Customer Reviews

Marineland Penguin Power Filter Up to 20-Gallon, 100 GPH

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Alrighty, so I've got a spoiled-rotten betta fish in a 5 gallon tank. Originally our first canister filter was much too strong for him, and it would push him around the tank. So we got another, smaller canister filter which promptly quit working. We went without a filter for a while before realizing that it'd probably be a good idea to get another one. I'd read both positive and negative things about bio-wheel based filters, and I figured I'd try it out.

As someone who has never used a bio-wheel filter before, I was surprised how easy this one was to put together - It' is most certainly not a one-piece construction, and yes - some assembly is required. Still, it wasn't bad! If you're buying this for a small tank (as this is actually the smallest bio-wheel size we could find), I will warn you: If you wish to use the flow regulator, you're not going to fit it in a 5-10 gallon tank easily. You'll have to cut the plastic connector, which is done easily enough with a dremmel saw or something similar.

Priming it is a bit of a pain. You're definitely going to want to have a small disposable cup of some sort near by to pour tank water into the back - it'll take a while to get it started. So don't think that if you plug it in, it's broken! Ours took 20 minutes to prime itself, but now it works like a charm. Bio wheel is spinning just fine with it only at half-power (it is a small tank, after all!)

I'd recommend this based off of the first few days of use, if anything changes in the immediate future, I'll be sure to update.

I got my fish tank in 1998 and had an older BioWheel filter. However it was pretty much DOA when I got it as the wheel didn't turn. I instead settled for an underground filter. However, the cartridge on that went bad last year (it always does every few months) and I forgot to replace it.

A few weeks ago I went to my Uncle's house. He's always been into fish tanks and I saw how clear his water was compared to mine. Being that I hadn't cleaned my tank in a while I figured I should revamp it when I got home. I thought maybe my filter needed replaced.

Upon my return home I cleaned the tank and bought this filter for $20 at Petsmart (Amazon is great but the $31 seems a bit high for this compared to what I got it for). It only took a few hours and my water suddenly looked as good as my Uncle's.

I also fixed the old filter, but this one works better. Sometimes I leave both of them on to provide extra oxygen. This filter has easy to change cartridges that need replaced about once a month or so. They'll probably set you back a bit, but based on this filter's performance so far I will definitely keep up the maintence.

I have been raising and breeding freshwater tropical fish for 35 years. I think sponge filters are the best for breeding tanks, but for all my other tanks I have been using bio-wheel filters. The cartridges can be rinsed and reused a time or two without causing any water problems. Carbon is an important part of filtering and should not bypassed. Bio-wheels are the best concerning biological filtering. Three kinds of filtering in one filter can never be bad.Mechanical, chemical and biological in one nice package.If it is too loud it could be because the intake tube is not seated properly. Sometimes you may have to trim any excess plastic away from the impeller blades etc. I have quieted a couple of noisy ones by doing that. Water is always prime in my tanks, thanks to bio wheels.

the filter works much better then my old whisper
its was a little loud at first but eventually got quiet.

I had two of these side by side on a 30 gallon aquarium that was way overstocked and overfed and they worked so well the water was crystal clear and I had no problems with them. The rite size A filters are inexpensive.

This is a great little filter for a smaller aquarium setup - less than 30 gallons, maybe 20 gallons. I have used these type of filters for years, starting back over a decade ago with an earlier model.

This model is greatly improved, with a longer inlet that picks up more debris near the bottom of the tank. This is a huge plus!

The bio-wheel function seems to be better implemented in this model as well, as it generally stays put and keeps moving. The old models would see a stuck bio-wheel commonly.

I am currently using two of these filters - one I have had running over a year with zero issues, and the other for just a few months.

I would highly recommend this filter. Please make sure to keep your filter media clean for best efficiency.

I have the old BIO-wheel filter for 10g aquarium. It was perfect; wasn't too loud, had a good flow rate, and best of all: was one of the best biological filter available. But I lost the bearing and it stopped turning. So I bought the new one thinking that I could reuse the old bio-wheel. But no, they are different size. Furthermore, the new filter is obnoxiously LOUD (louder than the AquaClear 70!) and really agitates the water. Within couple of weeks, I noticed a large build up of scales (I have hard water) under the hood. Plus, the flow rate doesn't seem to be as high.

I think a small AquaClear filter with bioMax media will provide a similar biological filtering capability, while providing a far superior mechanical filtering. Had I known that:
a) old bio-wheel won't fit the new filters (I have to recycle)
b) filter is really loud (really annoys me)
c) really agitates the surface (not good for plants)

I wouldn't have bought this. The only good thing about the filter is that the old filter cartridge still fits. You can even buy them at Walmart. But then again, I only rinse out the cartridge every couple of months and never replace them anyway.

This filter works great. Very powerful for a 10 gallon tank. Easy to change filters and the water turns the BIO-wheel. You do have to prime the pump when starting up after a water change, not a big deal, but you do have to put in allot of water and I have had to pull up on the tube to get it started.

I had a Marineland filter just like this a few years ago. I always thought it was a little loud. I was always under the impression that it was loud b/c it was old. Well, I recently bought this product and sent it right back when I heard the same sounds coming from it. I had this im my bedroom where I slept so I couldn't sleep with the inconsistant clicking/grinding sounds from the impeller (or whatever was making the noise).
I tried purchasing one more from the local store just to see if I had some bad luck..but I got the same annoying sounds.
So while I'm sure the biowheel works great, this product just didn't suit my needs. I now use the Aquaclear filters in all my tanks.

I have never heard a more noisy filter. In the roughly one year since I bought it new, I've observed that it has basically has 2 impeller modes - noisy and more noisy. For no apparent reason it just kicks up the volume at random times, often during my favorite TV shows. I'll never buy another filter made by these folks.