New filter = Cloudy water?? Also, What's the best HOB?

yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
I just got a new HOB filter for my 20g - its marineland penguin 350 with two bio-wheels. The water used to be very clear when I had my aquaclear 70 on it, but since installing the 350 this morning, the water is cloudy. Is this normal? Should I give it a day to clear up?
I've been switching HOB's trying to find the best one. Which do you think is the best?
Aquaclear 70
Marineland Penguin 350
Rena SmartFilter 55
Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
WOW...I have the penguins on my fw tanks and NEVER have any problems...although for SW I would probably take the bio wheels off....seems like they would collect too much....uh....gunk
I have something similar on my 29....no bio wheels though...water is clear also
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
Does it take a while for the bio wheels to kick in? This thing is gurgling, and when I stop the bio wheels from moving, the gurgling stops. Is this something I need to get used to? Also, it seems like there are bubbles coming from the filter and shooting into the tank. Is that normal as well?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by YearOfTheNick
http:///forum/post/3048831
Does it take a while for the bio wheels to kick in? This thing is gurgling, and when I stop the bio wheels from moving, the gurgling stops. Is this something I need to get used to? Also, it seems like there are bubbles coming from the filter and shooting into the tank. Is that normal as well?
hmmm...mine never gurgled....as a matter of fact mine was very quiet....
I also never had bubbles....do You have bubbles if you take the bio wheels out?
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3048836
hmmm...mine never gurgled....as a matter of fact mine was very quiet....
I also never had bubbles....do You have bubbles if you take the bio wheels out?
Not as bad, but there are still bubbles coming out of the bottom.... big ones though.
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
I think I like the aquaclear the best... it was by far the most quiet of them all.
Here's what the water looks like - you can tell it's a bit cloudy in this pic... The camera is focused on the black clown, but in the background, the rocks look opaque, even though it's a little blurry.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Isn't the aqua clear the one that needs 3 differnt types of media??
I had one ..it was in a 46g FW cichlid tank...never kept it clean
the penguins worked great for me....no noise at all...and the easiest to clean
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
Aquaclear has been, by far, the best FW filter I've ever owned. I still have one that I bought in 1986 running on the original motor and impellar. What I love about the Aquaclear is that the older ones, like mine, have slots to put in whatever media fits your set up the best. If I need to buy another HOB, it'll be another AC. I have several FW tanks with Marineland and Penguin HOB's and the impellers get clogged and gummed up easily. Not so with the AC. The media is causing the cloudiness. It'll go away. My Skilter did the same thing in my 125g reef tank for a couple days.
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
Would something like this cause brooklynella in clowns? My clown is perfectly healthy and swimming around all over the place... he also eats like a hog, but his skin is starting to have a white film on it.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by mantisman51
http:///forum/post/3048851
Aquaclear has been, by far, the best FW filter I've ever owned. I still have one that I bought in 1986 running on the original motor and impellar. What I love about the Aquaclear is that the older ones, like mine, have slots to put in whatever media fits your set up the best. If I need to buy another HOB, it'll be another AC. I have several FW tanks with Marineland and Penguin HOB's and the impellers get clogged and gummed up easily. Not so with the AC. The media is causing the cloudiness. It'll go away. My Skilter did the same thing in my 125g reef tank for a couple days.
SEE now I have had the opposite experience....the aquaclear was a pain in the but to change media,......I never had a problem with the impellars in the penguins

SEEEEE ya never know lol....for me Penguin over A/C...I have had mine since I started FW ...to years maybe....same filters...the AClear didn't last 6months
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3048870
Like I said before Mine were silent...have you tried taking the bio-wheels out?
I took them out and it's a little quieter, but if I'm not going to use the bio wheels, I may as well get a different filter... that's kinda the selling point for using the penguin 350... it's got the bio wheels that act as mini wet/dry's.
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
Brooklynella, as I understand it, is an infection. The powder from the carbon and filter mesh shouldn't cause any kind of infection. The filter and media instructions always say to rinse them thoroughly before using them to avoid cloudiness. I've never rinsed them and it hasn't bothered any of my fish through the years.
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
BTW When I don't have the inlet tube firmly pushed down over the impeller, they do make a loud gurgling noise. I have a double bio-wheel on a 55 gallon and it will do it, too. Check to see if the inlet tube is firmly seated in the filter.
 
yearofthenick

yearofthenick

Active Member
Originally Posted by mantisman51
http:///forum/post/3048880
BTW When I don't have the inlet tube firmly pushed down over the impeller, they do make a loud gurgling noise. I have a double bio-wheel on a 55 gallon and it will do it, too. Check to see if the inlet tube is firmly seated in the filter.
I just took the tube out and put it back in.... it's still gurgling. The gurgling stops when I put my fingers against the bio wheels, stopping them from spinning.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by YearOfTheNick
http:///forum/post/3049190
nothing's changed. I'm going back to the aquaclear today.
Are you going to return this one? If you can't I would just take out the wheels.....really is not a bad filter, and IMO you do not need the wheels.
also make sure all tubes are firmly in place
 
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