Penguin Filters

[bbrown]

I'm currently running two penguin filters with the biowheels in a 20 and 10 gallon respectively. I'm pleased with the water clarity and the filter's performance. However, the cost of replacing the cartridges is too expensive. Has anyone used anything other than the Penguin cartridges in these filters such as sponges?? There is not a whole lot of room in the smaller Penguins for filter media. Any suggestions??

 

[FMJnaX]

I've been using a Penguin100 for about 3 months now. I clean the blue filter as needed, but I don't see a need anytime soon to replace it. You could try and cut down a piece of sponge, but it may be more work than it's worth. Basically, anything thin enough and long enough to fit in the existing slot should do. Just know that you'll lose your carbon (or whatever they put inside) filtration. Shouldn't be a big deal IMO.

 

[QTOFFER]

About a month after inserting new cartridge, I make a small slit in the black plastic mesh with an exacto knife and shake out the carbon. I figure that by this time, it is saturated and can only do more harm than good. I don't see the need to run carbon in my filters all the time anyway, but I suppose you could stuff fresh carbon, (or even some filter floss) into the empty cavity.

When I do my weekly water changes, I rinse off the blue fiber pad. I replace the cartridge only when it starts wearing thin and falling apart. About once a month, I clean the gunk out of the impeller and its housing. I never touch the biowheel - only make sure it's seated properly.

 

[Bhunsucker]

Replace them with an AquaClear and you will have enough room to do anything you want with the media and the media for that AC's fairly priced.

 

[krap101]

well i have an aquaclear 10 goin on my 5. its a lil sdtrong but the media cartrages are different if all of them are shaped like that.

i have around 6 penguin cartrages and 2 penguins. about once a month o go outside and clean all of them with the hose.

 

[FawnN]

I have around 6 penguin cartrages and 2 penguins. about once a month o go outside and clean all of them with the hose.

I definintely wouldn't do it with hose water. The chlorine in the water will instantly kill off your beneficial bacteria residing on the surface of the cartridge. You need to clean in old tank water or any dechlorinated water.

Save your money on replacing those cartridges. The carbon becomes inactive after 7 days and IMO, the only time you need to replace it is when you are trying to remove meds from your tank. Or when you have cleaned it so many times that it is still getting clogged.

I"m assuming yours has the bio-wheel on it too. I would suggest you replace all of them with sponges. It will be easier to clean and you will save tons of money.

 

[krap101]

oh i have well water so i dont have any chlorine

 

[FawnN]

ohhh ok. I wish I had well water. :?

 

[krap101]

sometimes i wished i was in a big city so i could walk to the fish store

 

[hashbaz]

I (like many others) don't change my filter cartridges for a very long time. Wait until they are clogged completely, or fall apart.

 

[Bearfan]

I don't change mine often, but rinse them bi-weekly to weekly.

I order mine online in larger quantities and can always find a good price on them somewhere.

 

[greenmaji]

Someone needs to do a DIY project for refillable cartridges for filters like these!

 

[wabyrd]

How much are you feeding and how often are you changing? 8O I have Emperors (the Penguin's big brother) and I rarely have to change the filters. I have only changed the filter in my 10 gallon tank once in the past 4 months that it's been set up. I only change the cartridges in the Emperors when they start to clog.

 

[mr86mister]

i am purchasing a Penguin 100B for my ten gallon, and i'm just moving the bio-wheel and the media over from the eclipse3 that i have.....its very easy, the only problem though is the cartridges are expensive....but i'm just going to go online and buy bulk from now on to save money

 

[wabyrd]

Ok, they are cheaper in bulk and I buy in bulk also, but what is the reason you people are changing your filters so often that it becomes expensive? Do you really need to change that much? What's clogging your filters? Is your food just getting sucked into the filter? I don't get it? :?

 

[mr86mister]

like....i dont change mine much....but just to compare prices.....like a whisper cartridge costs 2 dollars cheaper then a penguin cartridge....knowing that im going to have my tanks for a while i like to buy a bunch of them so i'm set for a year or two and any extra if things come up....just a pre-caution

 

[wabyrd]

Ok, a 16 pack at www.ForYourFish.com is $34.95 or $2.18 per filter. A 12 pack of Whipser filters (I'm assuming Model 4 or 5) is $19.95 or $1.66 per filter. That's a difference of $0.52 per filter. If I change my filters about once every three months, that's a difference of $2.08/year. If you consider the fact that I've got 2 Emperor 400's and an Emperor 280, that brings the difference to only $10.40 per year. So if my filters last for 10 years, that's $104 difference. BIG DEAL!!! The difference is even less when you consider the Penguin filters which are about $0.10/filter cheaper than the Emperor filters. Why do I only change them once every 3 months? That's when they clog. There are two pathways for the water to go in the 400, so with 2 of them on the tank, I change 1 filter every month on the first of the month on a rotating basis. The carbon is essentially a useless element in the tank since (as mentioned before on this board) it only remains active for a short time. The real important part of the cartridge is that floss on the front. Bacteria live there. THAT is the real filter. Some others have suggested rinsing the cartridges, but unless you rinse with dechlorinated water, you'll kill the bacteria. For the difference of only $2.08/year, I'd rather have the bio-wheel that you get on the Marineland Penguin and Emperor. I'm not saying that the Whispers are bad, I just know that my tanks are very low maintenance and that's due to the filters. On a side note, yes, I'm planted and CO2 is a concern, but the small amount of agitation by the bio-wheel is not enough to deplete my tank of CO2. The fact that I might have to inject a little more CO2 is not important when compared to the benefits the Bio-Wheel provides. But as always, that's JMO...

 

[wabyrd]

And I'm sure there are other cheaper places to get the filters online than the one listed above. If you watch PetCo or PetSmart online, you can get really good discounts sometimes. I got a 30% off coupon for an online order recently so I took that opportunity to restock on my filters.

 

[greenmaji]

It would be interesting to see how much CO2 you are losing to your bio-wheels wabyrd.. From past experiments talked about on this board, 60% loss was typical.. pressurized helps to counter that but alot of members are using DIY and that can really take a bite out of there CO2 production.. ouch!...

 

[wabyrd]

From past experiments talked about on this board, 60% loss was typical

Possibly, but I'm hesitant to take "scientific" data from a source that is non scientifiic. Not only that, but the methods of measuring CO2 indirectly from other measurements is not entirely accurate. Besides, my 5# tank lasts for more than a year and is relatively inexpensive to replace, but that's another topic.