Switching my Whisper for a Penguin

[DAVIDFBT]

Hello everybody,

I am thinking of buying a Penguin 100 for my 10 gallon tropical tank to replace the Whisper 20 currently in there because of the Bio-Wheel on it. I am just concerned that when I switch the filter, I'll get a mini-cycle because the filter won't have enough bacteria on it since it is new. As for the Whisper 20, I'll put that in my sister's 10G betta tank to replace the sponge filter currently in there.

Also, can someone who owns a Penguin 100 tell me the dimensions of the box part that goes behind the aquarium? (LxWxH)

 

[noodles62]

I am not sure of the dimensions of the filters you have however I just set up a pengiun 200 and I noticed that they supply an extra media slot; you could take the media bag from your whisper and put it in the extra slot...instant bacteria!!

 

[soobie]

I have a Penguin 100 on my 7-gal, and the part that extends behind the tank is 3.5" x 5" x 7". I think Penguins are great filters. Very quiet.

To avoid a major spike, just put the media from the Whisper in for a couple weeks to seed the biowheel. There's only one slot in the 100, but plenty of room to put in an extra piece of sponge or floss or whatever if you want supplemental media. I usually run a Penguin cartridge that gets rinsed and reused until it falls apart, a slice of Aquaclear sponge, and a smaller piece of sponge that fits in the filter for my fry tank/quarantine tank (so I can have an instantly cycled tank if I need it).

 

[Sarge_857]

i have a whisper 20-40 and a penguin 150. what i did to help get some bacteria established in the wheel was i cut some of the bio foam off and put it in the filter for a while. (or if your switchin to the penguin use the whole biofoam behind the filter cartridge).

 

[DAVIDFBT]

It looks like I'm going to buy a Penguin 100 soon! I needed to know how big it was because there is a limited space on the hood of my 10 gal and it turns out that the penguin can fit in that space.

 

[Sarge_857]

It looks like I'm going to buy a Penguin 100 soon! I needed to know how big it was because there is a limited space on the hood of my 10 gal and it turns out that the penguin can fit in that space.

i had one on my 10 gallon. the only problem i had was i had too much gravel (bout 3 inches........of it...) and the intake was longer than i thought.

 

[DAVIDFBT]

Wait, how long is the actual intake tube? From the point where the filter hangs on to the aquarium to the bottom.

 

[fishieperson321]

If you use the extension, it will reach 1 inch from the bottom of a 20 high tank. Without the extension, it is about 3-4 inches from the bottom of the tank. Without the extension you dont get to use the mid level strainer.