My bio wheels stopped working/ stuff growing on filter

Hello everyone.

I have a Marineland Penguin power filter 350 on my 29 gallon.
The bio wheels have stopped spinning does this affect my filtration/bacteria?
Also I have some brown stuff growing on it.
The tank has been running for 2 months




Bio wheels not spinning at all




this is the brown stuff growing on the filter, any idea what this is? good or bad? Should I get rid of it?





There is also something green and long growing on the filter floating. you can see it in this picture on the right hand corner. Is this algae?

 

Is the water flow the same?

 

The brown stuff, someone correct me if I'm wrong, is beneficial bacteria. It's good stuff I'm not sure about the green. It might be algae. How long do you leave your lights on for? As for the wheels not spinning, its really not important that they spin. If you're bothered by it, try to take a clean tooth brush to the little grooves that the wheels sit it to clean them up.

 

Is the water flow the same?

I noticed that the flow might not be the same only because I have some floating plants and I remember the flow being more stronger because the plants would move a lot now they are just sitting in the corner.

 

It is normal if they stop spinning. A trick with mine that worked was moving the cartridges up a bit so I had a better water flow. I always had algae near the output/bottom of the filter. I just wiped it off every 2 weeks(Not knowing if it was good or bad)

 

It's not important that the bio-wheels spin quickly, but they do need to move occasionally as to get the entire wheel wet. You may need to rinse them in some old tank water. A light scrub may help too. Also check the "axle" that they spin on, sometimes these get clogged with gunk and slow down the wheel.

Also for the wheels to spin well they need a decent amount of flow through provided by the filter. If you filter is slowed because the filter cartridge is dirty or the intake tube/strainer is gunked up, this will slow the flow and make it harder for wheel to spin. Periodically it is a good idea to take off the intake tube and strainer and clean them out with the test tube cleaning brush they include with every filter. Maybe once every month or so it is also good idea to take out the impeller housing and get in there to clean out the impeller really good. Be sure to clean out the fins and the bearings well so it spins quickly and works efficiently.

Also rinse the filter cartridge in old tank water. If you do all of these things, your filter will last a long time and the wheel will continue to spin. As long as the entire wheel is staying wet and spinning occasionally, even if slowly, the bacteria is preserved and doing its job. Some of the bacteria also live in the cartridge.

As for the brown gunk and algae on the lip of the filter. You can clean that off with the same brush. Since you said its been running for about 2 months, I would suggest this cleanup routine maybe once a month. It's easiest to do at water change and just save a bucket of old tank water to do all the rinsing as to not kill the beneficial bacteria with tap water. It's ok to clean the intake tube and strainer in tap water, as most of the bacteria will be safe in the filter cartridge and bio-wheel.

I also forgot to mention, that adding a sponge pre-filter will also keep your filter box cleaner on the inside. I started using these when I started with shrimp so as to keep the babies from getting sucked in. The added benefit is keeping a lot of debris out which makes the monthly maintenance much easier. Also provides an additional spot for beneficial bacteria to colonize.

 

Thanks @ Dolfan I will all of this on my next water change. My filter did not come with a brush. is it ok to use a brand new toothbrush?

The sponge filter is a great idea also.

 

I noticed that the flow might not be the same only because I have some floating plants and I remember the flow being more stronger because the plants would move a lot now they are just sitting in the corner.

I once had a bio-wheel filter, and if the wheel slowed r stopped, it typically meant the impeller was all clogged or something, therefore stopping/reducing the flow.