Penguin vs emperor

[Platiesareawesome]

Hello! I am thinking of starting a 30 gallon tank soon, and I am going to use a marineland filter. Should I purchase the emperor or penguin? Is the emperor worth the extra money? Also, should I purchase the filter meant for 30 gallons, or go with the 50?

Thank You!

[dmolavi]

More is better.

Penguin is fine

[Platiesareawesome]

Originally Posted by dmolavi

More is better.

Penguin is fine

Would you recommend emperor?

[dmolavi]

Not for a 30 gallon tank. The Penguin 150 is the smallest I would do. The 200 would be better, and it has 2 slots for media (I use a 50 micron pad to polish the water and have Seachem Matrix in the rest of the box).

FWIW, I run two 200's on my 56 gallon tank and if the fish weren't there, you wouldn't know there was water in the tank

[Platiesareawesome]

Originally Posted by dmolavi

Not for a 30 gallon tank. The Penguin 150 is the smallest I would do. The 200 would be better, and it has 2 slots for media (I use a 50 micron pad to polish the water and have Seachem Matrix in the rest of the box).

FWIW, I run two 200's on my 56 gallon tank and if the fish weren't there, you wouldn't know there was water in the tank

Cool, thanks for your help!

[Cloudhp8]

I have the Penguin 200 on my 29 gal...i like it alot has the two spots for media if you don't go with the cartridges it has good amount of room for other media.....it also has the long intake and has the option to open an intake vent at mid-level in the water column which i think is nice....and it has the biowheel that is kinda nice too IMO

[dmolavi]

I've ditched the biowheels. They don't do much in reality (despite the marketing). Instead, I filled the boxes with Matrix for biofiltration.

[Aquamandan]

Originally Posted by dmolavi

I've ditched the biowheels. They don't do much in reality (despite the marketing). Instead, I filled the boxes with Matrix for biofiltration.

I thought the biowheels helped to house beneficial bacteria.

[dmolavi]

They might, but not enough to matter. You get lots more on your filter floss (which should just be rinsed in old tank water when you do PWCs). Read Do Bio Wheels really work? Bio-Wheel Review

Seachem Matrix has TONS more area available for BB to grow, so once it was seeded in my filter, the biowheels got tossed.

[Aquamandan]

Originally Posted by dmolavi

They might, but not enough to matter. You get lots more on your filter floss (which should just be rinsed in old tank water when you do PWCs). Read Do Bio Wheels really work? Bio-Wheel Review

Seachem Matrix has TONS more area available for BB to grow, so once it was seeded in my filter, the biowheels got tossed.

Thanks, interesting read.