Robbw

I had an Aqua Tech 20/40 in my 29 gallon fresh water tank. It seemed to do an ok job but the water was never crystal clear. I upgraded to the Penguin Biowheel 200 which is rated for a 50 gallon tank. After a couple of days, the water is clearer than it has ever been. (I know I could have upgraded the Aqua Tech to a biowheel but the cost of the parts was about what I paid for a new filter!

I've taken the Aqua Tech and put it on a 10 gallon tropical tank. So there are upgrades all around.

One thing I did notice is that the filter cartridge seems to be the same on both filters. Must be a standard.

gm333

Not standard for all fiters but they all work in the same manner.

BJP

There's 3 sizes of cartridge on the Penguin/Aquatech line. If the 20/40 is the generic label for the original Penguin 150/160, then it should be the identical cartidge to the 200. It should also fit the larger double chamber Penguin and Aquatech that takes a cartridge on each side. There's two smaller cartridge sizes also fitting the two smaller models sold as AquaTech or Penguin.

That comes in handy when you want to shuffle aged cartridges around to speed cycle new filters. It also means you can pick up your Penguin cartridges at Walmart if you don't want to make a special trip to the pet store.

Aquaria is the parent company, Marineland is the premium line, Regent Aquatech is the generic line.

The small Aquatech filters I've been using in my tests are basically the orginal Penguin Mini without the wheel addition from the 80's. The cartridges are identical to the cartridge in the improved mini now sold as the Penguin 100.

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Robbw

Very interesting!

BJP

If they still offer the retro kits you can usually save some money. New top, wheel, frame and all in one little box. They were originally marketted to upgrade the original Penguins once they started adding Bio-Wheels and also allow you to upgrade all the Aquatechs at the same time. It sounds like you would need the 150/160 retro kit for your Aquatech.

You should also be able to snatch those little bio inserts with the frame they started adding to the Aquatechs to simulate the Whispers version out and add them to Penguins also. You shouldn't need extra bio housing with the wheel but it looks like a simple frame to support some DIY additional mechanical media, possibly even doing away with buying cartridges entirely. I might play with the idea some myself once I get another test tank finished up freeing up an Aquatech to raid.

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Sarah84

up here in Canada Walmart's pet selection is very limited. they sell their Aquatech filters, fits my marineland 350 perfectly... and they are only $6 for 3... vs $15 for 3 at petsmart

Sarah

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34 Gal SW Reef
55 Gal FW