Bubba the Gump

heard alotta trash talk on other forums bout the filter that comes with your 5 gallon hex kit ala wal mart, mine was an aquatech I believe eclipse makes a similar model. anyways mine lasted alomost three years before takin a dive, I decided to try out the canister style whisper power filter as its replacement, because finding one of these new is a task, but you gotta love the patented bio wheel...... currently no fish in the tank as the cycle begins...soon to be home to a betta yet to be determined, anyway my question is anybody used these whisper power filter/pumps?...pros? cons? good? bad? if you gots some input let me know

Red1313

A filter is a filter really. Most of the Con's I can think of to any filter are the ones that tell you to throwout and replace you media once a month. Throwing away media is throwing away all the good bacteria. The filter companies are starting to catch onto this but it's a slow process. Most of the time I just cut a hole in the back of the filter pouch and dump out the carbon and leave the rest of the media in till it falls apart.
Aquaclear, canisters, and a few other brands I may not be familiar with allow you to swap out the carbon every month and leave the rest of the media intact of else allow a bit of customization with the media. Tetra/Aquatech filters typically don't have any way to conviently adjust the flow and that's my biggest complaint. However there are ways of modifying that as well.
I like to just use whatever works.

TedsTank

I have heard that a few folks aren't happy with the bio wheels...that they can't keep them running. Mine has been running for a year now!!! If i do a large water change it will stop until I get the lvl back up, enough to get full filter flow. Yes, I agree, basically a filter is a filter. I have found if a manufacturer recommends a filter for a 40 gal(example) tank....you are better to go up one size at least.

Bubba the Gump

10-4 a filters a filter just was curious if anybody had had problems with the whisper series, and like you red i do the same thing cut a hole dump the carbon and let her rip.

iloveengl

A used HOB Whisper Filter came with my recently purchased (used) tank, and I love it. It's got loads of room for filter media (I don't use cartridges) and it has an adjustable flow. I keep mine on low because my fish in that tank prefer low current and it's great. It seems to filter really well, but no one has problems with the current on the intake or output. I'd recommend it.

ccb04

iloveengl, which model do you have (20, 30, 40, etc.)?

How low does your water level have to be for the output flow to agitate the surface?

I've thought about ordering a couple of the older-style Whisper PF's from Kensfish. Only thing is ... I've heard the water level has to be kept lower if one wants the output flow to agitate the water's surface.

iloveengl

Mine says "Whisper 20-40." I have the water line about 1/2 inch from the output (on low setting) and it's still agitating and circulating the water well. I have no clue what the high setting is like. My fish don't like current, so I haven't experimented at all.

ccb04

iloveengl, thanks.

Is the water line then visible below the tanks black trim?

I believe the 20-40 is essentially the 40 (200 GPH on full flow). I recall seeing that model at Wal Mart.

titusxander

I have a tetra whisper on my 10 gallon. It seems okay. On my other tanks i have biowheels and i like them. As my LFS guy said there's filters and then there are toy filters. He said a filter is any one that the filter cartridges can be removed and it still works because the good bateria is still there. He says it's a toy if you remove the cartridge and the bateria is gone.

iloveengl

No problem. I cannot see the water line from where I'm sitting (tank is directly across from me on other side of living room). It's definitely above the rim.


I had a biowheel on my 12g. I didn't care for it. After only a few months it stopped turning reliably. Bacteria just dried up and died on it anyway. I always keep a permanent chunk of filter media fiber along with my disposable/gunk-catching filter fiber. In my opinion, those biowheels are a just a marketing ploy to sell a pricier filter because they're no different (just "flashier") than any other filter that contains disposable + permanent filter media. But...my biowheel was dumb so I'm clearly biased.

titusxander

The biowheel is okay, but that could just be because i didn't pay very much for it. probably under $10. But tetra whispers are pretty good too.

Bubba the Gump

mine is a 5-15 mounted on a 5 gallon hex tank, the literature said to keep the lip of the filter just above the water line by a half inch or so, im not positive but i beleive the numbers(5-15) represent how many gallons it will handle

Bubba the Gump

and just to touch on the bio wheel I was being somewhat sacrcastic, although i did like the setup

MNfishMama

I have three Tetra Whisper filters in each of my 10 gallon tanks and love them. I had originally bought a different water filter (sorry, I don't recall what brand) but it was too noisy for me to sleep (all my tanks are in my bedroom). IMO as long as the water level is about as high as it can go the water noise is actually quite soothing. The only one that's a bit louder is the one in my African Dwarf Frogs tank since the water level is only filled about three quarters (so they can't jump out) and the water drops further, so I'm currently working on a solution for that. Hope this helps.