"saki" wrote in message
...
"Gail Futoran" wrote in
news:5dbsc.55073
:

-the filter material should be cleaned in
extracted tank water as you clean filter
material in any other power filter.

I'm new to the Bio-Wheel myself and wonder if I could ask
for a
clarification.

I have the Penguin Mini Bio-Wheel running on a small tank
with two small
goldfish. After setting it up two weeks ago it's
performing marvelously.

How often, though, does one change the square, flat filter
cartridge that
fits into the external compartment? Do you just rinse this
and reuse a few
times, or change it for a new one every couple weeks?

That cartridge has carbon in it. A lot of hobbyists
(me included) don't use carbon except for special
purposes, like following medication - which I
avoid in the main tanks anyway.

Other than that there's no real purpose for carbon
except to make $ for the manufacturers. I cut
out the carbon and use the cartridge as a barrier
for a piece of foam filter insert made by AquaClear.
I usually have to cut it down a bit to fit my
filters but it lasts a long time and adds mechanical
filtration as well as additional biological filtration.

I rinse the filter material (including the black
plastic cartridge) in extracted tank water each
time I do a partial water change. My tanks are
well established with lots of plants so I don't
need to do a PWC more often than once
every two weeks. But goldfish are generally
messier than tropical fish, so maybe once per
week is a good idea. Other posters might have
good suggestions about that. My only goldfish
are in an outdoor pond.

Your info is much appreciated. My fish are much livelier
since introducing
this filter.

I really like the Marineland power filters. We
get a fair number of power outages around here
and in 8 years only one mini power filter has
died following a blackout. And the power outage
might not have been the cause. It was my oldest
power filter.

Gail