Upgrading from Bio-Wheel to Magnum Canister...

HollyinWA

This is what I would do. Hope the change goes well. Canister filters are great!

LisaC144

I'm still confused on what the benefit is of running the 2 HOB's AND canister but then stuffing the media in the canister later down the road. Why not just stuff the canister now, and remove the HOB's? I'm just curious for my own knowledge, not questioning anyone's opinion.

HollyinWA

Hi Lisa,

One reason is because most hang on back filters (not all) have only cartridges. They really cannot be stuffed in the canister. If he had the Aqua Clear then there is some biological media that can be taken out and put into the canister. I am pretty sure he said he has the biowheels which only have cartridges and that is what I had in the past and have one now on my 14 gallon. I believe in the past though I had a canister and biowheels on my 100 gallon. The biowheels have only cartridges and the biowheel is for the biological. Since the biowheels would only be floating if he took the HOB filters off now, I think it is best to let them run as is (water flowing througth them and the wheels turning) and give the new canister filter time to develop its own biological bacteria. I just would feel like this is the safest route to go when there really is no reason to take them off right away.

I hope this makes sense. :)

~Holly

LisaC144

I see what you're saying with the cartridges. Then the cartridges won't really be able to be stuffed in the canister anyway, right? Unless you take off the platic backing which I'm not sure is possible without ripping it apart. I HAD the AquaClear 110 and just switched to the Eheim 2213 last nght. I was planning on stuffing my sponge in the canister, along with the biomax. The biomax was not a problem. I just put it in with the Eheimstrat and used less of the Eheimstrat. The sponge, however, is a monster from the 110 and was just as big as the canister. NO WAY I could ever squeeze it in unless the sponge was the only media in the filter. So I put the biomax in the canister, cleaned the sponge of major gunk in tank water, and stuck it in the tank where it sunk to the bottom. I'll probably keep it in there for a week or so until I plant my tank, then just take it out. By then there should be enough BB in the canister between it running for a week and the already established biomax, plus live plants. I hope I won't have any problems.

HollyinWA

Yes, that is right....they really cannot be stuffed in the filter and would just take up room from the bio media in the new filter if you ripped off the filter pad, etc. I also think it is best to keep the bio wheels turning instead of just floating so the water is able to get to the whole surface.

I think you will be fine with the way you were able to work it out with the AquaClear media, etc.

JohnnyD44

***bump****

I finally hooked up the magnum filter.....I am going with a planted tank, so I did not add the activated carbon...right now the filter is running with just hte blue pad in there......

the filter doesn't seem to be acting right....the intake tube isn't full of water like the out-take tube....I can see the stream both coming out of the intake piece at the aquarium and at the connection to the filter....

last nigh after several hours, the filter was only half full of water and making a "wooshing" sound....any thoughts or help?!!?

Mean Harri

Do you have clamps where the tubing connects to the hard plastic pieces? Maybe there is a slight vacuum leak. Intake and output are under the water level at all times. Turn pump off and try blowing in through the output enough to start reversing the water flow a little then stop. It should create a syphon back through the input to fill the canister. Something isn't right. I'm trying to think of all possibilities.

JohnnyD44

this is really starting to frustrate me....everything seems to be hooked up just fine....
all connections are tight....all claps are where their suppose to be...

JohnnyD44

problem solved.....!!!!

next question....this needs to be able to support my entire tank(which its well capable of doing)...right now i"m just running the blue media pad in there....I'm trying to colonize the bacteria seeding from my two HOB filters....how is this possible when there's nothing to hold the good media......

it came with a biowheel looking thing to fit inside the blue media pad.....should I add this to let it pick up the good bacteria off my biowheels???

Mean Harri

My guess is the bio wheel thing is meant as a surface for the bacteria to colonize. In that case you can add it if you want. One thing to remember in a planted tank is that the plants are the biological filter. Too much biological filtering via bio friendly medias in the filter can be more detrimental than good in a planted tank. The substrate will house the bacteria needed. That said, I added some of the ceramic disks in my filter before I read about the bio part. I didn't add a lot. Just a little. I'm letting it ride and see what happens.