Aqueon Large Filter Cartridge - 6 pk

The Aqueon Power Filter cartridge eliminates mechanical and chemical debris in your aquarium. Easy-to-replace cartridge contains over 25% more activated carbon then similar filter cartridges.

  • Ready-to-use preassembled filter cartridges install in seconds

  • Helps create crystal-clear healthy water

  • Patented dual-sided replaceable dense-floss cartridges filter out more particles and debris

  • Cartridges contain more activated carbon to remove toxic impurities odors and discoloration

  • For best results replace cartridge every 4-6 weeks



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Marineland Penguin 170B/330B Filter Cartridge 6 Pk


Great - but a warning5

The Penguin Bio-wheel pumps are great: quiet effective and long-lasting. (I have a 170 filter in a 39 gallon tank.) These size C filters are widely available but the Amazon price is much lower than at my not-so-nearby pet store.



A word of warning. The day after changing my filter three months ago fish started dying. Next morning my 6" long Plecostomus was dead. Then three Clown Loaches each about 5 " long. Within a week I had lost 18 of my 20 fish. Yet there was no sign of disease.



A water test and much internet searching finally pointed out what I had done wrong. I had neglected my tank for a few weeks. In a rush to catch up I siphoned out about 30 percent of the water (more than usual) did a "better" than usual job of siphoning up detritus from the gravel. Then - my biggest mistake - I replaced the Penguin filter too! The result is the water chemistry changed too quickly. The Nitrates spiked to a deadly level. My tank healthy for more than two years needed to be started over. Took two months and many water changes before I could safely add new fish.



I visited perhaps a dozen "fish forums" and only one had a comment saying "don't change filters when you do a water change.' The Penguin filters and the box they come in carry no warnings. What I (and you) should do is simple: space your water changes and filter changes a week or two apart.



Now knowing how important the "aged" filter is (especially in a tank like mine with no under gravel filter) I've started this habit: there's just enough space to get a second filter flat against the old filter. After a couple of weeks I remove the older filter and put the newer one - by now doing some biological filtering - in its place. That way the tank is never depending on only a new filter. For larger tanks (say 55 gal and up) the 330 or 350 Penguin pump holds two filters side by side so just change one filter at a time.



Hope this helps you avoid the disaster that hit my tankMore detail ...

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