RE: Aquatic Plants Digest V5 #19

["Matt Wassenhove" <Wass29 at qconline_com>]

Art without the bio-wheels on your filters you are missing some of the much
needed biological filtration on your tank. When you changed your filter
media you removed some of that biological filtration that you had and the
tank will need about a week or so to write itself.  But the problem is that
is going to happen every time that you remove the filter media unless you
get some bio-wheels in there...

Matt W.


>Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 19:12:03 -0400
>From: "Arturo Batista" <artbatista at artbatista_com>
>Subject: Effect of UV sterilizer on biological filter

>Hello.

>Recently I added a UV sterilizer to my 55 gallon tank (3 Weeks ago) and
>while doing maintenance today I noticed that the tank has 1 PPM Ammonia.
>This is a long ago cycled tank; Nitrites are 0; Nitrates 8 PPM.

>I do a partial water change weekly or so, with the last one 3 days ago
>(15 Gallons out of 55 gallons).

>Could this be caused by the UV sterilizer, or perhaps because when I did
>the water change I also changed filter media (2 Emperor's 280B WITHOUT
>bio-wheels).....

>Art