Whisper60 vs aquatech 30-60?

mudbuttjones · Jan 10, 2015

I've got an issue with my aqueon 55/75's my fish keep knocking the intake tubes off. plus both or them are starting to Get loud... after 2 and 3 years old.

I have a a pair of them alongside a fluval 406 for bio filtration. I'm just looking for an inexpensive hob for mechanical filtration. I don't want to spend $200 on a pair of ac110's. I'm just looking for circulation and mech filtration.

I noticed walmart sells the Aqua-tech 30-60 for about $30. 300some gph and it looks like an old penguin filter with no biowheel

My old man always used the whisper 60's they seem decent around 300 gph as well. I think the topfin 75 is the same but with a foam insert to go with the filter cartridge.

Anyone have any experience? Just basically looking for a cheap HOB that's locally available. I'm not concerned with bio capacity. I need someth that has a strong intake tube and can withstand fish swimming into it

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viejafish · Jan 10, 2015

If you want HOBs for mechanical filtration only, nothing can beat Marineland Penquin for price, reliability and simplicity. You don't need to buy their expensive filter pads as you can easily substitute them with polyester batting from craft shop. You don't need to run the biowheel that comes with it as it will slow down the flow and reduce mechanical filtration efficiency. Don't waste your money on Marineland Emperor which provides you fancy biowheel and spray bar that is more a gimmick than really makes a difference. Whisper works pretty much the same as Penquin, except that the motor is weak and won't restart reliably.

Aquafreak · Jan 10, 2015

You can't beat Aquaclear for quality, and Marineland Penguins are simple yet effective. I used Whispers about 20 years ago and never got the bio filtration I wanted out of them, but I was 15 at the time and wasn't as experienced as I am today. I think any filter will work to some degree as long as some forethought goes into the media within.

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viejafish · Jan 10, 2015

Aquaclear is the most popular HOB, and has a reason because it offers a combination of the largest flow rate and bio media of comparable HOBs. AC is equivalent to a hang on back canister without the high cost and the PIA in cleaning. However, the OP is asking for mechanical filtration only, so the extra bio media AC provides has no value. Unless you are running an over crowded tank with bare bottom, you really don't need that extra bio media as your substrate has plenty of beneficial bacteria. All you have to provide is good water movement to deliver oxygen to the substrate. I operate all my tanks now with Penguin for mechanical only and don't even bother to hook up the biowheels which will slow down the flow. BTW, AC costs twice as much as Penquin or Whisper, and it is only cheap in comparison to canister.

Aquafreak · Jan 10, 2015

viejafish said:
Aquaclear is the most popular HOB, and has a reason because it offers a combination of the largest flow rate and bio media of comparable HOBs. AC is equivalent to a hang on back canister without the high cost and the PIA in cleaning. However, the OP is asking for mechanical filtration only, so the extra bio media AC provides has no value. Unless you are running an over crowded tank with bare bottom, you really don't need that extra bio media as your substrate has plenty of beneficial bacteria. All you have to provide is good water movement to deliver oxygen to the substrate. I operate all my tanks now with Penguin for mechanical only and don't even bother to hook up the biowheels which will slow down the flow. BTW, AC costs twice as much as Penquin or Whisper, and it is only cheap in comparison to canister.

Like I said - It's all about the media you put in it.

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mudbuttjones · Jan 10, 2015

Thanks for the help, I specifically stated I didn't want an aquaclear. I've owned them before. Both of mine are in a landfill somewhere. They are way overpriced and made from the lowest quality plastic, cheaper than my sunsun canisters and thats saying a lot. My 110 never restarted after I shut it off, I had to pull the motor every time I did a water change and reseat the impeller. It made a huge mess doing so. The "U" tube cracked I had to replace that. The lid vibrated all the time. It's unfortunate, because they have the best engineering and design. Its a shame they are so expensive and made from inferior materials. I know I'm one of the only ones who doesn't like aquaclear, but I'll probably never own another 110 unless I can score it for under $50.

I settled for a whisper 60, I was doing some grocery shopping at wally world and just said screw it and bought it. It's quiet, and the impeller is serviceable from the top side at least. It was like $35. Its running now and Im happy. I know it isnt the best, but I wasn't looking for the best. Plus my old man passed away last month, and in his fish room is a lifetime supply of large tetra cartridges for me to pillage. So I got that goung for me ..

In the future I'm going to build my own HOB filter, but have it sit on a shelf level with the tank and run off of a submersible pump. stay tuned in the diy forums

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Aquafreak · Jan 10, 2015

Great! Keep us updated on the Whisper filter too. Maybe it's time to give them another look.

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mudbuttjones · Jan 10, 2015

I remember the old ones from back In the day. They didn't have the extra grid which holds a sponge in front of the filter cartridge. Which gives it some bio capability, in my opinion HOB's are designed more for mech filtration anyway. It looks like the plastic support can be easily removed from a used filter cartridge and be wrapped in cheap quilt batting. Its quiet and inexpensive, my only complaint is the water will spill over the center when the pads accumulate waste, but thats good Incentive to clean it right? the motor runs at a cool 9 watts and replacement impeller assemblies run $10 online. I'll be posting an update or two. Seems promising for the price. They've been around forever probably a reason for it. I'm down with the dinosaurs. Lol

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viejafish · Jan 11, 2015

I am also in the minority not being crazy about AC. I am with you that HOBs are really good for mechanical, and don't expect anything else despite manufacturers claim that their brand provides the best of all 3 filtration. HOBs provide strong flow but small media volume which limits their chemical and biological capacity. AC is the exception in having relatively large media volume, but the trade off is less mechanical efficiency. The reason is that the sponge pores are too large to filter fine and there is a tendency for water to leak around the sponge block when it gets clogged and shrink. It's not an issue with conventional HOBs where the filter pads are tightly sealed on the edges. Having water to spillover in the middle when the filter pads are clogged is not a deficiency, but a signal and incentive for you to clean often. In fact, if I see that my HOB is not spilling over after certain time, it's likely that filter pads are loose and leak on the edges.

My first generation HOBs were the SuperKing and SuperMaster which run on direct motor drive that never slipped, but made a lot of noise and used 40 to 60 watt electricity. My second generation HOBs were Whisper which are very quiet and used only a few watt of electricity. I gradually replaced my Whisper with Penquin because Penquin has more powerful motor that restarts more reliably. I never care for the upgraded Emperor for its fancy biowheel and spray bar design as I don't even bother to hook up biowheel on any of my Penquin.

mudbuttjones · Jan 11, 2015

I like the aquaclear design, I just cant justify the price and their poor quality plastic. I use canisters for bio and all a HOB filter needs to do for me is push a ton of water through a little square of polyester lol. I buy inexpensive ones because I've found in this hobby that everything wears out. restoring my ac110 motor would cost more than a brand new aqueon quietflow or whisper filter. And I'd much rather have a pair of inexpensive filters vs a single $100 aquaclear. Safety In redundancy is my main objective

I went by my dad's house and found a pile of old crusty whisper second nature model 5's. They take the extra large biobags the filters are easily 2x the size of my whisper 60. Really cool. I cant find any info on them online. I'm gonna see if I can get one running out of the bunch. I've got a fully stocked drawer in my tool box of metric Orings. My only concern is the plastic looks brittle. But he has boxes upon boxes of brandnew bio bags.

Do you Remember the old Giant whisper Second nature 5 model? based on the packaging for the filter cartridges it looks maybe late 80's?

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