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Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters

Maintain a crystal clear, healthy aquarium with our Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Aquarium FilterThree-stage filtration system with mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration in one reliable and easy to maintain unit
Average Customer Rating:
4.24 out of 5
4.2
 out of 
5
(97 Reviews)
83 of 97(86%)customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Quality: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Performance: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Kiwibird
Best Power Filter
Date: December 21, 2006
"I just purchased the 150 filter and it is great! By far the best filter I've had. Great quality, attractive and quiet. I also like that the bottom "arm" that sucks the water up has very fine plastic mesh. I breed guppies and swordtails and this is great because it won't suck up the babies! Overall, great filter. Looks great, sounds great, and keeps the water and fish healthy (and the water crystal clear!)"
Review 2 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: pachevelle
Loud, but fixable, love it
Date: November 3, 2009
"OK, so on my 55 I have a pengiun 350. Best filter I have ever owned. Supporting that I had a petco brand 30 filter. I felt it was stupid to be buying 2 different filters all the time, and the petco brand filters clog so easily and limit water flow. Since I loved my 350 so much I decided to get a 200 as the support filter. I plugged it and and from moment one the impeller was loud and grinding. I took it apart several times and tried to do 6 different things to quiet it. Nothing worked. So I took the impeller out of my petco one that I am not using and Whalla. Quiet as could be. The petco impeller is twice the size of the penguin one. I love the filter media and the flow rate of the pengiun filters, but it seems as if the filter itself has gotten cheaper. Still, great filters and will continue to buy. Clear the water up better than any other I have used. Gave it four paws because of the impeller needing switched"
Review 3 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: AKJenny2
3AM solution
Date: October 26, 2009
"As previously stated, this filter as-is is pretty darn loud. My solution, replace the standard impeller with one from my defunct Whisper. The magnetic barrel is wider, and I'm guessing this was part of the cause for the operating noise. All in all, great product, just be prepared to shell out an extra $5 to buy a thicker impeller!"
Review 4 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
3 out of 5
3 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: AKJenny
Great filter, horrible noise!
Date: October 26, 2009
"I'm writing this review at 2 o'clock in the morning to warn you all that this filter is LOUD. I am really shocked, because I absolutely love Marineland. I switched from a Whisper filter earlier today that kicked the bucket, deciding to upgrade so as to not have that happen again. My water cleared up within half an hour, it was great! The noise was bearable, too. Started off as a dull hum. That hum has now become a roar, and I've disassembled the filter twice now, but can find no problem. Impeller is A-OK, my water level is to the lower portion of the black tank lip. I'm wondering if this is just a straight up defect, and I shouldn't just go back to the *ugh* Tetra brand. So yeah, just a warning to anybody. Great filter, but probably not best in a bedroom tank!"
Review 5 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
2 out of 5
2 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Ruthy13118
Hate the bio wheel
Date: September 8, 2009
"I got this product second hand and it works okay I guess. I havent added any fish to the tank yet, but its only been cycling for three or so days, and my water is absolutly perfect. The only thing I did to it was add water conditioner and aquarium salt. The problem I have is when I got the filter, it was missing the bio wheel part and I cant find the correct one anywhere."
Review 6 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: GDIF
AWESOME FILTER
Date: August 20, 2009
"Reduced ammonia levels and now have crystal clear water...worked better than canister twice the price"
Review 7 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: fishlover10
best filter ever!!!
Date: June 27, 2009
"well, when I first bought this filter,it was loud as heck. I turned it off, and hit on it for a minute. Then I turned it back on, it was super quiet. Overall, this is a awesome filter."
Review 8 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Mario4rmTX
Best of the Hang on back filters!!
Date: June 8, 2009
"might say best filter out there, the problem people are having with this filter is cleaning it, you need to clean it at least once a month. You need to take it all out clean the pipes and the the little fan look alike thing( if not cleaned can it get noisy). over all beats those walmart filters. also clean the supports for the bioWheel, to keep it moving."
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Review 9 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Eclipse01
Worst Filter I've Ever Owned!!!!
Date: May 25, 2009
"I bought this filter with the hopes that it would be just as I have read, quiet and keeping the water crystal clear. I was wrong!! The filter actually makes my tank so much dirtier than I would have imagained. It is also the loudest thing. I've done everything, the water level is plenty high enough, I've checked the troubleshooting area, everything inside is properly installed, it is just wayy to loud. I have only had this flter since Feb 09. It is now May 09. At first it was quiet as time goes on it gets louder and louder. Im buying a new filter some time this week!"
Review 10 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: JoshuaC
LOUD
Date: March 14, 2009
"I have had other filters that use bio wheel filtration, but this is by far the loudest. I planned on using this for a tank in my office and the noise was so loud that I would have never been able to talk on a conference call. I thought maybe the motor wasnt seated properly, or that the intake was not pressed firmly down, but sure enough, everything was properly seated and the filter was just far to loud. It is at least 2 times louder than my whisper filter which is rated at 1/3 more GPH. This filter is going back to petco tomorrow!"
Review 11 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Kooo
Great Product
Date: March 8, 2009
"Overall this product works great. I have it running on my 30 gallon tank and it makes it clean and clear 24/7. I have had no problems at all with set-up or maintenance, everything is easy and quick."
Review 12 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: mercystears
Please don't waste your time!
Date: March 4, 2009
"I have had fish tanks for over 15 years. I recently needed a new filter for my 30 gallon tank and decided to go with the Marineland Penguin Bio Wheel 200. This is supposed to be for up to 50 gallons. As I said, I only have a 30 gallon tank. I did a partial water change and stabilized my tank before switching the filter. After adding the new filter, my tank became cloudy. Each day it got a little worse. I do not have algae blooms, bacterial blooms or waste from live plants or overfeeding. I even added the 2nd filter cartridge into the extra slot. It's been 3 weeks and I will be returning the filter. Tonight I had to do another partial water change and decided to test the filter a bit. I used a small piece of paper to monitor the flow of the water and the suction of the filter. I found that the suction of the filter could barely bring the small piece of paper in. The water does flow quickly from the bio wheel, but the filter does NOT have enough strength to gather any matter from the bottom of the tank. I actually see waste lying directly under the filter. I know this filter has some good reviews...but for me it just doesn't work. I checked everything on the filter to make sure it was working properly and it just doesn't have the power. I also found reviews on other websites that support this theory. And as a side note, the other reviews are correct... no matter how full your tank is, there is always water splashing noises coming from the wheel. So if you keep your tank near your bedroom I suggest looking for a better filter. Save yourself the time, hassle and money and go with a different brand."
Review 13 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Anonymous
Very Good
Date: February 19, 2009
"I got the 100 for my 10 gallon tank. So far it works just fine. I noticed that my water is much cleaner now. However, it is very loud sometimes. I used to have a Whisper filter that was a lot quieter than this biowheel. My fishtank is in my bedroom so I have to sleep in the same room with this filter, and sometimes I have trouble sleeping. Now that I have had this filter for about a month, it has gotten a little quieter, but is still kind of loud. The filter also splashes a lot and I am afraid when it splashes near the light fixture that it might short circuit. It also has an optional mid-level intake tube, but it is so long that it won't even fit in my 10 gallon, so I had to take it off. But in my opinion, the good qualities of this filter make it worth the money. My water is never cloudy anymore, and it has less nitrites and nitrates. The filter itself is made of very high quality plastic and seems very durable. The covers sit on top of the filter, and can completely come off, which makes maintenence very easy. The water flowing out of the filter also provides a medium speed current in my tank, which my fish love. The filter cartridges are also very high quality, and diffuse water evenly into the "pockets" of carbon. The actual biowheel is very cool, and so far mine never really stopped spinning. I am thinking of getting a 55 gallon tank this summer and I will definitely buy another biowheel filter for that tank."
Review 14 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
2 out of 5
2 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: eclipsemann
Good for a while....
Date: February 7, 2009
"Nice product but they don't last, I've gone thru 2 in last 3 years. Every time the pump fails. You end up paying the same as a more expensive one in the long run."
Review 15 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: cocker09
GREAT FILTER
Date: January 21, 2009
"THIS FILTER IS AWESOME. IT IS QUITE AND DOES A GREAT JOB OF KEEPING THE WATER CLEAN."
Review 16 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: coocho
Good filter but noisy
Date: January 17, 2009
"I have the 100B
Good:
-great filtration in my 10 gallon tank
-has a plastic cover over intake to prevent fish and invertebrates from being sucked up
Bad:
-very noisy on start up, but gets a little quieter on prolonged usage. The two individual covers rattle against the filter. Water drops sound from cover regardless of water level
"
1 of 1 found this review helpful.
Review 17 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: BayDweller
Superior Product
Date: January 10, 2009
"I have numerous tanks and sizes throughout my house - ALL of them are setup with Marineland Biowheels. These tanks have been operating for at least 10 years! You can't get any better filtration and water clarity. Plus, I can't even remember when I had any kind of nitrite or ammonia problem, at least not since before I used Marineland filters!
Let me give the people who have had any kind of problems a few hints:
a) If the filter sounds too noisy to you:
Add water! If your water level is too low, you are going to notice the splashing is louder....gee, who'da thought? And, you might even hear the mechanical sounds of the filter instead of the sooothing sounds of a gentle water flow.
b) If the biowheel isn't spinning properly:
Take it out and check for a mineral buildup around the ends. I recommend using water without a high mineral content which is better for the fish anyway. Also, make sure you keep any live plants trimmed down to a manageable level, and pick out any floating leaves, etc.
c) If you find that (in a duo biowheel) one of the biowheels is acting up, just change one of them at a time. That way, you still have all of the beneficial bacteria from the old one until the new one can build up.
d) I DO definitely like using the charcoal medium in the baskets as well as the pads. By doing this, just add water whenever your level gets low, and all you will need to do is a monthly cleanup.
d) Monthly cleanups are simple: just lower the water level, change the charcoal and the pads, add clean (no tap or high mineral content) water, check the biowheels for any buildups on the ends, clean up any debris like plant mess, etc. And clean your intakes. That simple.
I have very seldom had to replace any parts in the 10 years these filters were running - which is more than you can say for the other filters out there. What more can you ask for?
"
Review 18 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: goldfish1
awsome filter
Date: November 19, 2008
"I got this filter for my 10 gal. tank and from the minute I brought it home it worked awsomly. I would recommend it for any first timer."
Review 19 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: brandon1
Pretty good filter but not so silent...
Date: November 6, 2008
"I bought this filter for my 15 gallon tank after my petco stopped selling filter cartridges for my old filter. It seems to be working very well but it's noisy! You can hear a hum from the moter spinning and it sort of jets the water into the tank which is pushing their food away before they get it."
Review 20 for Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters
Overall Rating: 
2 out of 5
2 out of 5
(based on 97 reviews)
Written By: Jayct
Not working right
Date: September 11, 2008
"I got the 350 for my 55 galon tank. One bio wheel stoped turning in about a week. I had this filter 2 weeks now and my water is not clear. Filer needs to be cleaned. I have use older filter systems witch worked so much better and if I could find the one I had used I would so go back to it. I had to get a new filter to add to the tank to pick up where this one lacks. I don't have a lot of fish in my tank. Nor I don't over feed them."