Penguin bio wheel filters

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C

Chuncan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 23, 2012
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Corralitos, CA
How knarly is their suction? Im getting a 40 gal bowfront and want to get a knarly filter for both my 40 and my 15 cuz my aqueons suck (in a bad way). What to do?


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what do you mean by knarly ? For a 40 gallon i would recommend the emperor 400 especially now they can be bought for $40 inc shipping !
 
I like aqueon way more than penguins. I hate them there flow rate is weak and the biowheel creates unnecessary splashing so loud from the splashing. Way louder then my aq70. id say just go with an aquaclear best hob imo

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When I got back into fishkeeping it was with a 29g kit we bought my stepson for xmas that I ended up taking care of. It came with the appropriately sized penguin biowheel filter. I have no complaints about it's performance, and I like the idea of the biowheel for extra biological filtration. If it came with the tank then I would have no problems recommending that you stick with it, but if you're shelling out cash for a new one then you'll probably find aquaclears come much more highly recommended.
 
Runitis said:
I like aqueon way more than penguins. I hate them there flow rate is weak and the biowheel creates unnecessary splashing so loud from the splashing. Way louder then my aq70. id say just go with an aquaclear best hob imo

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At least with marinelands the actual lid will fit the top without that annoying noise. Aquaclears have been a constant pain for me. Also with marineland they will ship you out new impellars and housing units free of charge ;-)
 
Ive had several penguins, I would take a penguin over an aquaclear anyday. If you dont wanna spend the money on the cartridges you can either get the aquaclear cartridges from walmart, or order the bio3 penguin clamshell cartridges from drsfosterandsmith. The clamshells are like 99 cents a pop. Once you have the clamshells you can just cut filter floss or bonded pad, and clip a new piece in whenever it wears out.

The aquaclears hod a crap ton of media and are easier to modify. In my ac110 I can fit 1/2 litre biomax, 3/4 litre seachem denitrate, an ounce or so of carbon, and the 110 sponge.
 
I just really hate this filter. It doesnt suck up half the stuff that floats on by and changing or washing out filter pads causes my tank to be super cloudy for the next few days. Plus I dont want to have to keep buying the pads. They cost too much. Like 14$ for a three pack of mediums.
And by knarly I mean will it suck my fish up? My rummynose "faint" when I turn on the light in the morning (lose all their color, stop moving, just kinda float around for a minute), and sometimes they get close to the filter stick. Since the filter is bad at its job, the fish just float right by it, but I can see this being a problem with a stronger filter.
I forgot to mention that the filter is like 8 years old. But with regular maintenance.
And caleb, I dont want to blow my WHOLE paycheck on fish stuff. I still need to drive places. And get a new car. And move out. Stuff like that.


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Get a emperor 400 buy some foam pads and your good to go. My 400s take 4 pads each, and my lfs sells the foam blocks for $1.50 a piece, I buy new pads every 6 months or so and clean them out about every 1.5 months. Plus they have the bio wheel which is agood feature. Mines nlt loud at all. I sleep next to that tank every night.
 
Get an emperor 400 for 40 off big als or get petsmart to match the price. For the filter pads, get the bio3 refillable clamshells for it. Or pick up a sun sun/aquatop 304 or 404 off ebay for like 65 bucks. With the canister you can get away with maintenance between every 1 to 3 months depending on bioload.
Eheims are on sale at big als as well http://www.bigalspets.com/fish/classic-canister-filter-with-media-2213.html
 
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