# emperor 400 bio wheel filter??



## ezlife (Jan 25, 2003)

Right now my 55 gallon has an aqua-tech 30-60 filter (its one of those filters that come with the aquarium "kit" at walmart)

Anyway, I have 5 baby red bellies, 1 baby oscar, and usually a dozen feeder goldfish, there is too much waste production and i want to add another filter.

What do you think about adding a emperor 400 IN ADDITION to the aqua-tech filter? This is a 55 gallon so I figure if both of them work in conjunction it will help a lot.

From what I read and heard so far the emperor 400 is the "best of the best", any thoughts??


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## MPower (Jan 29, 2003)

Adding an emperor would help alot. The aquatech isn't as good as the emperor. If you got the emperor you wouldn't have to use the old filter.


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## Black Piranha (Feb 1, 2003)

well eheim pro canister filters are the best but they arent worth the price. go for an emperor. i have a penguin 330 on my 55 that works great but if u can afford the emperor get it.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Get the emp400 and use both. With p's, which are very messy, I go for 10X or more turnover. this would be accomplished in your case by adding the emp400.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2003)

On my 55 i got one emp400 and an aq 500 tank turnsover around 16 times an hour.


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## ezlife (Jan 25, 2003)

WOW, 10 to 16 times water flow? I didnt know that.

Well, i just ordered a emperor 400 from big als for $39 bucks. it is cheap if you compare it to a whisper at walmart which is almost the same price (before shipping).

Do you guys notice a lot of poop at the bottom of your tanks after all the filters you have installed? becasue when i use the gravel vacum i can see a lot of it, there diet mainly consists of goldfish, steak, anchovies, bloodworms, and sometimes flake food.


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## readingbabelfish (Jan 16, 2003)

I also have a 55g with four 2 inch rbp's. I have two penguin 330's on mine and it seems to work fine. It is getting cloudy now, I believe this the the bio cycle everyone talks about. I noticed two days ago, that some bubbles were forming at the top, now they are gone. Cool, bio wheels are working (hopefully). I do a twenty percent water change every saturday. I see a lot of poop too. I try to stir up the gravel first and hope the strainers on the filters catch it. Then I put the net around the strainer and just pull the tube out of the filter, everything on the strainer falls into the net. Then I dump the net and wash it out. My p's are growing very quick. I can't wait to throw a mouse in!


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## ezlife (Jan 25, 2003)

Reading:

dont worry if yours are at 2 inches, then next month they will be at 3. I have 5 at 3-3.5 inches each and i dont have long before the mouse thing. I heard you can start at 4 inches but not 100% sure since i havnt done it yet.


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## ezlife (Jan 25, 2003)

I got my emperor 400 today, this thing is huge. i barely had room to fit it behind the tank. So far so good, everything up and running.

For those of you running the emp 400, are you using the refillable cartridges or just doubling up on regular cartrages?


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## chaos (Feb 12, 2003)

I just take the filter out every week and wash under the sink, place it back in. The filters usually last 1-2 months, I add fresh carbon every month to the baskets, emps are nice because of those baskets.


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## mdemers883 (Jan 9, 2003)

Just don't wash the filter media in the sink, the chlorine/chloramine in the water will kill your bacteria colony. Wash you media in a bucket of tank water. I have an emp400 and I have been more than happy with it. I use 3 of the regular media cartridges and a cell-pore catridge. The media baskets they give you are nice, but unless you have a problem in your tank you don't really need baskets of carbon.

Mark


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## Kolbenschlag (Feb 3, 2003)

At the risk of sounding really stupid... i have a question. What do the bio wheels do? I want to buy this filter, but I'm not sure if i need it. Thanks guys.


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## WebHostExpert (Jan 16, 2003)

The bio wheels grow benefical bacteria on the faps, the constant water running over the wheel causes it to spin providing a new fresh high amount of oxygen for the bacteria can mutiply. The bacteria feeds on nitrites and produces less harmfull nitrates (beleave thats what happends Please correct, or see the cycle). which are removed with water changes. 
MAD


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## Kolbenschlag (Feb 3, 2003)

Thanks!


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