power filters

[luckypuck]

what are the diferences between the marineland emperors and penguins?

what do all the model numbers mean?

do the double sided filters such as the penguin 330 actually work? water is not being forced directly through the mechanical filter media like the smaller models.

 

[Tommydeal]

They're all good HOB filters and the water flows the same way. The Hagen Aqua Clear filters are also a very good alternative for an HOB filter. Wich one you get should be chosen according to your tank size and fish count/size. The model numbers are related to the size and strength of the filter. Ususally the lower the number the smaller the filter. Sometimes the number of the filter coincides with the amount of gallons per hour they are rated for like the Marineland Emperor 400 is supposed to handle 400gp/h and the Marineland Penguin 100 filters 100gp/h. How big is your tank and how many fish of what size will be in the tank?

 

[hle_81]

The Emperor is just a bigger version of the penguin filter with a spray bar. And the model number is the output (gallons per hour) of the filter.

 

[HunterX]

The difference is that the Emporers have an extra pump that just runs the spraybar that turns the biowheel.
The Penguins don't have a spraybar , the waterflow spins the biowheel.

 

[luckypuck]

i switched to a wet/dry because the HOBs that i had were too small.

however, the way that the penguin filter is setup doesnt look like it does anything. water doesnt get pushed through the mechanical filtration. do any of you notice this too?

 

[Tommydeal]

I'm not sure what you mean. The water flows through the filtration cartridge and the mechanical filtration is part of the cartridge. If the cartridge becomes clogged, the water would bypass the cartridge and flow over the top but in normal operation this filter has little bypass, it all flows through the cartridge.

 

[FishGoneWild]

Save your money and get the Emperor Series and diss the Penguins. I personally have own both Penguins and Emperors. I would never buy another Penguins unless it was for emergency use. The Emperor Series has the spraybar which squirts out water to propel the bio wheel to spin. On the Penguin Series the water only thing that propel the bio wheel is the water that flow out of the filter. When the filter get clog or your filter get a little dirty your bio will stop spinning thus killing all your bio bacteria. Another major difference is that the Emperor mechanical media pad has more surface area than the Penguin Series.

If you want a good power filter go with either A/C or Emperor. You cannot go wrong with either. A/C vs Emperor is a personal preference more than anything. A/C uses brittle hard plastic and Emperor is constructed of flexible shock resistant plastic.