Who's got a biowheel filter???

[bellasly]

I've got a question. The instructions that came with mine were pretty ambiguous about changing the filter. It said never change the biowheel but change the blue filter thing. So is the bacteria seeded onto the biowheel? So its alright to change the other filter?

Thanks!

[Lady Hobbs]

Yes. The biowheel should never need replacing. Only the filter pads.

PS You don't have to use the pads, either. You can use filter floss or sponges or something else. The pads can get rather expensive if you change them too often.

[bellasly]

Thanks thats good to know!!!

[Sasquatch]

The biowheel's shouldn't need any changing. The only time I would consider cleaning them is if a lot of skum builds up on them. Them run them through a spray of dechlorinated water to get rid of it without killing the bacteria.

As for the filter cartridges, it depends on what you're using. The ones with the blue foam have carbon in them, so you need to change them regularly to keep the carbon fresh. The grey ones you fill with what you want, so change them in consequence.

[Lady Hobbs]

consequence or sequence? LOL My messing up must be catching on.

[xoolooxunny]

make sure you float the biowheel in the tank when your cleaning the filter so it doesnt dry up! And when it starts giving you an uneven rotation, thats fine, thats what they do.

[Sasquatch]

consequence or sequence? LOL My messing up must be catching on.

I suppose it could be both, but I meant consequence. Depending in what you put in there, you have to clean/replace them on different schedules.

Of course, you'd want to clean them sequentially too. There are some good bacteria in there and if you clean them all at the same time you'll loose them and it could be bad for the fish.

[cocoa_pleco]

dont let the bio-wheel ever dry out. I have 2 bio-wheels

[Drumachine09]

I have a marineland penguin 100 w/biowheel, and it kicks butt on my 10 gallon. I love the little sucker! Wish i had/could afford a 350 or 400 (or 2 of each for that matter) for my 55.

[cocoa_pleco]

i have the 100 and a 350

[Drumachine09]

i have the 100 and a 350


Isnt the 100 an awesome little filter?

I love mine.

[cocoa_pleco]

mine was a pain in the @ss. The bio-wheel kept getting clogged and it was a real pain. The 350 model better work better

[kimmers318]

All of the filters I have that have biowheels are awesome! Any filters I need to replace will have biowheels. Even the setups from eclipse that I have that have the filter in the hood and are typically underrated for the size of the tank work very well.

[Mark Lathrop]

Penguin 100. Now that I'm more used to it, I really like it. I just wished they made a do it yourself filter making kit like my old filter. That way I could add whatever I wanted inside of the filter.

[Stingslider]

I got one. First time using it. It a 150B for a 10 gallon. So we see how that goes.

I was used to using canister filter. I couldn't figure out how to get the intake to start taking in water. I felt stupid when I figured it out though 30 min later.