Help! Bio Wheel is dead!

Ok so i was home for lunch and the fish eat before i do...anyway i feed the fish 1 cube of frozen tubiflex worms, 2 cubes of bloodworms, and one cube of spirulina brine shrimp. that stuff gets real messy so i turn off the 2 penguin 330's so the filter pads dont get foul. well i was turning them back on and only one came on. i had this problem before but i can't remember what i did to fix it. i know i didn't have to buy any parts...i just cant remember what was wrong....i mean i dont even hear any buzzing from the motor...did i kill it?
im not worried about oxygen levels b/c i have an eheim canister running on it also. can anyone help me fix it? i dont wanna have to buy another one.

 

well first of canister filters deplete the oxygen level which is why i dont like them.

i would take the filter apart and clean the magnetic pump wheel. and the siphon tube.

edit: but thinks for reminding me i need to clean mine on my fresh tank.

 

well you might have to take the impeller out and clean the motor casing alnog with the magnet, usually they get gunked up over time and need to be cleaned.

 

oh and float your biowheel in the tank while you work so your bacteria doesnt die

 

thanks!
New question....
Why do canisters deplete O2 levels

 

because aerobic(oxygen using) bacteria are in them. these are the bacteria that covert ammonia to nitrite and nitrites to nitrates.
unlike a wet/dry or a biowheel there arent periods where they are exposed to air. so they are forced to use the oxygen in the water to survive.

 

Do you think i should turn off the canister until i can get the other penguin to work??

 

do you have anykind of airstones running in the tank?

 

No....i know i should...

 

@ the time i thought i had plenty of filtration so i figured the o2 levels would be fine....guess i was wrong :-[