Broken Filter! Best Filter for 40 long?

HaleyM

Hey, I am new here :) And my current issue is with my Marineland Biofilter Penguin 200. I have had it set up for less than three weeks and I am already having problems. Last night it started very loud grinding noises, so loud they woke me up! I had to unplug it and hope my fish would be ok. When I woke up, I cleaned the filter really, well, making sure to clean the impeller in case it was something simple like sand. It is still making the horrible grinding noise and I am getting very frustrated. Especially since it is so new, and I paid over $50 for it. I really should not be having these issues so early. I have been in the saltwater/freshwater hobby since I was 8, and professionally for at least 5 years now. I have tried every trick in the book to fix this thing, and nothing has worked. Does anyone know what went wrong? My tank is a 40 long freshwater, with only four fish in it. It does not have a large bio load at all! I have problems with Marinelands before, but I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt. I have no idea what to do now, and I don't have the money to buy a nice new filter (i will get a cheap back-up and save for a nicer one)! But when I do, I would love to hear some good brands I should stick with!!! I really do not want any more marine land products! Anyone have any suggestions?

beetlebz

Im wondering if theres sand or something down inside the mag windings for the impeller. Double check that the impeller is clean and not bent, but likely there is something funky down inside the motor where the impeller sits. I would remove it and give it a thorough inspection and cleaning. Ive never had a problem with mine in 5 years.

HaleyM

That's exactly what I thought, but I did take out the impeller, checked it over, cleaned out the whole thing, and still had the same issue. The impeller looks fine, as does the rest of the pieces.Whats more, there was no grit in the impeller or its resting place! I thought it might be sitting weird, but no amount of jiggling/repositioning the impeller or intake seems to make a difference. I have taken it apart and put it back together at least three times now as well! Maybe its just a faulty filter?

beetlebz

maybe contact marine land? they might send you new parts

Boise1024

Since it's only been three weeks, it's def a warranty issue. Return it to the store or contact marineland.

Tazman

There has been issues with some Marineland impellers being magnetically reversed, meaning once the electrical current is turned on, the impeller spins the wrong way and grinds.

Marineland have not publicly stated this, but I was told it could be an issue when I had a brand new out of the box Penguin 400, start making a horrendous noise for no reason at all.

HaleyM

AHA. Oh well that explains it! I have emailed them, and haven't received an answer. So I sent them another, and will probably call them today. Thank god for the warranty! But the store I got it from has went out of business...as a lot of stores have been doing these days :/

Geomancer

Yeah, try and get it fixed under warranty. Doesn't really help you short term though =/

Alternatives are if you want a HOB go with an Aquaclear 50, $35 on Amazon

If you want something else, you could use a small Canister but they are quite a bit more expensive. Rena XP1 is $85 and Fluval 206 is $90. Eheim are usually regarded as the best since they are one of the oldest companies, but they are also usually the most expensive.

HaleyM

So, the filter is so loud and sudden that two of my fish jumped because it scared them so bad. I have to turn it off at night when I sleep and can't check on them (so no more jump). And so I had a tank crash. I lost all my fish except for 4 neon tetras, and 3 corycats. I did a 75% water change, used the rest of my prime, and cleaned out all the biomass that I could. I have sent well over 5 emails to Marineland, still haven't gotten an answer. My cell isn't connecting to their number, because its a 1-800 and my cell is stupid and old. I have no idea what to do at this point. I absolutely cannot afford a new filter right now.

Boise1024

Being able to buy a new filter or not is not an option to you right now. A malfunctionning motor will not be able to filter water effectively, and you turning it off each night will slowly but surely kill all the beneficial bacteria in there. You simply will lose all of your fish and need to start over if you can't replace the filter.

I would look for some cheap filter at walmart or such for the time being, some can be had for like 20-30$ depending on the size of your aquarium. And even if you can get the problem resolved with marineland, it's always good to have a backup filter.

Also, you may know other aquarists or friends that have a spare filter, or that had aquariums they don't use anymore.

When you do get another filter, just transfer the filter media from your broken filter so you have some bacteria in there.