Penguin Bio-Wheel 200

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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. ;D

 

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.

 

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

 

I bet you will, do you use the filter inserts, because they are 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 onplant geek also, can get them for you if you'd like.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

So I'm trying to come up with cheap way to keep my filter running without purchasing replacement cartridges but have a few questions.

My filter has two slots

First slot:
I purchased a blank bio media cartridge that I filled with quilt batting
Second slot
Filter cartridge that came with the filter (been running for 2 months)

Ideally I was thinking of throwing out the original cartridge and or take out the carbon/sponge then replacing it with plastic pot scrubbers.

The filter floss is the first layer the water goes through and would be replaced month while the pot scrubbers will stay forever and lastly I have the Bio-Wheel.

Does this seem like it will work for the long run?

 

Yes this would work IMO
However, instead of pot scrubbers, use a special made for purpose product from the LFS
Dont throw away the wool every month, just rinse it in old tank water that you would throw out during a water change - its will still perform well, but will retain some BB for the filter.
Important ! Do not replace all the media at once, or you will lose the cycle of the tank

 

The idea was to replace the filter floss to prevent it from clogging (mechanical) on a monthly bases and keep the pot scrubbers or other bio material in the second slot so they stay clean.

I may just end up removing the sponge from the cartridge and add new filter floss to the plastic part on the filter cartridge as the first layer and use the bio in the media cartridge with more filter floss sandwiched in the middle.

another question, should I be concerned with a little bit of filter floss getting in the tank?

Last time I added it tiny partials where floating in the tank and took a few days to clear out. Will it harm the fish?

I will rinse it better next time.

 

Bigalspets.com has the filters for the cheapest I've found. I have the 350b and for 6 filters it's $10.00 when my Local shop is $20 and petsmart is $21


ECatch

 

I have a sponge pressed against the inlet pipe that the water goes through when it first enters the filter. Then it goes through slot 1 where I have filter floss cut down to size. Then it goes through slot number 2 where I have a stock (rite size C) cartridge. I change my filter floss every other week. It's important to swish the new filter floss in the bucket of dirty tank water and get the brown settlement all over it. It's not enough to clog it, but it's enough to seed the new filter floss with colonized BB.

 

Do you find the sponge gets dirty and is not pleasing to look at? I would rather have a dirty sponge in the filter vs in the tank.

Also why would you need to change the floss every other week if you have a sponge? Shouldn't the sponge take care of most things and the floss takes care of the tiny stuff?

 

Do you find the sponge gets dirty and is not pleasing to look at? I would rather have a dirty sponge in the filter vs in the tank.

Also why would you need to change the floss every other week if you have a sponge? Shouldn't the sponge take care of most things and the floss takes care of the tiny stuff?

I can't see the sponge unless I take my lid off. I think it looks nice. I replace the filter floss when it starts falling apart or clogging. Mine lasts 2 weeks. I go pretty thick like 1/2 inch thick in mine.

 

Keep the frames from the cartridges to use as support , and then buy this and place it in front of the frames. Leave it a bit long and drape it over the top of the frame to keep it in place.

 

For the price of the floss, little extra work cutting them and installing so they stay in place you can buy a 6 pack of cartridges for $6.99. From big als


ECatch

 

The bonded filter pads will last much longer than replacing the cartridges. It's cheaper in the long run.

 

Big als Is really expensive here and I only buy stuff that isn't sold at petsmart, however I only get fish from big als.

I already purchased the floss so I need to use it and cutting the floss isn't hard. I stuffed it in a bio cartridge for now, I plan to thow out the sponge on the original cartridge and make my own and use the bio cartridge for bio and may end up getting those filter pads