And the penguin has none of the downsides of the AC. ACs can overflow, are noiser, have trouble restarting, and arent one piece construction, so you can get leaks where the motor connects to the body.
Gotta agree with Slip that Penguins are as cheap as the next filter and are of better construction to boot. Bio-Wheels aren't a waste of money -- IMO they're a pretty clever miniaturization of a wet-dry system.
To return to the original question -- if your Bio-Wheel is hardly turning, not only is it still working, it has actually achieved its maximum effectiveness. The discoloration and slow rotation mean it's heavily colonized with nitrifying bacteria. Another advantage to the bacteria-saturated bio-wheel is that because it turns so slowly, it isn't as noisy as a brand-new wheel.
And this has basically already been said by Blinky and kikuchiyo, but for the record, this is what the Penguin manual (PDF) says:
"Discoloration of pleated BIO-Wheel material is normal and desirable. NEVER CLEAN THE BIO WHEEL. If the BIO-Wheel becomes so heavily cultured that it no longer rotates, you can gently rinse the surface in order to remove the heaviest buildup. Use treated…tap water only."
you could also try cleaning the points of contact. but the others are right, discolored dirty looking bio wheels with irregular motion is ideal and desirable.
I've had my Emp 400 running for several years, I still get great flow and the wheels turn just fine even with the spray bars turned all the way up (slowest turning position). oh, and I never hear mine turning .
never touch the pleats and only rinse them in used tank water when absolutely necessary. my filter was expensive cause I bought it locally, but I know now I can get one from Big Al's for under $40 + shipping. not very pricey in my book
True story: I was in a Petsmart the other day, talking with an older fish lady. I cant remember how we got to the point, but she mentioned you should change the bio wheels every month and I was like, you dont EVER change bio wheels!! only if they're damaged. she said something like, 'well you know more than I do then' and walked off that was fun.
Please tell me where you found a Penguin 330 for $25!!, at one of my LFS' my penguin 125 was $35!!! Im guessing it's an internet site, please fill me in.
I have a penguin had it for several months the flow is good, the biowheel doesn't affect water flow at all. I can't hear it unless I am cleaning the tank and have vacumed the water level down while cleaning the tank. The water has lots of current even when the intake is trying to suck up my java moss.
I have both penguins and aquaclear as well as emperor's and I like the emperor's the best. they are easier to clean and I don't think any of them are noisy, maybe I'm just deaf but I think all these complaints of noisy filters are either B/S or you've got something stuck in there. The only times I've ever had a bio-wheel had problems is when the cover is not seated properly, the wheel "bearings" (little blue caps) are not seated in the frame properly or there is something stuck in there. I regularly have problems with a penguin Mini on my snail tank only because small snails crawl up and get wedged inbetween the wheel and the frame. I have about a dozen penguin 125's, 2 330's, a 170 and 4 mini's, an emperor 400, 280 and a bio-wheel Pro 60. I like the emperor better beacause of the capacity for bio-media. My only complaint on the aquaclear was the filter/media arrangement. If I want to clean the sponge, I have to completely remove the media whereas the emperor I don't have to touch the media basket. It's all opinions fellas, that's how all the companies stay in business. Bigals is definitely the place to get marineland filters, LFS's tend to jack the prices up high although some can be found reasonable priced. Kyle
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that was fun.
