The penguin filters are a really good deal. They are a little more than the other brands, but the plastic used in them is a little thicker. Tehy definately seem to last long and there haven't been many complaints about them.
Your Experience with the Bio-Wheels?
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I think the emperors and similar have good bio-capacity, but I also think that most filters and established tank set-ups have plenty of bio-capacity. People only run into problems when they do things that screw up the bio-media (like replace it or wash it in chlorinated water). I run 3 bio-wheels on my 90 gallon (emperor 400 with 2, and HOT magnum with 1), and have never had a hint of nitrite or ammonia in a heavily stocked tank. Bio-filtration is just about having the bio-capacity (surface area that gets oxygenated water flow) to handle the fish in the tank. I think most filter solutions that are reasonable can do this along with the surfaces in the tank, but bio-wheels probably do offer a great surface for the bacteria to grow on, and probably have more available space then most people use.
I have a biowheel in the eclipse hood on my tank. I actually have left it there, despite having a heavily planted, co2 diffused tank. I had quite a few problems at the beginning, lost a lot of plecos and algae eaters. But that may have been a different issue. Just for experiment purposes, I have an Aquaclear 20 on my coldwater tank... a 20 gallon with one blackmoor and two mystery snails. The tank is mucky, as goldfish tanks usually are. But it cycled quickly. The filter has partially-submerged biomedia on top and sponges in the bottom. I haven't decided whether I like it or not. The casing itself is pretty brittle, and parts of it are already broken. I may end up putting a different filter on it.
I am not totally sold on either of the systems. If I were to do another planted aquarium, I think I would move to a canister system, mostly because of the high surface agitation with biowheel/overflow systems.
I am not totally sold on either of the systems. If I were to do another planted aquarium, I think I would move to a canister system, mostly because of the high surface agitation with biowheel/overflow systems.
i think they work great i recently just got 2 emp's 400 for my 125 setup and their a pretty impressive filter....but my mom has a 30 gallon tank with a few goldfish in it and was constinly havein problems with ammonia .....slaped a emp with a bio wheel on it...and bam the fish are all the suddon healther and water is cleaner .........i also have a 55 gallon and a 30 gallon and i was always finding ammonia spikes......prolly cause of the crappy regent and whisper filter thats on it
I have a mini Bio-Wheel on a 10g and it works great. I took 2 cartridges and cut off the material and use sheet filter material rubber banded on instead though, works great. As long as you periodically clean the intake tube out and keep the filter media clean you'll have no troubles.
