Bio-wheel not spinning

[Tetra1990]

I have a Marineland® Penguin® Bio-Wheel Aquarium Power Filter 200 on my 29 gallon. The bio-wheel doesn't spin as free as I think it should. I've mined my top away from it a bit thinking that it was inhibiting the movement, but I don't think it helped. It has the front cover, should I take that off? The wheel is in the correct slots. Please help thanks.

 

[phishfriend]

In true as long as it stays wet your good. I have seen some do what yours is doing. You can take the cover if you choose too. You will get more water evaporation and it may be louder. Does it rotate better with it off?

 

[Tetra1990]

Alright, I've attached some pics. The first one is a top view of the filter and the second one is the filter in action. The 2nd pic you can see where the water jets out. Most of the water gets diverted through this and the water pressure I believe doesn't power the bio-wheel enough to spin it much. I've tried plugging this to send more water to the wheel, but it doesn't do much.

 

[phishfriend]

When was the last time you rinsed your filter cartridge? It needs to be done in tank water remove during a water change this is very important!!!. I use the overflow around the lift tube as an indicator that my filter pad need to be rinsed. If water is diverting down those lift tube over spills It means the filter pad is clogged and isn't letting water threw. Take about a gal of water out of your tank and put the filter in and scrub it with your fingers while dunking it. WARNING: it will not be pleasant but its vital to your filter working correctly and a heathy tank. Once more water is flowing thru your filter it should spin your bio wheel more.

 

[Tetra1990]

When was the last time you rinsed your filter cartridge? It needs to be done in tank water remove during a water change this is very important!!!. I use the overflow around the lift tube as an indicator that my filter pad need to be rinsed. If water is diverting down those lift tube over spills It means the filter pad is clogged and isn't letting water threw. Take about a gal of water out of your tank and put the filter in and scrub it with your fingers while dunking it. WARNING: it will not be pleasant but its vital to your filter working correctly and a heathy tank. Once more water is flowing thru your filter it should spin your bio wheel more.

My original hob filter burned up about 3 weeks ago. I bought this one and added my old filter pad. It's real grungy. I'll swish it out when I do my water change this week. Thanks for the tip about the overflow. I'll give an update soon.

 

[phishfriend]

Hope it helps!!

 

[Tetra1990]

And we got ourselves a spinner!!! First pic is the dirty filter pad that I stuck in with the new filter pad to seed it. After I swished it in old tank water, the bucket looked like it had used motor oil in it. The 2nd pic is after I swished it. You may not be able to see much of a difference, but it helped a ton!! I'm not sure if I should throw out the old pad yet or not. This tank has been up and running for 10 months.

 

[phishfriend]

Awesome! So that's what the problem was? Good deal!! Glad you were able to get it fixed!!