Penquin Question

[SomeGuy88]

Alright,

So im planning to get another filter for my tank. I only have an Aquaclear 300 on there right now and Im thinking about getting a Penguin 330 to go on with it because of the good things about biological filteration I have heard about it.

My question: Does anyone know of a substatute instead of filter cartriges? I hate them. Would sticking an Aquaclear sponge in there work good aswell? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

[daveedka]

I use flat sponges cut to the same shape as the filter cartridge, but essentially you can stuff pretty much anything you want in the medaia well. I get my sponge from big al's in sheets and cut it.

[anonapersona]

PetSolutions has a clamshell-type frame that fits the Penguin filters, the 330 needs 2. If you have filter padding, you can cut your own to fill the frame, I find the pads they sell are very thin, and although they are cheap, rolled padding is cheaper.


See the cartridge frame in this link -- not much info but that is exactly what you want at the best price. other places have it if you search long enough, so you can read more about it elsewhere, but this is what you want, works fine.

Penguin cartridge frames (http://petsolutions.com/product.asp?pn=47490083)

[blitzen25bm]

what size tank? if the ac is providing enough mech. filtration why not just stuff the penguin with biomedia, just bioballs or noodles those dont gunkup too bad; like lavarocks or some of the more pourous stuff would. just make sure you prefilter it.

[SomeGuy88]

its a 72 gallon.

The AC does provide good mechanical filtration, except when my Oscar goes nuts andd stirs everything up then it takes some time for it to all settle down or get sucked up.

Oh and another thing, I gave my brother my old 25 gallon tank thats just been sitting in my room and it has a Dynaflo 3 filter on it and could I just do the same thing with that too? Its supposed to take cartridges but cant find those anywhere.

Thanks again

[JSchmidt]

I buy AquaClear 300 foams and cut them to fit the Penguin filter wells. Works like a charm.

Jim

[Captain Hook]

You can buy large sheets of pads at the Big Al's around here. The pads can be just plain sponge or they have ones with resins to remove ammonia, phosphates, or activated carbon.

I cut them to fit the original filter catridges and use 2 elastics to hold them in place. I also put all sorts of things in the media baskets that come with the Penguin (AC sponges, AC media bags, sponge pads, etc.).

[JSchmidt]

How much foam can you fit into the media baskets? Those things are the clamshell frame that pinches shut, right? I wouldn't think much mechanical media would fit into those. (You can't fit much foam in an Emperor basket, anyway.)

To increase mech filtration, I much prefer filling the whole filter will with foam. Amazing how much crud gets trapped that way...

Jim

[anonapersona]

I run my 330 with some filter floss in the media baskets, then pads cut to fit the clamshell frames (yes, they snap closed and fit intot he slot where the cartridge fits. ) then the biowheels.

The media baskets could hold efisubstrat or foam chunks or peat or carbon in a stocking or whatever chemical stuff you might want. The pads do mechanical filtration, the biowheels do biofiltration. I rinse the floss and the pads out as needed.

[hermxl1]

this is good info guys. I guess I didn't understand that I didn't have to by blue carbon filled filter packs from PetSmart. (Stupid me) I have 2 Penguins and each holds 4 of those lil blue filters and it gets expensive buying them. About $9 bucks for a pack of 3.

Does the sponge media need to be cut to fit the slots that blue filters slide into, or can they just be cut to be stuffed into the bottom middle of the chamber?