New Penguin 150 Bio-wheel

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jaysono

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 3, 2004
Messages
159
Location
RSM, CA
Saturday morning I had unplugged my original penguin biowheel 150 (Size B Filters) to do a small cleaning of my tank, and upon re-plugging in...it stopped working. :?

There was no incication of trouble, no smoke, no noice, simply....stopped.

So I had to run to the LFS and noticed that there has been a re-design of the whole Penguin filter system. Sicne I already had quite a few 'B' filters left (unused) I decided to get the new 150.

Well, I noticed the new 150 is designed upto 30 gals where the new 100 is up to 20 gals. But the 100 only uses 'A' filters, and for a few bucks more I could use all my 'B' Filters.

Well, I must say, straight out of the box, it is a pretty slick design. I think they did a real ggod job in re-designing the 2 part top enclosure which seperates the filter and teh bio-whell sections. It really cuts down on over-splash water and noise. The long siphon tube also has a mid-tank level strainer (adjustable) as well as the bottom. Nice!

The only thing I was really bummed out on was the size of the new bio-wheel itself. I could not take my old one and put it in the new one. Totally new size :roll:

But it is much faster and spins much more freely. I also noticed that the surface water agitation, while quieter, provides much more oxygenation to the water than the original. So in order to seed the new bio wheel, I have the old one free floating in the tank.

I am much happier with the performance hands down than the original, so despite shelling out $25 I guess it was a good thing.

But anyone have any idea how long I should keep the old bio wheel in the tank before safely removing it so as the new bio wheel gets seeded?
 
I had been thinking about one of those! Thanks :)

You should definitly write a review in the review section!
 
Yes, you should do a review! :)

About the old bio-wheel -- I would leave it floating for about 2 weeks. Do some ammonia and nitrite tests in the meantime. You really shouldn't have a mini-cycle, since you didn't change things like substrate and decorations, and the old bio-wheel is still in the tank. But do your tests just to be sure, and if the parameters check out ok after 2 weeks, remove the old bio-wheel. If not (but my guess is it will be ok) leave the old bio-wheel in the tank while doing your testing every few days until your parameters are good.
 
On a side note, with your old filter.. I had the same issue with mine... And it was very easily fixable... I mearly took off the suction tube.. took a knife, placed it in they hole where the thing spins.. and while pluggs in I gave it a "jump start" by forcing it to start spinning.. and it worked great.. and been workign great ever since.If you have not already disguarded the old one, I think you might be ablke to save it for a spare. Also great to hear the the new one is workign so well..
 
Jaysono, I couldn't agree with you more. The Penguin 150 is wonderful..I decided to switch to it on my 10 gal fw tank. I absolutely LOVE this filter. My old filter was a topfin 10 and it was still workng when I decided to switch. I heard that I should leave it running in the tank with the new filter for about 4 weeks before removing the old filter....well.....it is still there on my tank. Haven't gotten around to removeing it yet. My ammonia is still not down to 0 so I'm leaving it there till it does. currently about 5 weeks since I hooled up the new filter
 
The penguin filters w/BioWheel are top notch. I've got a Penguin 100 and have been pleased since day 1; especially with the mid level intake. It does a nice job catching any uneaten food, if there ever is any. You should do a review for sure!
 
new Penguin BioWheels

I purchased 2, 100 gph BioWheels a week or 2 ago and I'm trying to get them inoculated in my sparsely inhabited QT. They are very quiet. One spins much better than the other and I think it is due to variability in the wheels. I'm planning on using one to supplement filtration in a 29 gallon and the other to filter a 10 gallon.

I also just purchased a new Penguin 350 that has 2 BioWheels. I'm going to use it to run my new 29 gallon tank along with the old Whisper 30 that came with it. I figured since someone gave me the tank that I might as well use the old filter too. I like running multiple HOB filters b/c I can rotate changing filters and media without drastically changing my bacterial filter flora population.

So far I like the 100s. I just don't like the wheel that doesn't turn as well. I may just get another wheel, but I don't like losing the bacteria.
 
BTW. What is the difference between the Emporer and Penguin BioWheel filters besides the price? Aren't they both made by Marineland?
 
There are only 2 sizes of the Emporer's while there are 7 or more sizes of the Penguin's. They are both made by Marineland. Also, the Emperor's have a media container that you can put whatever filter media you want. I personally like the Emperor's much better, especially the bigger one.
 
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