BioWheel 125 . . . is it enough?

[SomethingFishy]

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank. I bought it as part of a package and with it was a BioWheel 125. Generally I like the filter . . . keep the water level up and it is very quiet. Seems that the filter media however does not last very long.

My concern is that it may be insufficient for the size of the tank. The water has a cloudy haze and the biowheel has not yet reached that dark color after running for over a month with fish. I have contemplated getting another to add on to it.

Any suggestions as to this dilema

 

[Wonderwoman]

takes a long time to get the biowheel really loaded down with bacteria, i've found. wouldn't really wait for it to do that, as long as your ammonia cycle is ok. a 125 is a bit small for a 29 tho, but it also depends on how your tank is stocked. for a mostly planted aquarium, i think it'd be ok. do you have a lot of fish in there?

 

[SomethingFishy]

Well to start off with I just bought an AquaClear Mini an added it to the tank. My calculations make that a total of 225 gals. filtered per hour.

Currently I have:

5 - Red Eye Tetras
5 - Cory Cats
4 - Pearl Gourami
1 - Red Tail Shark
4 - Dwarf Flame Gourami (really small)

The water has always seemed a bit cloudy (white) and has gone from better to worse and back. I have changed water weekly (7 - 10 gals) and cleaned the gravel. Amonia levels always seem a bit high before every water change and Nit. levels are zero. I have had the tank for almost two months and would have thought it would have cycled by now??

 

[SoulFish]

ammonia should never he over 0 if properly cycled, what do you mean by media not lasting long you shouldnt need to change filter media very often just rinse under warm water once a month, if you replace the media alot then you are always getting rid of bacteria which is probably causing a mini-cycle, with the new aquaclear you should have enough filtration

 

[SomethingFishy]

I have rinsed the filter media in the BioWheel filter but the blue stuff seems a bit flimsy so it must be done gently. I rinsed because the filter was backing up and the water was spilling out though the area where the intake tube is.

This was a couple weeks ago and everything seems to bee working fine. I am hoping that the addition of the Mini will help clear things up.

What do you think about using AmQuel or similar to reduce toxic amonia levels??