Penguin Bio Wheel
Do Bio Wheels Really Work for Bio Filtration – Cutting Through the Hype
There is a lot of information about bio wheels and their importance in bio filtration in aquariums. In theory they are great idea and I bought into this idea for years without testing the results to see if the hype was true. In theory the wheel turns into the air where oxygen the aerobic bacteria need to remove ammonia and nitrites is much more abundant. But after many a wheel stalling with the many customers I serviced aquariums for I decided to start testing these wheels vs. other bio filter methods.
I removed the bio wheel on penguin filters on comparable aquariums with comparable bio loads and fish and found no discernable ammonia spike. Yet when HOB filters that had running Sponge Pre Filters attached to their intakes were removed, there were discernable ammonia spikes. This is not to say a bio wheel does not work at all, especially there is less build up deposits on the bio wheel fiber.
What is much more important is to have an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen through agitation of the water surface which is where oxygen and other gasses are exchanged from the atmosphere and the aquarium. This is also important for the aquarium Redox not just the aerobic bacteria. I have found a porous sponge filter media to maintain more bacteria in well oxygenated water.
Here are a few reasons behind the poor results of bio wheels:
[1] Hard water buildup; although not as much a problem in soft water aquariums, this is a major problem with hard water aquariums and especially marine aquariums (where these bio wheels are a total waste of money). What happens is the calcium, salts and other deposits form in the pores of the bio wheel fiber, not allowing bacteria to form there. This is the main reason for the lack of effectiveness for bio wheels. My tests in Discus aquariums (which are soft water) showed better results for bio wheels (although not as well as sponge or other porous media).
[2] Lack of surface area; a bio wheel does not have the surface are of many other bio media products from sponge media to the very porous pumice media used by Eheim and others.
[3] Bio wheel stalls; bio wheels have a bad habit of stalling. This is only a minor reason to not have these bio wheels as this is a correctable problem.
Here is a way correct this problem (this will be an on going maintenance problem). Make sure the Teflon ends on the bio wheel axle are clean and have no build ups of calcium you can replace these with Teflon tape in a pinch. Also make sure the bio wheel assembly is not to tight, simply remove the bio wheel and gently stretch the assembly apart so the wheel can spin more freely.
For more information on this subject, I recommend reading this article: Aquarium answer; Do Bio-Wheels really work
About the Author
By Carl Strohmeyer
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/
Fish have a NEW penguin Biowheel filter!!
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MARINELAND CARTRIDGE PENGUIN FILTER 99/100B OR BIO WHEEL MINI 1PK FREE SHIP USA $5.72 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 150 FILTER. NEW! $28.50 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL MINI 100 FILTER. NEW! $22.50 |
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6 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $16.99 |
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Marineland Penguin 170 Bio Wheel Impeller Assembly Magnetic Model 170B PR1268 $11.99 |
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Bio-wheel power filter penguin 350 $60.00 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio Wheel 100 Fish Tank Aquarium Filter used $14.99 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Bearings PR1910B. Pack of 2 $2.99 |
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Marineland Bio Wheel Assembly for Penguin 100B $6.99 |
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PENGUIN BIO-Wheel 350 Filter $29.99 |
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Penguin 170B Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly PR1940B $8.99 |
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Penguin 99B Mini Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly PR1932B $5.99 |
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Marineland Penguin 200 Biowheel Bio wheel aquarium hang on filter fish tank $13.51 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 350 FILTER $43.50 |
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Marineland Bio-Wheel Assembly for Penguin 110B $4.46 |
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Penguin 100B Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly PRBW100B $8.99 |
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1 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridge Marineland RITE SIZE C $4.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 200 FILTER. NEW! $32.99 |
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Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel Aquarium Filtration System Filter $38.24 |
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3 Marineland Penguin Bio Wheel 170 200B 330 350B Filter Cartridges Size “C” $9.99 |
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MARINELAND BIO-WHEEL POWER FILTER PENGUIN 100 $20.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL BEARING 99 125 150 170 330 $5.99 |
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Penguin 150B Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly PRBW150B $9.99 |
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Penguin 200B/350B Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly $12.99 |
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10 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $24.99 |
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Fish Aquarium filter cartridge for Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filter Model 330B NEW $10.15 |
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Penguin 125 Bio-Wheel Power Filter $40.93 |
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Penguin Mini Bio Wheel Aquarium Filter Fish Tank used $14.99 |
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Marineland Penguin Power Filter Replacement Bio-Wheel $7.79 |
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Penguin 150 Bio-Wheel Aquarium Filtration System Filter $30.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 100B FILTER POWER FILTERS $24.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 150B FILTER POWER FILTERS $26.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 200B FILTER POWER FILTERS $32.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL COVER 100B REPLACEMENT NEW $8.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL COVER 150B REPLACEMENT NEW $10.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL COVER 200B REPLACEMENT NEW $12.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL COVER 350B REPLACEMENT NEW $14.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY 99B SYS3 EXP REPLACE $6.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 125 REPLACE $8.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 170 REPLACE $9.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 330 REPLACE $8.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 100B REPLACE $12.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 150B REPLACE $13.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL ASSY PENGUIN 200B 350B $17.99 |
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MARINELAND – PENGUIN 200B BIO-WHEEL FILTER ~NEW~ $24.78 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio Wheel 200 B Filter Strainer PF0200B PR10332-931 $5.99 |
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Marineland (Aquaria) Bio Wheel Cover For Penguin 350B $18.81 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL BEARING FILTER ALL PFE $7.99 |
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8 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $20.99 |
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Marineland Bio-wheel Power FIlter Penguin 150 with cartridge 30 gallon aquarium $24.95 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel Power FIlter 200 with cartridge 50 gallon aquarium $29.95 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel Assembly 125 b replacement PR1935b $6.95 |
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Penguin Bio Wheel Replacement 200b and 350B #50436 $10.39 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL 350C FILTER POWER FILTERS $41.99 |
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MARINELAND PENGUIN BIO WHEEL PENGUIN PF 400B 280B PFE2 $9.99 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 280-400 Strainer PR-2110 $7.99 |
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4 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $12.99 |
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Marineland bio-wheel Penguin 200 Power Filter – slightly used! - $22.50 |
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Marineland 350B Penguin Bio-Wheel Hang-on-Back Power F $41.99 |
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Penguin 100 Bio Wheel Aquarium Filter Fish Tank NIB $14.99 |
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Marineland Bio-Wheel Assembly For Penguin 160B $5.32 |
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Marineland 150B Penguin Bio-Wheel Hang-on-Back Power F $20.79 |
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Marineland Bio Wheel for Penguin PF99/PF99B $3.32 |
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2 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $6.99 |
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Marineland Bio Wheel Assembly for Penguin 200B & 350B $9.56 |
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MARINELAND – PENGUIN 350B BIO-WHEEL FILTER ~NEW~ $34.89 |
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12 PENGUIN Bio Wheel 170, 200, 330, 350 Filter Cartridges Marineland RITE SIZE C $29.99 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 150-B Assembly PR-BW-150B $15.99 |
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Penguin 330B Replacement Bio Wheel Assembly PR1945B $8.99 |
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Marineland 200B Penguin Bio-Wheel Hang-on-Back Power F $31.49 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 100B Filter PRBW100B $11.95 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Bearings PR1910B Marineland $3.50 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 200B/350B Marineland $15.95 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 170 Marineland PR1940B $9.95 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 150B Marineland PRBW150B $12.95 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 330 Marineland PR1945B $8.95 |
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Penguin Bio-Wheel Assembly 125B Marineland PR1935B $8.50 |
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Bio-Wheel Bearings PR10075 Penguin 100-350 Marineland $4.50 |
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Marineland Bio Wheel Assembly for Penguin 150B $7.56 |
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Marineland 100B Penguin Bio-Wheel Hang-on-Back Power F $20.99 |
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Penguin 100 Bio-Wheel Aquarium Filtration System Filter $18.74 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 350-B Strainer PR-10333 $6.99 |
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Marineland Penguin Bio Wheel 100 & 150 B Filter Strainer PF0100B PR10327-931 $4.99 |
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Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Aquarium Filtration System Filter $36.99 |
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Penguin Bio Wheel Replacement 330 #19450 $9.39 |
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Marineland Penguin 200 / 350 Bio Wheel Replacement for Aquarium Filter $12.99 |
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Bio-Wheel Bearings (2 Pkg)110B $1.78 Bearings to hold bio wheel – Penguin 110B…. |
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Marineland (Aquaria) Bio Wheel Bearings for Penguin 99/125/170/330 … |