What's The Difference Between Marineland?

[LennyMansfield]

I have a 20-gallon tank that I will be setting up shortly. The stock is still to be determined, but it will definitely be tropical freshwater.

My current tank uses an integrated Marineland Bio-Wheel that I'm a fan of, so I'm planning on staying with the brand. This being said, can anyone shed some light on what the difference between the Penguin and the Emperor are? It seems that the only difference I can find is the GPH they are rated for, and the price.

The Emperor 280 (rated at 280 GPH, perhaps not by coincidence... ) retails for ~$36. The Penguin 350 (same principle here for the GPH) retails for about $2 more. Am I missing something, or is the Penguin truly a much better value?

Anyone have some success or horror stories they want to share with either model? Anyone want to try and persuade me to use a canister filter instead?

Thanks!

 

[Viettxboii]

Theyre all made by the same company(marineland) and all incorperate hte biowheel, howeveri believe that the emporer uses 2 water pumps instead of one, one for sucking one for dispersing the water. Belieig that the wateri s more aerated and hiting the biowheeling increases the bascterial levels. And hte penguin, its just liem a normal fuilter with a biowheel, and the marinelands are the ones in the hoods haha...
sorry wait for someone else whos better at htis then me to come along..

 

[LennyMansfield]

Thanks for the info. Anyone else have experience and/or opinions?

 

[Musho3210]

viett got most of it, the penguin sucks in water and as the water overflows it hits the wheel. The emperor sucks in water, goes through mechanical stage, and is then shot out through a spray bar onto the wheel. The emperor has a less likely chance of having the wheel getting stuck so i would guess the emperor is better.