DIY Penguin cartridges

[dledinger]

]I hope this hasn't been posted before. I often see people asking this on other forums and Ithought I would share how I make them.

I cut the old padding off of factory cartridges and use bonded blue poly and rubberbands. This roll is 15' X 2', and costs about $30. The pads are roughly 6"X6", so you're if you're frugal and don't waste you could get up to 160 cartridges for $30 and change. I cut them pretty big and get a bit less than that. This is a big deal if you're running 4 Penguin 350s like I do. I would never spend the money for factory cartridges again.





If you want to be really frugal, these pads are easy to clean and reuse. I find these work even better than the factory cartridges. They're thicker, and because they have whatever overlap you want, they fit the slots snug and you get less bypass.

 

[dledinger]

I have also used quilt batting....which is even cheaper. I use a very thin kind and wrap it around the whole cartridge until it's the thickness I want. Works equally well, IME, but clogs quicker and doesn't hold up well enough to reuse.

 

[Inglorious]

I do something similar with quilt batting for my magnum 350, it's so cheap that I just toss it every week when it's dirty.

 

[deluther]

I have been doing the same thing as Inglorious on two Penguin 200s I'm using. I was wondering where you found the filter material you used, dledinger. I just double up the quilt batting since it is too thin, but what you have looks like it would work nice.

 

[littlewangzfan]

I do the same on my 350 but I use plastic straps to hold' em in place. Rubber bands tend to snap overtime ime.

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[dledinger]

I have been doing the same thing as Inglorious on two Penguin 200s I'm using. I was wondering where you found the filter material you used, dledinger. I just double up the quilt batting since it is too thin, but what you have looks like it would work nice.

That roll I bought from Pet Mountain.

 

[sileraro]

4 penguin 350s what size tank do you have?

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[dledinger]

sileraro, Two are on 65 and today I moved the other two from a 60 to a 75. The 60 now runs two AC110s. The new (used) 75 is not yet stocked.

littlewagnzfan, Mine get a little stretched out but haven't had any break. I think once the cartridge is in the slot they have served their purpose anyway....particularly when using this thick bonded pad.

 

[cwj108]

I do the same thing with my 350s, I have a 1.25" thick pad in the first slot and then Fluval Biomax between that and the outflow/biowheel. I quit using carbon and only use mechanical and biological filtration and my tank could not be more stable, wish I had done this years ago.

 

[dledinger]

I want to do that with the biomax also, cwj108. Just haven't gotten around to it. I think it would be a great addition to these filters.