Bio-wheels not turning

[Cichlid Guy]

I noticed the bio-wheels on my Penguin 330 are not turning. Any suggestions as to what I can do to fix this?

[JamisonBWolsh]

Sorry..Not here. I use the emperor type filters (they use spray bar to turn the wheels). There is a person that LOVES the penguin series filters. You can ask him? you would have to search the threads though..I forget which thread he is in? sorry

[morleyz]

Can you manually turn them? Maybe just clean up the sides and the "axel" ends...they have a tendency to build up slime and calcium...at least in emporers.

[slipknottin]

see if your filter pads are touching them...

otherwise, just clean off the parts that are weighed down and it will start spinning again.

[MP]

Another victim of Penguin...

IMO, if you want to eliminate the problem once and for all, just change the filter for something more decent (AquaClear or Emperor, for example). Or use it as a non-BioWheel one. :)

[JSchmidt]

If the wheels aren't turning, you can check several things...

- make sure the filter pads aren't too clogged to allow enough water to cascade under the wheels

- check the little spindle bearings (the stubs that stick out of both ends of the wheels) and make sure they (and their receptacles) are dirty or coated with lime scale

- make sure the intake tube is firmly seated in impeller well

- seat the filter pads fully; make sure they don't come into contact with the wheels

- make sure the lid is on correctly and isn't contacting the wheel


I've got several Penguins (mostly 170s) that have been running without incident for several years. I've never had any problem with the wheels stopping that wasn't due to one of the above. The wheels often turn slowly or infrequently (i.e., once every minute or two), but that's normal.

HTH,
Jim

[NJ Devils Fan]

That happened to my friend's Penguin 125. I don't know why, but he doesn't have as much water comming out of it, not enough to turn the wheel. I took his apart and fully cleaned it, and there was no difference. As stated, if it doesn't start to rotate in the next few days, I would get another filter.

[karfixer]

I have 5 Penguin filters, 2-330's, 1-300, 2-125's. I have found they are very sensitive to intake restrictions-I clean the tubes,strainers and impellers weekly during water change time. This only takes a few minutes with a round brush and quickly restores water flow. If the filter pads get plugged up the water will back flow @ the intake and the wheels will stop too. Snails seem to love the bio-wheels and get stuck in there all the time, and will climb into the housing, breeding in there and lead to the filters clogging up as well.

[JamesBenjamin]

my first thought upon reading the title of this thread:

"big wheels keep on turnin... proud mary keep on...."

[TnCgal]

Originally posted by Cichlid Guy
I noticed the bio-wheels on my Penguin 330 are not turning. Any suggestions as to what I can do to fix this?

Yes. Switch them all to AquaClears. I finally did ... for that very reason.

[Forum221]

I have 2 Bio Wheel Mini's, 1 125 Bio wheel and 1 170 Bio Wheel and i have had almost no problems with the wheel not spinning, one thing is to make sure the filter cartrage is clean and that there is no buildup at the end of the wheel.

[JP457]

I had the exact same prob with a 125 and a mini. Just clean the impeller and intake tube. I didnt even use a brush, I just ran them under very hot water till the algae and junk fell off and I wiped some off the impeller. I put the filters back together and havent had a problem since. If its new, they also sometimes take a little while to get going. Just spin it a few times by hand, maby that will help

[TnCgal]

Cindy wonders : Why bother ? :confused:

There are plenty of other filters out there that are equally as good without having to do all that "maintenance". I give my filter sponges a squeeze in water every couple of weeks and I'm good to go. That is LITERALLY the extent of my filter maintenace. With Bio-Wheels I had to disassemble the housing and peices to clean it just to keep it spinning, every couple of weeks !

I never could figure out how it could possibly be "worth" having a Bio-Wheel if you have to literally take it apart and clean it every few weeks just to keep it doing what all the other filters do naturally ?

[pinballqueen]

I agree with Cindy....I dumped my biowheels in favor of a canister, myself. Way too much maintenance, way too many little problems (plus, the electricity in my area is transitory, so I was constantly having to reprime any HOB filters I had....except the one I have now....gotta find out the brand name on that thing, cause It's been great...anybody know what comes standard in the Walmart 10 gallon complete setup?)

I actually had to resort to taking the biowheels APART to fix a similar problem with my emperor...there was a string caught in the axle that came from the inside of the biowheel. took hours to put it back together...I bought a Fluval the following week.

[Anton Wernher]

I believe its a Penguin without the biowheels...

BTW I'm with TnC on this one.

[pinballqueen]

thanx Anton. (sorry, didn't mean to hijack). Do they sell a big tank filter without the biowheels (say, 55 gallon size)? The mechanism itself is great, I just don't like the biowheel part of a HOB...

[fishbrain]

Originally posted by pinballqueen
thanx Anton. (sorry, didn't mean to hijack). Do they sell a big tank filter without the biowheels (say, 55 gallon size)? The mechanism itself is great, I just don't like the biowheel part of a HOB...

Aqua clear 500 will do for a 55(depending on the fish load)

[pinballqueen]

You know, I've never even seen an Aquaclear....they are apparently not a common product in my neck of the woods... I've heard all this great praise for them, and yet I've never even seen one.... (Guess I should get out more....)