# Penguin biowheel stopped working -- help



## fishobsessed (Jan 1, 2013)

I half emptied my tall 20 g tank to add some new plants. I unplugged my Penguin biowheel 100 before I started taking out water. Once I had the tank refilled , I had my son plug the filter back in while I poured a cup of water in the filter and NOTHING. It makes a very faint buzzing sound but no water is going through. I quickly had my son unplug it so that I wouldn't fry it. I tried a couple more times and still nothing'The wheel turns fine by hand and everything was great before I got all motivated to add my plants. Does anyone have any suggestions? How long can a tank go without a running filter? If I can't get it going , I can't get to the pet store until tomorrow.


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

Pull it apart and give the impeller a quick clean (q-tips were my friend for this). When you put it back, give it a minute or two to get going.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

take the filter to the sink
empty it out
pull out the suction tube (which may or may not have the impeller attached)
if the impeller assembly is still in the well, manually pull it out
rinse the impeller assembly off (probably has slime/algae keeping it from starting on it's own)
rinse the hole (where the impeller sits) out real good as well. A long q-tip would be helpful here, as previously suggested.
re-assemble filter, put in tank and try it again and update us


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I think if you do a good percentage water change, like 50%, it should be fine for a day. Also make an air stone in the tank to make sure there is enough Oxygen.


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## fishobsessed (Jan 1, 2013)

wow you guys are fast. I have a sick 5 year old on my lap - I never should have played with my tank today anyway - so I'll have to try your suggestions a bit later. I'll post what happens. Thanks very much for the advice.


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## fishobsessed (Jan 1, 2013)

IT'S WORKING!!!! When my husband got home , I read him your replies and , after playing with it for awhile , he got it working. Thanks again for your help.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

good to hear, usually as long as you hear something humming then this is usually the problem IME....I usually manually clean mine out every month or 2 during a w/c. That grimy stuff in there can actually slow the impeller down, as well.


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