Marineland Bio-Wheel Penguin Aquarium Power Filter

I had to replace my old one, which was about 10+ years old, because it was getting noisy. I didn’t clean out the impeller much, which was probably the issue. But it works fine for my 75 gallon tank. Change the filters every few weeks. Pretty simple. And I didn’t have to tear the tank down to install. Only needs about 3” between the tank and the wall.

I waited a while to write this review, to give the filter a chance to prove my first impressions wrong. However, unfortunately, it has only confirmed my thoughts that the quality of Penguin filters has recently declined. I've used Marineland Penguin biowheel filters on my tanks for over thirty years, and have always been super happy with them. Recently, I replaced an old filter, and am disappointed that the quality just doesn't seem to be what it once was. The biowheel rarely spins. For the first month or so, it would spin for a day after I totally clean the filter (yes, after 30 years, I know how to do it thoroughly) and replace the cartridge, but then stop. I'd reach in a couple of times a I waited a while to write this review, to give the filter a chance to prove my first impressions wrong. However, unfortunately, it has only confirmed my thoughts that the quality of Penguin filters has recently declined. I've used Marineland Penguin biowheel filters on my tanks for over thirty years, and have always been super happy with them. Recently, I replaced an old filter, and am disappointed that the quality just doesn't seem to be what it once was. The biowheel rarely spins. For the first month or so, it would spin for a day after I totally clean the filter (yes, after 30 years, I know how to do it thoroughly) and replace the cartridge, but then stop. I'd reach in a couple of times a day and give it a spin by hand, just to keep the surface moist, but it never spins or stays in contact with the water long enough to build a biofilm. Lately, however, even though I'm changing the cartridge and cleaning the filter every other week, the wheel doesn't spin at all, not even freshly cleaned. The filter does not seem to pull up enough water flow to keep the wheel spinning. Either the biowheel design has changed, or the pump motor on these filters is not as strong as they used to be. My aquarium is definitely not staying as clean. I may wind up going to a larger sized filter, or researching other brands. … more

I’ve ran the 55 filter and 10g filter and 30g filter all from same brand love them went to this 75 and not even one month later I wake up to water running all over. It flows to much water it dosnt have the tall walls like the others so water goes right over????

It’s a filter and it seems to be doing its job. However unlike my older version it doesn’t seem to draw as much water. Lower powered pump perhaps? Bio-Wheels are junk. Brand new setup and they only turn every so often. Yes I have the proper water level and have made various attempts to fix the issue. The “plastic bearing” they rest in has to be one of the dumbest designs I’ve seen. Also The quality of the wheels themselves are pretty bad too. They are nowhere near being concentric. You can see how much they wobble when they do turn. Which is likely why they get stuck. Overall, yes it does it’s job, but I know Marineland can do much better than this….

The first day I put this together, it worked great. I read the reviews and thought I wouldnt have the same issues others had. Of course I was wrong. If your power goes out, it does not refill itself when the power resumes. It was running for maybe 2mins before the power came back on and it has never worked since. I tried everything to get it to work, but like others said, after a power outage it just stops working.

I bought two of these total for my 75 gallon tank. Within a couple of months, they started making an awful grinding noise. I replaced the impeller on one, then the other a couple of weeks later. Less than a month later, same thing again. No, nothing got sucked up into the filter, the impellers were not damaged or scratched. I went back to using aqua-clears. Not a problem since. Don't waste your money on these.

I have used Penguin HOB filters for more than 30 years both the 350 and the 200. This is my first experience with a 150 but it is the same reliable principle as the 200 and the 350. They are a real work horse and run for years without issues. Though outdated by today's technology they still do a great job at an amazing price. The new Penguin Pro 175 would have cost $30 more. Though I prefer the bottom to top water flow as in the Tidal 35 or the Fluval 20, the price point for the Tidal is $40 and the Fluval 20 at $30, so I will deal with the sideways waterflow of the Penguin 150 for $7.87. :-)

I just upgraded to this size and it was a great, everything came in fast nothing was missing. Chewy never disappoints with my turtle stuff!!!

Whelp. I really wanted these to work. I added them to a 75-gallon cichlid tank as additional filtration. BOTH failed within a couple of days. They just shut down. Thankfully I still had the canister filter or I might have lost all of my fish! Unplugged and replugged and one came back on but quit again after less than an hour. I’m super bummed. I have another on a 29-gallon tank that sounds like an airplane getting ready to take off so I doubt it will last much longer either. I’ll be replacing it ASAP. Thankful for Chewy’s excellence in customer service though!

I bought this filter because it was priced pretty low the filter itself works well in a 55 gallon tank but if you have many fish ide buy 2 filters. After about 6 to 12 months the filters start to become noisy and doesn’t sound nice especially if your tank is in the living room. You get what you pay for :)