My Bio Wheel Doesnt Spin...

Phoenixfish · Apr 28, 2006

ive notest this for quite a while now, the water used to trickle in from the top and straight through the sponge,
this is due to the fairly weak flow of water but,
after abit of tinkering i stumbled on that if i removed the sponges the plastic paddles move again,

now if my understanding is correct a bio wheel increases the amount of oxygen in the falling water, will it still work without the sponges?

because its just wasted space with them in, (note the sponges are now in peices, i was trying to get it to run with half a spinge on each side but it still doesnt work so they are now part of my mechanical filtration
water pumped up -->blue filter sponge --> finer wheel sponges --> filter wool --> wheel and back into tank

Bignose · Apr 28, 2006

Because the wheel is exposed to the air, that is why there is increased oxygen. The beneficial bacteria need oxygen to do their work. The presence of the paddles does not really add oxygen to the water for the fish... the spalshing of the filter return does that.

The sponges are really there fore mechanical and, if you left the carbon in them, chemical filtration. I have found that once every 6 months or so, it is a good idea to take apart the filter machinery, clean the impeller, clean all the insides, especially the inside of the intake pipe. Every time I have done this, I was amazed by how muhc more water goes through the pump. It slows down so gradually that it is hardly noticable, but once you clean it out... wow.

Phoenixfish · Apr 30, 2006

hmm well i havnt had the tank very long at all only like 2 months if that, and after i took the carbon out (as advised) it didnt spin any more as for the pump, its tiny and im not sure if i can actually open it, its like 1" squared, but i did clean it out as best i could the night i posted