atmmachine816

Product: Penguin Bio-Wheel 200

Description:* A Hang On Back filter, 200 gph, Can be used according to them up to I believe 55 gallon aquariums or around that neighborhood but I wouldn't use it on much more than a 30 gallon tank if you have large waste producers, quite, effective, allows two inserts for two pre-made store bought media inserts plus the bio-wheel so all the beneficial bacteria stays on.

Pros: Very quiet, powerful, simple to clean, little maintence, can change all the filter media and not worry about losing the beneficial bacteria

Cons: The wheel needs to spin for the filter to work correctly but with the store bought inserts it usually doesn't so I make my own filters and works tons better and cheaper.* The impeller broke on me for some reason after 8 months, had to be replaced cost me 11$ but fine since, still working over a year later.

p.s.* Need to know how to make the filters PM me.

jayfl234

I have my penguin wheel 100 for 3 months now and the wheel has been doing fine i have had a problem with it wheel is always spinning. Have to clean the back of the carbon filter once every 2 weeks but other wise ok

atmmachine816

If you have a decent bio-load you will find your wheel will eventually get enough stuff on it that it slows down or the cartridge clogs up. You really should cut open your filter and remove the carbon, after a week it starts releasing bacterial back into your tank it stopped and removes uneccesary stuff as it is only really helpful for removing chemicals after dosing meds. Glad you lilke your filter, I love mine, with my own filters I can remove a lot of waste with my high waste producers.

Izabela

OK, I don't know how to PM you, so I hope you get this. I have this filter...how do you make the inserts yourself? I see your posts everywhere...you have very interesting advice.

Izabela

atmmachine816

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/filter...ncluded.0.html That's how I do, it works great for me, I don't rinse them though I just throw them away and the bio-wheel keeps the tank cycled. On plantgeek there's a diy filters with the backing, I'll get you a link as soon as I find it. I used to do that but found it took a lot of time and this was easier and cheap. Feel free to ask any questions.

Jeffhvacr02

I have a penguin 100 it flows 200gph and it is good for up to 20gal and i have a penguin 200 i forget what it flows up to but can be used up to 50gal tank. They are great power filters and use them almost exclusively, because they are so easy to clean and you can buy new filter pads from the store. Plus these penguins leave you room for a 2nd filter which is good for home made filters. I used an old filter (the plastic frame) and picked up a 50 micron filter pad cot it to shape and use thread to sew filter media to the pad. This is good case the bought screen is a great prefilter for the home made section that really polishes the water. Every few weeks 2-4 i rinse the pads with tank water over a bucket (usually after water changes) to remove the waste on the pads i works great i love filters.

atmmachine816

Me two I love these. You sure the 100 pumps 200gph because all the one's I'v see pump 100gph hence the name 100 and the 200 pump 200gph.

Jim

I just bought a Penguin 350 for my 46 gallon. Duel bio-wheels, quiet, powerful... what a monster... so far I love it!

atmmachine816

I bet you will, do you use the filter inserts, because they are crap I'v found IMO, I would use filter fiber or make your own, save a lot of money too, I made a sticky on how I do it, and there's one on plantgeek.net also, can get them for you if you'd like.

Jim

right now I'm using store boughts.. but I'd love to try making my own. Any info you have would be most appreciated, thanks. I was also thinking, there are dual insert slots on BOTH sides; for a total of 4 filters!!! Would it help to use one on each side for a bio-mesh? Would that defeat the purpose of the bio-wheel, or enhance it?

atmmachine816

I'm not sure what you mean by bio-mesh but I found once the filter matured after a few months the filter inserts would restrict the flow a lot. There's a link in my sig on how I make mine, it's basically just throw some filter fiber in and it removes a TON of junk, it's keeping my overstocked tank extremely clean, though now I"m running another filter. I'll provide a link to another way this weekend when I have the time.

Jim

the foam stuff that comes with a whisper filter. It goes in front of the regular filter thing

atmmachine816

O that stuff, ya you can use that but I don't see why you would need too. I just keep a pack of penguin filters if I ever need carbon and the rest of the time I just use filter fiber since it's super cheap and removes a lot of waste. Is there a reason why you would want to use those?

Here's a link to off-ice's http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=5