Filter Problems

[Wendie]

Just discovered my penguin filter dead in the water. The wheel is dry as a bone which doesn't take long in this house. Must have happened early this morning or in the middle of the night.

Right now I've got a whisper going on the tank with the filter stuff from the small filter I had going with the penguin. The two won't fit on the side at this point as the whsiper is a big sucker.

I've had problems on and off with that bio wheel so now I need suggestions as to what type of filter I should be getting. The whisper is a little noisy but can be lived with and seems to be throwing a lot of water. I usually buy a size up from what's normal for the tank size.

[Erik]

if you want to stick with an HOB then get aquaclear brand. They are the best hands down as they have large media capacity and the ability to use practically any type of media you want. ( any no finicky moving parts)
If you want to go high tech as in canister go for eheim they are $$ but rock solid reliable.
Erik

[poeticpyro]

i have an ehiem and it's the best type of filter i have ever had. the ehiem ecos are much easier to maintain, but they're still not that complicated. i currently have the ehiem classic, yeah it costs quite a bit, but the thing is so reliable and it's SILENT!! just keep asking around and do some research! ehiems can be both chemical filtration or bio... you just have to change the media inside of it...
if you want more info about ehiems just send a message my way.. thanks... good luck!

[Jim Powers]

I wouldn't right off the Penguin just yet. Do you know what stopped it?
It may just be some gunk built up around the impellor or the impellor itself is worn out. I have a Penguin as well as several other Marineland filters with the BioWheel and haven't had much in the way of problems.

[Wendie]

Pulled the penguin filter apart and found a thin thread of plant wrapped around the shaft which caused that to jam. I cleaned everything up and restarted it in the tank. It will run with the other filter so that I will have a "seasoned" filter to put on the new tank - probably two as I am thinking of one on each end.

In the meantime, I pulled out a lot of old floating plants that were not looking the best so I have this bad feeling that I probably uncycled the tank tonight. I'll take readings in the morning. Need to use up the Bio-Spira in the fridge anyway so I might just drop it in the tank regardless.