Penguin Bio-Wheel filters

I have Penguin Bio wheel 170 and Whisper 20 filters. I would go with the Penguin and as a second filter. It's a much better bio filter. I use Imagine Bio3 cartidges instead of the original Marineland and find them superior for mechanical and chemical filtering. They are hard to find but I asked my LFS about them and he stocks them now.
 
I'm a newbie with a 20 gallon tank and a pengiun 125 bio wheel filter. I have started the cycling a few week ago. I have a question about the blue filter inserts. Do the filters need to be replaced every three weeks? How do I know when the filter needs to be replaced.... I'm geussing when the bio wheel slows due to the filter getting plugged up? Can I just rinse instead of replacing each time? The filter has carbon in it, is this important? I read that someone used cut pieces of Aquaclear sponges as filters, what was used as the carbon? Thank you
 
Yes, you can just rinse the filter pads off. I do that weekly. I replace the filters every 3 months. The carbon isnt important. Carbon clears up the water, and removes medicine, but it looses its effectness after about 2-3 weeks (I believe). You can use sponges and it will work just fine. If you have to treat your tank with medicine, then when you are done, you can put in a normal filter with carbon for a few days to remove the medicine.
 
Carbon provides the chemical filtration, foam/floss the mechanical and eventually bio filtration and the bio wheel the biological filtration. Running all three types of filtration lessens the chances of your tank ever "crashing". Unless you feel you don't need the boost, stick with the carbon until you are confident you don't need it. It needs to be replaced as tel0004 said, every 2 - 3 weeks.
 
Bio Halt

Hi all,,,ive heard a few times that a bio wheel can actually stop sometimes,,,man if that ever happens i can get like a total meldown ,,,i need to know if this is tru because i need a good bio filter and all those gimmicks and snake oil make me think again and agian thanks,,, also the the pinguins look ...cheap TATA quality so would u recomend an emperor over that?
 
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Yes the bio wheel slows as it ages and sometimes stops. Then you know for sure you need to clean it. Aside from that I've never had any noticable effects from it stopping. I think it still works only not as well. I have an emperor 400 and get less flow from it than the penguin 170. Some people really seem to like them but to me they're a huge filter with little flow. The aquaclear is a much better filter for the money if you decide against a penguin.
 
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