Bio-Wheel
Contents:
- Dustin, achive material enclosed..
by mbmccabe-at-bronze.coil.com (Matt McCabe) (13 Jun 1994)
by mbmccabe-at-bronze.coil.com (Matt McCabe)
Date: 13 Jun 1994
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
> Ok! I'm almost convinced. A couple more quick ones, though...
After reading your message (this one i'm replying to, that is...) I think
teh BW Pro is even more suited to your uses.... Check this out...
> The Bio-Wheel Pro 30 uses a powerhead to drive the water into the bio-wheel,
> and uses a sponge to pre-filter the water, no? Wouldn't the suction on the
> filter "suck up" my fry?
The sponge pre-filter actually works to acheive the opposite
effect. In fact many people jury-rig a sponge ot the end of their
box-type power filter's intake to disperse the suction over a larger area
thus reducing the force of suction per any given area. (Am I making sense
here?)
> Is all of the output of the powerhead going into the drip for the wheel, or
> is some of it vented into the tank? What kind of currents will this induce
> into the water??
Well, the answer is yes _or_ no _and_ yes. Look at this:
(ASCII-art is an oxymoron)
__________
/=| |
| | Main Box |
R^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^|__________|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^R
| |o o |
| | ^^^^ ^^^^^ |
| +---+ | ^ |
| |PH | | | |
| +---+==***===U Slow |
| /H\ \\ Flow |
| HHH of |
| HHH Water |
| HHH from |
| HHH here |
| |
|___________________________________________|
Okay, in some order:
PH = powerhead
13 H's = the sponge prefilter underneath the PH
== is the PH outflow
*** = the plumbing 'flow vent'
\\
===U = another peice of plumbing, a J-tube or elbow
The stack of verticle |'s represent the 12" section of 3/4" vinyl
tubing that leads to the BW Pro main unit which is clamped on the frame of
the aquarium.
*** will be refered to as just *** now.
\\
If you are familiar with Penguin powerheads or Magnum canister
filters, *** in the diagram is a slight modification of the directional
output that comes on the outflow of either of these. If not, just keep
reading. :) It is basically a tube with a flap attached to the end which
can be rotated around the tube 360deg and be pushed fully open or fully
closed over the tube (a full 90deg of motion). Imagine == (from the
diagram), which is the PH outflow, again here, I'll put a directional piece
on it and I'll show the movements here as well as I can:
__
== ==\ ==|
full forward down directed minimum flow
outflow outflow outflow
* Note, invisible (in ASCII) parts: the hinge for these movements is on
the second equal sign on all three diagrams. Also, the directional piece
on a BWE Pro 30 is attached to the \\ part on the BW Pro's plumbing.
All these movements are done in a single plane of movement and
that plane cane be rotated 360deg around the PH outflow (or whatever
outflow the directional piece is on.)
Please feel free to question any of this. If I have any luck,
you're familiar with Marinland/Penguin filters already and know what I'm
talking about. Direct questions to mbmccabe-at-bronze.coil.com. :)
> Last, (and very important) how hard is it to move the bio-wheel from tank to
> tank? This new tank will have periods of days/weeks where it will be empty,
> and I had envisioned a power filter that was easy to move so I could hang it
> on my everyday show tank to keep the little bacteria critters alive between
> tank-loads of guppies.
Refering, again, to the diagram, the o's below the Main Box are
plastic finger-screws which clamp the Main Box to the glass. (part of
the Main Box extend over the back to fit roughly behind the finger screws)
I leave mine alone most of the time, but can make some
observations: the finger-screws are quite sufficient to hold the MB on
the rim of the tank; it is easy to think you have to over-tighten the
screws (I did and cracked a piece on the filter), but the MB is very
light; if you tighten the screws only 'just enough,' it will be simple to
move it from tank to tank. The powerhead simply attaches to the aquarium
glass with a suction cup.
Good idea about keeping the filter going between fry generations. :)
--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw
-=-=-=-=- Matt McCabe -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- mbmccabe-at-bronze.coil.com -=-=-=-=-
--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw
-=-=-=-=- Matt McCabe -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- mbmccabe-at-bronze.coil.com -=-=-=-=-
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