Did My Filter Just Die?

So I realize this may be a long shot but does anyone have a penguin biowheel 200 filter? Here's what happened: I emptied my fish into another cycled aquarium so I could completely empty my 33 gal and change from gravel to sand. Today I put in the egg crate, and decorations and sand and water and such, and I turned my filter on so I could do a fishless cycle while they're in the other home. I put some water into the filter as it was going so it could actually get started , and it was working and all but kinda with a strange noise. After like 10 mins at most, it stopped sucking water up and emptied all the water inside it then went quiet except for a little hum noise. Yes I have a sponge over my intake and I was watching to make sure no sand got sucked up and it seemed all good. Do I have to buy a new filter or is this some sort of trivial thing?

 

I've never had that happen on a penguin, but it's happened more than once on my topfin filters. The hum is the motor running, so that's good. I can smack a broken filter and the hum will stop...then smack and it starts...stops...starts...I hate topfin lol. But I can get them working again by taking them apart, rinsing the motor and tubes, then tightly reassembling it. The tightly part is important, sometimes the pieces come loose. Never tried it on a penguin, but they have pretty much the same components underneath.

Or try contacting Marineland. They're a very good company ime, and will probably repair it or send replacement parts

 

I took it apart and it's working now but it's insanely loud and I'm scared to leave it running when I'm not home because I don't know what could happen. I'm thinking of swapping to sponge filters anyways, I might as well do it now. Any recommendations there?

 

I had a penguin 100 and on a few occasions I had to stop it and move the impeller around to stop the noise.
I never had one stop sucking up water, but had great difficulty getting it to prime.

 

I love sponge filters, I run one on every tank. They provide the best bio filtration hands down. I have to warn you though, sponge only tanks are a bit of a pain. They provide pretty much zero mechanical filtration so you'll be vacuuming a lot more. If you're ok with that go for it, if not still go for it, but run a smaller hob or something along with the sponges.

As for getting them, buy the super cheap ones on Amazon, they're all the same. Just aI'm for a lot of surface area. But get a nice air pump, a sponge is really about the pump. The better it is the better the filter. I like the Fluval QI a lot, it's strong and very quiet

 

Thank you! Can I get one for a 33 gal or do I have to get a few smaller ones? Also, my pump broke this morning, apparently I'm having a hard time, but I think I can fix it. Another thing, are they cheap in pet stores too? I don't want to wait for shipping because all my fish are in a 5 gal.

 

It's the sand that is doing it. You need to clean out the impeller, maybe 3 or 4 times until it is all the way gone. Put some filter floss in the filter to pick up all the extra floating sand. Do a couple water changes.

Next time rinse your sand better lol

 

It's the sand that is doing it. You need to clean out the impeller, maybe 3 or 4 times until it is all the way gone. Put some filter floss in the filter to pick up all the extra floating sand. Do a couple water changes.

Next time rinse your sand better lol

I already fixed the problem. It said earlier in the thread lol. Thanks.

 

Thank you! Can I get one for a 33 gal or do I have to get a few smaller ones? Also, my pump broke this morning, apparently I'm having a hard time, but I think I can fix it. Another thing, are they cheap in pet stores too? I don't want to wait for shipping because all my fish are in a 5 gal.

You can get a few smaller ones, or a large one. That parts personal preference. For a 33 gal try to get a filter rated for a 60+

And I don't actually know what they're priced in stores, tbh I've never seen a pet store sell them. They're too cheap and never need replacing or repairing, so not much profit. You can look though, maybe your stores are better than mine. On amazon they range from $5-$10 to give you a price estimate

 

Thank you!!

You can get a few smaller ones, or a large one. That parts personal preference. For a 33 gal try to get a filter rated for a 60+

And I don't actually know what they're priced in stores, tbh I've never seen a pet store sell them. They're too cheap and never need replacing or repairing, so not much profit. You can look though, maybe your stores are better than mine. On amazon they range from $5-$10 to give you a price estimate