Product Review: Marineland Bio-Wheel Canopies

gmann1139

Active Member
Reviewer name: gmann1139 (Greg)
Date Reviewed: 2/7/09
Product Name: Marineland Bio-Wheel Canopies
Date Purchased: 12/2006
Approximate Cost: $120
Features: The Marineland canopy provide a nice solution to multiple needs: It’s a hood, a light, and a filter, all in one. While this is more than adequate for freshwater aquariums, the filtration and lighting are both low-end for saltwater, and for the cost of the canopy, there are better products for all three parts.
Benefits: see Features
Pros: see Features
Cons: I personally had a Bio-Wheel canopy on a 29g high Display tank for about a year. While a decent entry setup into the hobby, I found several deficiencies to the canopy that became apparent over the year.
The first is the lighting. Not long after I bought the setup, before I even got my first fish in, the ballast broke, and had to be replaced. While Marineland was nice and sent me a replacement, that took time and delayed my progress. As far as the lighting setup itself, not only is it barely adequate to light the fish, the ballast was unable to support the standard wattage for that size bulb, so I was required to trudge to several stores in order to find Marineland’s own brand.
The filtration is inadequate for a saltwater aquarium. I ended up ditching Marineland’s combination filter pad and carbon setup, and running a third-party filter pad instead. I did not have problems with nitrates, a common problem expressed with Bio-Wheels, but also made sure to pour water over the wheels regularly to knock loose any particulates that had gathered there.
Tips and Tricks: none
Mods: The stock filters can be replaced with separate pads and carbon.
Variations: The Marineland canopies comes in several sizes, fitting most common rectangular tank shapes up to a 55 gallon. There are even all-in-one tanks that stray the line between nanon and pico.
Personal opinion: Avoid Eclipse for SW. Get a ‘real’ nano, or go piecemeal. Otherwise, you’re stuck with lighting and filtration you can’t replace.
Recommend this product? No
Product Rating: 3
SWF carries: Yes
 
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