My penguin 150 filter wheel isn‘t spinning? I have tried old, and new cartridges with no luck of the wheel spinning. However, when I push the cartriage up and down creating lots of water movements, the wheel spins. It also spins when I turn the wheel manually, but stops spInning when I finish spinning it. Can someone please tell me what to do? I am going to petsmart tonight anyways, so should I ask them? I just don‘t know if I can wait till tonight for an answer as I don‘t think the tank is being filtered.
frequently that is unneeded, the bio wheel does most of the artwork. yet you should use more advantageous carbon or any of the different clear out resources that get rid of particular contaminants observe: they are frequently unnecessary and some like AmmoCarb, AmmoLock or the different zeolite depending clear out resources ought to actual be risky to the biology of the tank.
the wheel only has to turn once a minute, so when you say it isn't spinning you may think it has to spin fast and it doesn't. It works best just barely moving. the only other thing that you can do is check to be sure the shaft isn't cruddy with mineral deposits or hair etc. do not clean the wheel in tap water, ever. sometimes the wheels get out of balance and a good rinsing in dirty tank water usually knocks off extra debris. again, it doesn't have to spin, one rotation a minute is fine and you should never have to replace the wheel unless it becomes damaged NOTE: the other user is correct, it may also need the impeller and the impeller well cleaned. Be careful and reassemble it properly
Sometimes the track that the wheel sits in can become corroded and cause the wheel to slow or stop. Try cleaning it (just the track, NOT the wheel) and see if that helps, as well as cleaning out the impeller. Also, if you're handy/crafty I've heard partially damming up the overflow helps. You're tank is still being filtered though so long as the pump is moving water, and so long as your wheel is staying wet then the bacterial colony living in it is fine.
