marineland penguin filters

[FJB]

My biowheels continue to spin, even if sometimes slowly, and it has been years.
An additional benefit of the biowheels is more exposure of water for gas exchange with atmospheric air. This increases oxygenation.
I rinse filter media weekly (none disposable kinds), and I also use mesh prefilters in all filter intakes (AQ, FX6, Penguin). Perhaps this helps keeping the biowheels nice and wheely.

 

[krichardson]

My biowheels continue to spin, even if sometimes slowly, and it has been years.
An additional benefit of the biowheels is more exposure of water for gas exchange with atmospheric air. This increases oxygenation.
I rinse filter media weekly (none disposable kinds), and I also use mesh prefilters in all filter intakes (AQ, FX6, Penguin). Perhaps this helps keeping the biowheels nice and wheely.

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Mine spin freely as well.If anything,I might have to remove the spray bars and give them a good cleaning to keep the holes clear once and a while.
What is that you have wrapped around the intake tube?

 

[tiger15]

The biowheel idea was borrowed from aquaculture and waste water treatment. It is indispensable in aquaculture which pack fish in sardine density in bare tanks with not much contact surfaces for BB. It is redundant in fish tanks though with low bioload relative to aquaculture, and lot of contact surfaces in substrate and ornament for BB, provided that good circulation is provided.

Biowheel provides good gas exchange, but redundant in fish tanks if you already have good circulation and surface breaking. I run a dedicated wave maker to promote good circulation and surface gas exchange.

The Marineland Emperor line has a water jet to keep the biowheel rolling at all time, not worth it as it diverts energy to rotate the wheel that is better off to push higher flow. The more complicated design of Emperor line also makes it more bulky, noisy and prone to malfunctioning.

I prefer the simple basic design of Penguin for mechanical, but don't care for the biowheel. Penguin is pretty quiet if you keep the tank water level high, and clean the media often to prevent overflowing. It restarts reliably if you keep up with cleaning the impeller to prevent gunk up. The Pro line Penguin looks promising with submersible motor that is the trend of newer HOBs. But with limited consumer experience, I am not sure if the Pro line is necessarily an improvement over the original design that has been proven for 30+ years.

 

[krichardson]

The biowheel idea was borrowed from aquaculture and waste water treatment. It is indispensable in aquaculture which pack fish in sardine density in bare tanks with not much contact surfaces for BB. It is redundant in fish tanks though with low bioload relative to aquaculture, and lot of contact surfaces in substrate and ornament for BB, provided that good circulation is provided.

Biowheel provides good gas exchange, but redundant in fish tanks if you already have good circulation and surface breaking. I run a dedicated wave maker to promote good circulation and surface gas exchange.

The Marineland Emperor line has a water jet to keep the biowheel rolling at all time, not worth it as it diverts energy to rotate the wheel that is better off to push higher flow. The more complicated design of Emperor line also makes it more bulky, noisy and prone to malfunctioning. a

I prefer the simple basic design of Penguin for mechanical, but don't care for the biowheel. Penguin is pretty quiet if you keep the tank water level high, and clean the media often to prevent overflowing. It restarts reliable if you keep up with cleaning the impeller to prevent gunk up. The Pro line Penguin looks promising with submersible motor that is the trend of newer HOBs. But with limited consumer experience, I am not sure if the Pro line is necessarily an improvement over the original design that has been in use for 30+ years.

Good points Tiger.

 

[tlindsey]

With the submersible motor, the Pro line claims to be quieter, but not so according to this youtube review. The self priming claim may be true since the motor is

Bought one Thursday for my 55 gallon because I keep the water level gap of 2 to 3 inches. Everytime the power would go out the AquaClear's on 2 of my aquariums wouldn't prime. Get home from work and have to get the AquaClear's back up and running.
Tested the Marineland Pro by unplugging it for about 2 minutes and no problem of priming.
Also like that the foam pad and biomedia from the AquaClear fit the compartments so no need for recycling.

 

[duanes]

I found with the bio wheels (when I regularly used them), every couple days, If I would take a wood screw and ream out the holes they would easily unclog.
But as tlindsey said, now that I use sumps I just toss old bio-wheels in the sumps, and if I need instant cycling for QT tank (or something like that), just toss them on that tank, instant biofilltration (no cycling required).

 

[tiger15]

Bought one Thursday for my 55 gallon because I keep the water level gap of 2 to 3 inches. Everytime the power would go out the AquaClear's on 2 of my aquariums wouldn't prime. Get home from work and have to get the AquaClear's back up and running.
Tested the Marineland Pro by unplugging it for about 2 minutes and no problem of priming.
Also like that the foam pad and biomedia from the AquaClear fit the compartments so no need for recycling.

I believe you the advantage of submersible motor in Pro line HOBs is that they are reliable self starter, an important safeguard in power surges. But time will tell if cleaning of gunk up impeller to prime is needed over long time use. I have never cleaned or primed my wave makers for years, but my old AC power head needs to be cleaned every few months to assure restarting. My original Penguin is a relatively reliable restarter compared to other brands, but not 100% and need to be cleaned every few months. This is why I run multiple Penguins to assure at least one is operating after power surge.