Filter help

[Fishygrace]

I currently keep a 10 gallon tank. I started out with a Tetra 10i but have heard bad things about it so I replaced it with a Marineland Penguin Filter for 10-20 gal tank.

I had some technical difficulties with it at first (wheel not turning, loud motor) which eventually stopped and it ran great. Until it stopped running. And I can't get a replacement from the seller until I return it but I would pay for return shipping which costs almost as much as the filter itself...

Anyway. I need suggestions for high-quality filters for a 10 gallon tank. And I do keep goldfish in there (though working on rehoming) so filters powerful enough for a 20+ gallon tank might be helpful to manage their bioload.

Also if possible, any tips on maintaining fish without a filter? I think it's just going to have to be really frequent water changes until the new filter arrives... or is it better to use the Tetra in the meantime? I meant to use it as a temporary filter, and so did not get replacement cartridges. The cartridge that is in there was used for about a month so I don't know how much good it would do in terms of filtering.

Thank you so much for the help!!!

 

[ZxC]

The cartridges are good the physical life of them, do not change them at all unless they are literally falling apart. (aquarium equipment manufactures are masters at deceiving buyers, it's borderline illegal with some of their claims).

Use the tetra filter for now, transfer all the media from the Marineland one into the tetra one, and consider an aqua clear 20 or 30.

Or, an Eheim 2211 if you wanted to go canister.

Aquaclear and Eheim are about as bullet proof as you can make a filter in today's market.

 

[earhtmother]

DEFINITELY run the filter ESPECIALLY with goldfish, they're WAY too dirty to be in a filterless tank. If the cartridges are dirty let them soak in some tank water for a half hour to loosen any dirt then rinse them well in the same water or more tank water and use them.

 

[kbalaz]

Marineland Penguin cartridges suck. They plug up within a couple of weeks and flow gets reduced greatly. Cut the blue floss part off the black frame, dump out the carbon, clean the small vent like holes with a tooth brush, put a piece of filter floss against empty frame and put back in filter. These noise is from the impeller not being seated properly or dirty and your intake tube might not be in right or all the way down. I have a 150b and wheel spins great still and is quieter than my Aquaclear 70 filter.

 

[KaylNeko]

I like my aqueon quietflow