I have a power filter (one that hangs on the side) and my bio wheel does not spin anymore, does this happen often or what? thanks, how do you fix it if possible and will that effect how well it works
Bio wheel?
- Thread starter wwildcats04
- Start date
Check the cartridge to see if it's out of its slot and wedged against the wheel. Otherwise, try cleaning the place where the wheel axile sits because there may be some crud that makes it stick. Is water going thru? If not, then that's a different problem.
I have a couple of Penguin bio-wheel filters. The oldest is about 7 months old and it hasn't had a problem yet.
I have a couple of Penguin bio-wheel filters. The oldest is about 7 months old and it hasn't had a problem yet.
Check to see the pleats are going straight across, if they are twisted the water will go undera nd not spin the wheel.
I rinse my wheels by banging them around in tank water coming out of the drain hose, I find they have a lot of buildup which I think is lodged inside the wheel, collecting in the pleats. If it builds up deep on one side it will unbalance the wheel. I figure there is plenty of bacteria on the paper of the wheel, I don't need the buildup inside the wheel.
I rinse my wheels by banging them around in tank water coming out of the drain hose, I find they have a lot of buildup which I think is lodged inside the wheel, collecting in the pleats. If it builds up deep on one side it will unbalance the wheel. I figure there is plenty of bacteria on the paper of the wheel, I don't need the buildup inside the wheel.
a while, when i take the cartridge out it spins again, but I do have the cartridge in there the correct way in those little slots. If I lift it up a little bit than it starts to spin again. The blue part is supposed to be facing away correct?
Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
By the sounds of it, it seems you may have an Penguin Power filter, not the Emporer. The Emporer has a spray bar that forces the wheels to turn while the Penguin does not. I had 2 Penguin 330's on a 55 gallon tank and the wheels do seem to stop after a while and there was never a problem with the tank or the filtrations with this happening. If there isn't anything obviously gunking it up that you can see, I would say it is alright..... it's just how this filter performs. If you feel more comfortable rinsing the wheels off, do so but be sure to rinse the wheels off with tank water as chlorine will kill the bacteria that you need on there....
The wheels on my Penguin filter stopped once when the strength of the water flow through the filter got weak due to a bit of clogging. I cleaned out the intake tube with a pipe cleaner (one that is only used for the tank filters), and all was well again.