Yeah the penguins definitely pull their weight. I still think the aquaclears are the only choice for larger tanks/fish/turds though.
Just out of curiosity when you had the aquaclears set up, did you have the little spacer set on the bottom of the outside portion so that the filter was level...i would lose those things all the time (improve your design please aquaclear) and noticed if i had the filter hanging on there cockeyed they would be much more difficult to prime.