Your Marineland Penguin Power Filter may come with a Bio-Wheel that will spin continuously. This part is designed to oxygenate the tank water while also providing surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow (and, as a result, will reduce the toxic ammonia and nitrite levels in the aquarium).
If the Bio Wheel appears to be stuck, not moving and/or not spinning, then you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Aquarium Blueprints to see how you can potentially make it functional again.
Before we begin, it is important to note that this guide is based on the following versions of this product:
- Marineland Penguin 100 Bio-Wheel Power Filter
- Marineland Penguin 150 Bio-Wheel Power Filter
- Marineland Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Power Filter
- Marineland Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel Power Filter
1. The first step you can take is inspect the various parts of the filter to see if there are any blockage that may have been causing the Bio-Wheel to stop working.
In order to do so, unplug the power filter from the power outlet and then disassemble the parts one by one. When removing the parts, look for signs of any dirt, debris or mineral deposits.
The common areas of blockage include Rite-Size cartridges, intake tube, strainer, Bio-Wheel Bearings and Bio-Wheel Axels.
2. If your filter appears to be dirty, then we recommend that you give it a thorough rinsing, during a water change, to clean it up as much as possible. In order to do so, you can try taking the following steps:
- Unplug the Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Power Filter from the power outlet.
- Disassemble the parts.
- Rinse the dirty parts with tank water you are planning to remove from your fish tank. By doing so, you will limit the loss of beneficial bacteria.
- Remove as much as the dirt, debris and/or mineral deposits as possible.
- If the Rite-Size Cartridge is extremely dirty even after you thoroughly rinse it, then we recommend getting a replacement. For the uninformed, the Marineland Penguin 100 uses Rite-Size A while the Marineland Penguin 150 uses Rite-Size B. Both the Marineland Penguin 200 and Marineland Penguin 350 filters use Rite-Size C.
3. Make sure that you are installing the Bio-Wheel correctly. Keep in mind that the Bio-Wheel bearings are needed for the Bio-Wheel axel in order to spin properly.
4. You should also make sure that other parts of the Marineland Penguin Power Filter are also correctly assemble. Otherwise, the water flow may have been hindered somewhere along the filtering process.
5. If none of the aforementioned potential solutions helped, then you might want to consider replacing the Bio-Wheel Power Axel and/or Bio-Wheel Power Bearings.
The 100, 150, 200 and 350 versions of the Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Power Filter use the same Bio-Wheel Power Bearings. These replacement parts have a model number of PR10075.
The Bio-Wheel Power Axel is different depending on which version of the Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Power Filter you are using. You can find the model number for this replacement parts below:
- Marineland Penguin 100 Bio-Wheel Power Axel: PRBW100B
- Marineland Penguin 150 Bio-Wheel Power Axel: PRBW150B
- Marineland Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Power Axel: PRBW200B
- Marineland Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel Power Axel: PRBW350B
