to provide better water flow to help it spin but didn't seem to work. Any help with any of the above questions regarding the wheel or the cleaning of my tank would be great.

---Mike

[mrmoby]

Well...this is what I do

For general cleaning, I do 25% water change bi weekly (some do it weekly, but this level of frequency has always been ok for me). I use a gravel vac for the water change so I can vacuum the gravel at the same time. I also give the inside of the glass a scrub with an algae brush, and usually hit the outside with some glass cleaner. Just be careful not to get the glass cleaner in the tank.

I have two Emperor 400 bio wheel filters. It is not unusual for them to spin erratically once in use. If you are using a smaller filter, the outflow will drive the wheel, just make sure the bearings are seated properly. Try spinning by hand, if it moves, you will be ok. Should you be using a larger filter the wheels are driven by a spray bar, there are two things you can check and / or adjust. You can change the direction of the flow nozzles up and down relative to the wheel, which will effect the rotation. Also, check the flow nozzles to make sure they are in fact flowing. Sometimes they get clogged with algae and gunk and the flow gets restricted.

As for cleaning, there are two more things I do. If I get an over abundance of algae on the decorations and plants, I give them a soak in bleach, followed by a thorough rinse, and drying completely before putting them back. I find this neccesary occasionally, but no more than two or three times a year.

The other thing I do is pull out the filter, completly dissasmble it, and clean all the passages, impeller, housing, etc. Again, this is a two or three times a year project.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

[joe kool]

you can also take your bio wheels and in a small bucket of TANK WATER give them a vigiorus shaking to remove any excess build up and this will helpl them spin better. just as with sponge filters you want to make sure you are using tank water to rinse "IF / when you rinse) to make sure you are preserving the bulk of the good bacteria. The above closely resembles what I do except with 13 tanks sometimes a tank may go 3 or 4 weeks between water changs. (on occasion I cought a tank that got skipped on a cycle and went 2 or 3 months but that just a testiment to the filtration set up on that tank. Nitrates were a little high but no ammonia or nitrite AND the PH had only dropped about .5 so needless to say that tanks pretty solid LOL.

NOTE: I DO NOT reccomend to ANYONE to let a tank go more than a month without atleast a partial water change. All my tanks cycle at 10 times or greater WITHOUT counting the sponge corner filters I use for back up in case power goes out and the tank has to rely on whats inside to keep it going for hours on end. My errant mistakes are the exception not the rule as far a s fish keeping goes.

[logans]

Thanks for the responses, both are very helpful. I do have a follow up question. You mentioned that you give the inside of the glass a scrub with an algae brush and that you use a gravel vac. I have otos, that feed off the algae on the tank walls. Does this mean I should never clean the inside walls of my tank? I don't want to clean away their food source. Also I have a couple of cory catfish that seem to be constantly feeding off the gravel at the bottom of the tank. By using a gravel vac will I be vaccuming away all their food? On the one hand there could be a lot of extra junk building up in the gravel that they don't want but on the other hand, like with the otos I don't want to vaccum away all their food source.

---Mike

[joe kool]

I do use the gravle vac .. mostly the cory's are eating the leftover food particles that get down there .. NOT the POOP that you are gettign out. I usually onle clean my front glass and 1 side that I see inot ... most of my tanks are set up to where 1 of the sides isn't a "viewing" side anyway .. that gives 2 sides and everything in the tank for the algae to grow on, plus I supplement with zuccini for my plecos.

If you're afraid of vaccuming away thier food source just feed well after teh water change... but honestly you never want leftover food in an aquarium.

[mrmoby]

I would definitely use the gravel vac. You won't kill the food source, and you really don't want all the stuff to build up to the point where it will start to affect your water chemistry.

As far as the algae goes, I wouldn't be concerned about cleaning the glass, there is enogh algae growing on every surface inside the tank.

[emc7]

If the bio-wheel stops spinning long enough to dry out, then you need to act. Pull out the axle and clean off any lime build-up or dried algae. But, usuallly mine slow down because the filter cartridge has clogged with algae and slowed the flow through the filter.

[Windmills]

I am having this exact problem with my biowheel slowing down on my penguin filter. It is a small one, for a 20 gallon tank. It slows or stops completely for a couple of minutes, then will spin a little again, then slow again, etc. It's frustrating! And I'm scared that it will dry out and all my bacteria will die because of this!

I cleaned the contacts in tank water and gently shook out the wheel in tank water, but it's still spinning erratically or not at all for a couple of minutes.

So you all say I should try cleaning the filter cartridge next to improve flow?

I will try that.