# WTF! bio wheels stopped spinning?!?!



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

i'm so heated right now i dunno why im so mad over this but im furious. day 30 of cycling one of my 55G tanks BOTH of my piece of shitty sh*t marineland penguin 150 bio wheels stopped spinning, probably stopped for a while now. The thing is the filters i got from drsfostersmith when i got them one of them was defective so i had to wait another week to get the replacement now 30-35 days later both of the bio wheels just f*cking stopped spinning. i checked everything out, took the media out, still stopped, took everything apart made sure nothing was clogged, everything is clean as hell, put it back together, no movement. what the f*cking sh*t! i didnt think they were that big of a piece of sh*t! i'm fuckin livid!

p.s.
yes i have an anger issue


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## Boobah (Jan 25, 2005)

No0dles said:


> i'm so heated right now i dunno why im so mad over this but im furious. day 30 of cycling one of my 55G tanks BOTH of my piece of shitty sh*t marineland penguin 150 bio wheels stopped spinning, probably stopped for a while now. The thing is the filters i got from drsfostersmith when i got them one of them was defective so i had to wait another week to get the replacement now 30-35 days later both of the bio wheels just f*cking stopped spinning. i checked everything out, took the media out, still stopped, took everything apart made sure nothing was clogged, everything is clean as hell, put it back together, no movement. what the f*cking sh*t! i didnt think they were that big of a piece of sh*t! i'm fuckin livid!
> 
> p.s.
> yes i have an anger issue


 do your penguins have a spray bar? sometimes they aren't pointed in the right direction.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

moving to the proper forum.


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## Guest (May 7, 2009)

Okay to to make thing perfectly clear..this is what you have...http://www.petmeister.com/item2930.htm

Are you using the media cartridges it came with? Do you have one or two in there and if only one is it in the front slot or the back slot.

Does the wheel spin when the cartridges are out? I love these filters they are the best in my opinion for a HOB. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the wheel in aquarium water, if you have been having an issues with algea it could be weighing the wheel down. Then rest the wheel back on its holders and see if it moves then.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

ksls said:


> moving to the proper forum.


thanks, i figured this was just gonna be a bitch and complain thread! haha i didnt really have questions about these filters since i already tried everything under the sun to get them to spin and along with one out of the 2 being defective out of the box and now both of these taking a crap i knew i was just gonna upgrade to the emp400's and get drsfostersmith to send return boxes for the penguins. crappy product from my experience, maybe i was just one of the unlucky customers


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I just took the wheel of of mine because i found it was to loud. I dont know if you can with emps, but if possible, get some reuseable filter cartriges. One thing i like about penguin is it has 2 filter slots. Also, if you havnt ordered yet, i would go with an ac500 over pengin or emp.


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## brianhellno (Jun 16, 2008)

Just throwing this out there because I see you didn't mention it. I bought one of those once and the exact same thing happened that's happening to you. I had a friend come over and look at it and it turns out I never installed the bushings for the bio wheel. I guess I either never saw them or they weren't in there but after having a look through the instructions it vaguely mentions them. He had some extra so we installed them and about a year later they've been spinning no problems ever since. Did it come with the bushings?


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

sean-820 said:


> Just throwing this out there because I see you didn't mention it. I bought one of those once and the exact same thing happened that's happening to you. I had a friend come over and look at it and it turns out I never installed the bushings for the bio wheel. I guess I either never saw them or they weren't in there but after having a look through the instructions it vaguely mentions them. He had some extra so we installed them and about a year later they've been spinning no problems ever since. Did it come with the bushings?


no i never seen any!? lemme double check that. but i'm pretty sure the bio wheels are just a free floating gear style i dont see why it would need a "bushing" hmm...also marineland never said anything about it when i called them. i figured it was because the bio wheel itself wasnt perfectly balanced and well built.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

The bushings are purple pieces that snap into the slots where the biowheel pins sit. If you didn't put them in, then that was the problem. I ran the 350s on a saltwater tank and they didn't even stop even when they turned white from all the calcium buildup. The only time I've ever seen the current model of penguin filters' biowheels stop spinning is from clogged intake tubes and/or clogged cartridges from poor maintenance severely restricting water flow. The Emps are much nicer IMO opinion though.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

yeah i see what your talking about. the "bearings" where already installed i didnt have to install those and yes i even took them off and put them back on. also like i said i didnt have the filter longer than 30-35 days when it just stopped spinning and they are running during a fishless cycling process so i dont see how anything couldve gotten clogged. but just for GP i took everything apart cleaned and inspected everything put it back together and still nothing. either way, my emp400 should be here soon  i had my other emp400s for a couple years now and never ever had a problem with them.


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

welcome to the world of crappy marineland filters. i learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago.

do yourself and your fish a big favor and get rid of those crappy filters, and buy a couple of aquaclear filters instead. theyre infinitely better then the marineland bio-fail filters and cost around the same amount.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

yeah no worries i already got em replaced by emp400's







even though a marineland product they are WAYYYYYYYYY better quality somehow!?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

No0dles said:


> yeah no worries i already got em replaced by emp400's
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They have a better design with the spraybar...that way your biofiltration will always be getting a steady supply of water. The spraybar holes can start to get plugged if you don't clean them every few months, but I've never had an issue with an Emp that wasn't my fault. ACs are a totally different design and have their own drawbacks.

Ideally I would like to see an HOB filter made some day from the same plastic as the Emp with spraybar driven biowheels (or one big one) and foam blocks for the main filtration like the AC. I tried retrofitting an Emp with foam, but it was too big of a PITA...no way to get a spraybar driven biowheel on an AC easily, but you could fit one on there similar to the Penguin.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

BioTeAcH said:


> The bushings are purple pieces that snap into the slots where the biowheel pins sit. If you didn't put them in, then that was the problem. I ran the 350s on a saltwater tank and they didn't even stop even when they turned white from all the calcium buildup. * The only time I've ever seen the current model of penguin filters' biowheels stop spinning is from clogged intake tubes and/or clogged cartridges from poor maintenance severely restricting water flow*. The Emps are much nicer IMO opinion though.


x2


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

BioTeAcH said:


> yeah no worries i already got em replaced by emp400's
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They have a better design with the spraybar...that way your biofiltration will always be getting a steady supply of water. The spraybar holes can start to get plugged if you don't clean them every few months, but I've never had an issue with an Emp that wasn't my fault. ACs are a totally different design and have their own drawbacks.

Ideally I would like to see an HOB filter made some day from the same plastic as the Emp with spraybar driven biowheels (or one big one) and foam blocks for the main filtration like the AC. I tried retrofitting an Emp with foam, but it was too big of a PITA...no way to get a spraybar driven biowheel on an AC easily, but you could fit one on there similar to the Penguin.
[/quote]

yeah the penguin 150's didnt have the spray bar which at first i was very skeptical of cause that would just be extra security for the bio wheel so why not have a spray bar? i cant wait for my emp400 to get here.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

are you below the equator?? i hear the toilets spin backwards below the equator and maybe the biowheel is trying to spin backwards against the flow of water...
-Josh


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

your not serious right?


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

cannister filters FTW! IMHO don't waste your time with any HOB filters.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

i've had emp 400's for a very long time now 3+ years and never ever had a problem with any of them. aint nothin wrong with HOBS


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

No0dles said:


> i've had emp 400's for a very long time now 3+ years and never ever had a problem with any of them. aint nothin wrong with HOBS


i used hobs for a long time, but, after trying a canister, i will never go back. my biggest peeve with HOBs is the waterfall. if the tanks water level gets a little low, then the waterfall makes a splashing noise that can be really bothersome. also, i find it easier to disconnect and clean canisters.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

yeah definitely have to agree with you on that one haha i have a tank with canisters as well but i just wanted to brag about my 3+ year old EMP400's that are still kickin ass haha


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

No0dles said:


> yeah definitely have to agree with you on that one haha i have a tank with canisters as well but i just wanted to brag about my 3+ year old EMP400's that are still kickin ass haha


i personally have 8+ year old AC110s, and know other people who have had them running 20 years and still kicking.


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

wow your speshul! im glad your filters can kick my filters ass! im still stickin with the emp400's they do a great job and that's all that matters!


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

No0dles said:


> wow your speshul! im glad your filters can kick my filters ass! im still stickin with the emp400's they do a great job and that's all that matters!


Dont mind exo king he thinks he's the king of all fish keepers.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

^^ lmao thats what i was thinking


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

yeah i noticed! well i'm just happy his fish have kickass filtration!


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

not as happy as they are.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

i has 2 emp 400's on my 55g sw tank
only time they stopped spinning was when the spray bars got filled with salt and a quick clean was all it needed


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

yeah i got one penguin 150 and a EMP 400 on the 55 now. the penguin150 doesn't have spray bars they are pieces of sh*t in my experience with them. but all my EMPS have been GREAT!


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