I recently upgraded my fishies filter to a penguin bio wheel.
I have rigged up my own filters etc.............

my question is, if the power goes out do I have to putt the floss and wheel both in the tank to keep bio buggies alive?

How long can they live without the filter running?

As long as they remain wet, the bacteria will survive for several days. If you drop them in the tank, it guarantees that they remain wet and exposes them to the ammonia - a good thing for your fishies during a power outage. It is not as efficiant as a running filter, but is better than nothing.

The biowheel holds the beneficial bacteria. The floss holds only a little - and when you change it , it is all thrown away anyway. IF in doubt, you can drop some extra media into your tank in a small bag in the back. IF you have gravel, that will do the trick, also.

I assume the wheel will float not be submerged, will that be good enough or do I need to somehow sink it?

I don't change the "floss" very often , every 6 mnths or so, I swish it like mad instead its worked well for months doing this so I don't intend to change that.
I don't use carbon so that isn't an issue I keep it healthy and fulla bio goo

I also have bio media in the back of the filter container but it would stay submerged in there in the event of an outage also only change partial every few months.

No gravel, I am bare bottom.


So toss the wheel into the tank and perhaps the floss in on top of it, hopefully would sink the wheel and keep the floss damp enough.

Thanks!