Penguin Bio-Wheels

[MEAlston]

It's been 20 days since I first setup my 55 gal tank with the betta pair.
It's starting to clear now..yippeee!!
I'm considering the purchase of two Penguin 350-B Power Filters. Would this
be overkill regarding the bio-wheels and their role in growing
bacteria?....Any comments kindly appreciated...-ED <`))))>(| ~ ~
http://www.aquariumguys.com/penguin350b.html

[Frank]

MEAlston wrote:
> It's been 20 days since I first setup my 55 gal tank with the betta pair.
> It's starting to clear now..yippeee!!

What kind of filter/s do you have on the tank now?

> I'm considering the purchase of two Penguin 350-B Power Filters. Would this
> be overkill regarding the bio-wheels and their role in growing
> bacteria?....

I think two filters on a tank is a lot better than one. Oversizing them
is also better than undersizing. I hate it when they size a filter by
the amount of gallons the tank holds. A filter, and it's media should
be sized for the species of fish and their bio-load. I like the
bio-wheel type filters because they remove all three forms of
pollution; dissolved compounds - ammonia/nitrite, inorganic pollutants
- DOCs (dissolved organic compounds), and solid particulate waste. The
bio-wheels hold the polluted water within the filter media long enough
for the bacteria to break down the DOCs, where as other filters just
pump the DOCs through the filter media and back into the tank to
accumulate. A build-up of DOCs create conditions that encourage
disease, parasites, and opportunistic bacteria. The effectiveness of
bio-filtering is improved the longer the polluted water is held in the
filters media - bio-wheels do that and two would be twice as good as
one............ Frank

[Dick]

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 00:07:05 GMT, "MEAlston"
> wrote:

>It's been 20 days since I first setup my 55 gal tank with the betta pair.
>It's starting to clear now..yippeee!!
>I'm considering the purchase of two Penguin 350-B Power Filters. Would this
>be overkill regarding the bio-wheels and their role in growing
>bacteria?....Any comments kindly appreciated...-ED <`))))>(| ~ ~
>http://www.aquariumguys.com/penguin350b.html
>

I have two Penguin 330s on my 75 gallon tank. I quit using the bio
wheels. Too much trouble and no gain. I also do not use charcoal so
have to remove the charcoal by cutting the bag open. I just use the
frame to hold filter media I buy in bulk and cut to fit the frame.

I had to replace one of the filters after the pump got noisey. I do
have to clean the impeller once in awhile. It is not always easy to
reposition the impeller.

I don't know anything about how much volume is good or bad. Two work
fine in 75 gallons.

Whisper filters provide the charcoal and filter bags separately.
However Penguin and Whisper both include charcoal in the maintenance
kits whether you use it or not. I have lots of charcoal on hand, darn
it.

dick

[MEAlston]

It's an 'Aqua-Tech' 30/60...dual chambers, blue mechanical mesh w/integrated
carbon, behind a white bio-mesh. It came with the tank. I have this idea
that the tank water should be cleaner than my tap water...someone stop
me...!!!! I want a HOT magnum cannister, too.

[Altum]

MEAlston wrote:
> It's been 20 days since I first setup my 55 gal tank with the betta pair.
> It's starting to clear now..yippeee!!
> I'm considering the purchase of two Penguin 350-B Power Filters. Would this
> be overkill regarding the bio-wheels and their role in growing
> bacteria?....Any comments kindly appreciated...-ED <`))))>(| ~ ~
> http://www.aquariumguys.com/penguin350b.html

You're going to do the lightly stocked planted discus tank, right? Too
many biowheels will hurt nothing, but discus don't maneuver very well in
heavy current. You're talking about pushing 700 gallons per hour
through that tank. (!)

I'd think about filtering with a considerably lower flow rate for
discus. Filters totaling more like 300 or 350 gallons per hour would be
appropriate.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[MEAlston]

Yes..I have the 55g w/the betta pair.
and I concure...I don't want too heavy a current- regardless of the
fish...but I can't get around the physics of filtering. ..Thanks (bigtime)
for the feedback...-ED

[Eric]

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:01:09 -0500, Dick wrote
(in article >):


>
> Whisper filters provide the charcoal and filter bags separately.
> However Penguin and Whisper both include charcoal in the maintenance
> kits whether you use it or not. I have lots of charcoal on hand, darn
> it.


Why not just leave the charcoal in? Even if you don't think it's doing any
chemical filtration, it's still a great place for nitrifying bacteria to
grow.

-E

[Dick]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:15:59 GMT, Eric > wrote:

>On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:01:09 -0500, Dick wrote
>(in article >):
>
>
>>
>> Whisper filters provide the charcoal and filter bags separately.
>> However Penguin and Whisper both include charcoal in the maintenance
>> kits whether you use it or not. I have lots of charcoal on hand, darn
>> it.
>
>
>Why not just leave the charcoal in? Even if you don't think it's doing any
>chemical filtration, it's still a great place for nitrifying bacteria to
>grow.
>
>-E

At first I did leave the charcoal in, but found I could not clean the
combination bag and charcoal clean enough to get good flow through.
Then I bought bulk filter media and only used the frame to hold the
media. Usually I reuse the same frames over and over for the
Penguins. I had a problem with the Whisper frames with bags. After
cleaning the bags while on the frames (no charcoal), I put them into
the sunlight. One of my dogs found the Whisper frame and bag a great
toy. He shredded them. Never touched the Penguin filter or frame.
<g>

dick

[Mister Gardener]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 04:23:57 -0500, Dick >
wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:15:59 GMT, Eric > wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:01:09 -0500, Dick wrote
>>(in article >):
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Whisper filters provide the charcoal and filter bags separately.
>>> However Penguin and Whisper both include charcoal in the maintenance
>>> kits whether you use it or not. I have lots of charcoal on hand, darn
>>> it.
>>
>>
>>Why not just leave the charcoal in? Even if you don't think it's doing any
>>chemical filtration, it's still a great place for nitrifying bacteria to
>>grow.
>>
>>-E
>
>At first I did leave the charcoal in, but found I could not clean the
>combination bag and charcoal clean enough to get good flow through.
>Then I bought bulk filter media and only used the frame to hold the
>media. Usually I reuse the same frames over and over for the
>Penguins. I had a problem with the Whisper frames with bags. After
>cleaning the bags while on the frames (no charcoal), I put them into
>the sunlight. One of my dogs found the Whisper frame and bag a great
>toy. He shredded them. Never touched the Penguin filter or frame.
><g>
>
>dick
That has got to be the most convincing filter brand endorsement that I
have ever seen. I think NetMax oughta add this review to his web page
on filters.

-- Mister Gardener

[Frank]

MEAlston wrote,
>It's an 'Aqua-Tech' 30/60...

Why replace it (?) I would add a second twin bio-wheel filter for a
back-up and leave it go at that......... Frank

[MEAlston]

You could pickup some plexi-glass and cut yourself a new frame using the
broken one as a pattern. -ED