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Product Review for September/October!

(For a look at different rated products, such as filters, heaters, pumps and more, check out the Buyer's Guide.)

bulletAN AQUARIAN EDITOR's PICK!
Product:   Penguin Bio-Wheel

overall score:
Manufacturer:   MarineLand

1  2  3  4  5
Price:   $16-(Mini) $24-(125) $27-(170) $40-(330)

*** Read or write a User Review of this product ***

Penguin Bio-Wheel Power Filters by Marineland

Penguin Bio-wheel

Products used for review->330,125, and Mini
The penguin bio-wheel is a wet/dry filter intended to provide top of the line filtration in a hang-on filter. It comes in 4 different sizes. For small tanks a "mini" is available. It works for tanks up to 15 gallons. For tanks of about 15-25 gallons there is the 125. The Bio-wheel 170 works for tanks of about 25-40 gallons, and the 330 works for 40-60 gallon tanks. In each case, the number of the filter, for example 125, is also the certified flow rate of the filter. The mini provides 100 gph of water flow.

The filters contain patented Rite-size cartridges that provide mechanical and chemical filtration by way of floss and charcoal. The Bio-wheel itself provides Biological filtration.

Ok enough for the stats. Let’s get into the good stuff.

The Good:

bulletThe bio-wheel provides a maximum amount of area for biological filtration in a minimal amount of spatial area. In order for the bacteria that are beneficial for the biological process to survive, they must have a continual flow of aerated water over them.

(I personally love the bio-wheel concept it’s a wonder of spatial design. The tanks I have that use bio-wheel filters tend to be cleaner than my other tanks. The only exception to this fact is the tank I run on a canister filter on, but the price difference between a canister filter and a bio-wheel is very larger. In addition, canister filter are better used in large aquariums, while there is a bio-wheel made to fit almost every small to medium-large sized aquarium.)

bulletThe patented Rite-Size cartridge does its job of mechanical and chemical filtration quite well. However, any piece of floss will do a good job of mechanical filtration. While the charcoal used for chemical filtration may provide better filtration than any other company’s charcoal, I don’t believe that it does. I would instead recommend a much cheaper alternative: Tetra's cartridges. They provide adequate mechanical and chemical filtration at half the cost of the official Marineland cartridges.

The Bad:

bulletThere isn’t really any bad, but if I was to pull out a point it would be that the bio-wheel has a slight tendency of becoming stuck, especially in smaller set-ups. Personally I have not run into this problem too much outside of the 125. In most cases, the wheel only stops when the filter pad has become so clogged with material, that water is forced over the emergency hatch.

Overall:

Overall this filter is a great buy. They’re very inexpensive and are easy to set-up and maintain. I use them personally in about half of my tanks have been very pleased with them. Well worth buying.

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Copyright © 1999 Russell Carroll. All rights reserved.
Last modified: May 21, 2002 		Visit the Fishtop50

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