myssbehavin

Why is that? I have messed with it, took it apart and cleaned everything. I can't get it to spin. Do I have a defect? It is only about 2 months old. It seems like the water flow isnt strong enough to get it to spin. If I pull the filter cartridge out the wheel spins fine.

chickadee

Did you clean your intake tube and Impeller? That is the main number one cause of the cessation of the spinning of the Bio-Wheel. I had to find this out the hard way and it caused the tank to go through a mini-cycle as the bacteria start to die off in about 30 minutes of not being kept wet. You will still have some on the part of the wheel that was still in the tank water so don't worry you wouldn't have a full cycle to go through.

Otherwise call Marineland if that is the brand you have at 1-800-322-1266. They are some of the nicest people in the world to deal with and will work with you to help fix your problem. They have helped me out of a lot of really wild spots and been really nice doing it, sometimes making me feel not at all dumb when the cause was determined to be my fault.

Rose

Boxermom

I have found that if I don't have the guide things pushed all the way down (sometimes they get pulled up a little when I do cleanings), its not set down low enough to get hit with the water flow. Make sure its seated well. And like Rose, I found that when my intake tube has some leaves or something on them, it reduces the flow enough so that the wheel stops spinning.

atmmachine816

I'v found it's just their filter cartridges they give you that block it up. They are too thick and as soon as junk starts going on it then it stops spinning. http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1900.0 Try that.

Austin

Fish Ace

Get Finding Nemo (dvd) and you will know why. Hint (Some thing is stuck in it.

chickadee

Sorry folks but as the proud owner of 4 of them, I had to call the company once on the same issue and it was the stuff clogging the intake tube and impeller that stopped it. I had done the monthly maintenance and yet the plants and stuff I had planted had shed and put a lot of debris into the water so the intake and impeller got gunked up fast and stopped everything. When things got cleaned out the wheel and all started and I never had the problem again.

Rose

atmmachine816

Ya, don't you hate it when some hair gets stuck on the impeller, that's so annoying to clean. Sometimes it's that for me and sometimes my media needs changing. I haven't rinsed my bio-wheel yet.

loggerbomb

I bought a Penguin 100 and my BIO wheel popped off its support for no apparent reason. Ive also had it stop pumping on me for no good reason and after 2-3 hours it got louder than normal and so I unplugged it,reseated everything,and it got quiet again. Rather annoying to have to keep babysitting the thing. Maybe I just have bad luck with them because an Elite filter I bought was also very noisy and I returned it. Maybe a tad hasty with the return, but I think I like the new Penguin better. I just hope its a good filter!

For the OP, unplug it, take it apart, clean it and re-seat everything snugly and turn it back on.

atmmachine816

I have it and it IS a good filter. Just make sure you have the impeller pushed in all the way if you are expierencing noise. Also make sure it's seated on the tank properly. Not sure on the wheel popping out, maybe see if you have it in right and the lids on right, the wheel it self will slow down a bit as it ages which is good so don't be alarmed, the beneficial bacteria slows it down, dont' clean it.

Eskielvr

Mine will stop spinning when the filter needs changed. I have the Penguin Mini, I guess it's the older version of the Penguin 100, I've had it for 8 years. Also, check the blue bearings on the wheel. Mine got lost somehow years ago and I just sat the wheel in and it didn't spin. I ordered new bearings and it works perfectly now.

Also, when the Bio wheels accumulate a lot of good bacteria growth they won't spin as fast. They'll slow down a lot and sometimes just sort of stutter. If you want to rinse it off rinse it off in the aquarium water only since the tap water will kill all of the good bacteria.

jayfl234

I noticed that if i clean the propeller and the intake tube and replace you filter pad every two months everything will run ok. My output on things anyway. That is what has worked for me in the past.