If this is a planted tank the use of a bio-wheel is not needed. To answer your question: Running it on the establish tank is a good idea. However, I would do it for at least a week or two.
Switching filters
Hi there I have a 29 gallon aquarium that currently has a penguin bio wheel 200 and I recently purchased a second aquarium (20g) and a penguin bio wheel 350 to replace the 200 with when i swap it to the 20g tank. My question is: should I let the 350 run in the 29g tank for a few days so the bacteria can start to colonize the bio wheels or is it okay to just go ahead and swap it. My personal opinion is to let it run in the 29g tank for a while for the bacteria to colonize on it like you would a sponge filter etc. But I didn't know if it was necessary.
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Thanks a lot for your help. I thought that running it for a while would help... I left out a detail though, I already have a sponge filter running in the 20g tank, and it is an "aged" sponge filter. Do you think it is still necessary to run it in the 29 gallon tank for that long?
I'm with trenac, let the new filter run on the 29 gallon tank for a few weeks to build up bacteria. If you move the 200 filter to the 20 gallon with out letting the 350 get broken in you will have a ammonia spike witch usually creates green water algae.
Alright one more question. What if I switch the bio wheel on the 200 with one of the ones on the 350?
That might work, will it fit?
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