Bio wheel not spinning

[Moe]

I have the penguin 125. It has been running for 7 months now. Today I noticed that the biowheel isn't really moving. I took the whole filter apart and cleaned the entire thing. When you hold the biowheel housing out of the filter it seems to spin fine but when I place it in the filter it does not move. Any suggestions?

 

[aquarius]

so it's stopped permanently? because pauses are normal, check the manual and if anything, i think it has a two year warranty

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Did you clean the bearings. If they get all caked up with debris it could cause the wheel to stop

 

[Ti.]

I had the same problem with my penguin mini after 2 months use.
The wheel would spin, but the water flow was not enough to move it.
By that time I had gotten a emp 400 and threw the mini to the closet.
I never really figured what was wrong with it

 

[Moe]

I cleaned the bearings. No Luck. It stopped spinning about 2 days ago, has not started. I hate this filter!!! I'd never buy another bio wheel.

 

[cutechic]

Is the water level normal? Sooetimes when my water level drops a fraction of an inch, the biowheel slows or even stops moving. Is water still being sucked through the intake tube?

 

[luxum]

Have you tried rinsed the biowheel in some tank water? Sometimes it gets weighted down with the sloughings from the bacterial colony. Also check the connection points where the wheel rests, both on the wheel itself and the spot on the filter that accepts the wheel. It's ok if it just pauses and is spinning intermittently, don't worry unless it literally does not spin at all.

 

[Mesome]

Have you changed your charchol filter? Mine stops spinning when my water flow is low due to debris. Keep in mind though that even if the wheel is mot spinning, you are still getting the benefit of the bio filtration...

 

[angel_lover]

ive had 3 biowheels stop working on me.And I cleaned them out completly and everything and they still ran like crap.Actually funny i see this forum because the biowheel on my 55 stopped working yesterday and as i was at the pet store about to buy a new one,my fish expert Mike came over and told me they are discontinueing penguins because well....they suck.So instead he recommended i get an aquaclear.It was cheaper too.the penguin was about $80(canadian) and the biowheel was 50 and it runs much better than a penguin ever would.Check out the aquaclears They are pretty much the same kinda thingonly better i think but time will tell for sure B)

 

[bgraber]

Like the other person said, maybe there is something wrong with the pump.. They need cleaned occasionally as well. Buildup in them may cause the water to not flow enough to turn the wheel..

 

[canarsie11]

I cleaned the bearings. No Luck. It stopped spinning about 2 days ago, has not started. I hate this filter!!! I'd never buy another bio wheel.

Dont say that! Atleast say you would never by another penguin,because emperors works perfectly!