Whisper60 vs aquatech 30-60?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
mudbuttjones said:
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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My dad used the Second Nature beasts too! I do remember these things.

You really bring up a great point with the mechanical only aspect. Sometimes we get so stuck in our ways we fail to look at the big picture and understand how something different may fit our needs instead of going with the status quo. Post a pic of that Second Nature beast!

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HOB motors are work horse and can last to eternity. I've yet burnt one motor and some have been running continuously for over 20 years. An old HOB won't quit working, it just starts making unbearable noise due to worn out impeller . Replacing the impeller is not cheap as manufacturers typically charge half as much as a new HOB. But what I found is that the impellers in the same model series, for example, AC 20, 30, 50, and 70 or Penquin 170, 200 and 330 share the same length impeller that are interchangeable. You can save money by buying the next lower model impeller which comes with small blades. Smaller blades will pump less water, but then you can wait longer to change the filter pad which may even be desirable. I also found that some Whisper and Penquin impellers are interchangeable, so you can shop around to get the best deal.
 
So I returned from my excursion to my parents house and raided some really awesome stuff. I struck out with the second nature model 5. He had 4 or 5 of them in a pile in the basement before my he went into the hospital. I have no idea if they got thrown out. I really hope not. I didn't have much time so I didn't exhaust all of the possible hiding places. I did find all of the filter cartridges, intake tubes, and spare impellers. It looks like the model 5 used the same components as the whisper 60. The intake tubes are interchangeable. Kind of cool since the stuff is so old.

Once I can post pictures again (mobile app problems) im going to start a thread about my archaeology I did in the basement, shed, and garage. So much cool stuff from the 80's.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...emorial-to-my-dad-not-your-typical-tank-build theres some pics in my old thread of neat stuff I found if your into that stuff.


Today among many gems I found a second nature supra model 4 or 5 air pump. Its gigantic. The best part is? I have 2 rebuild kits for it. And the rubber is in good shape. When I've got time I'm going to bring it back to life. I also found about a dozen pennplaxx heat master supreme heaters. 50-150 watts. They are awesome. I've got one I actually use to this day. its about 25-30 years old and still works.

Back on topic - I am glad the whisper impeller assemblies are so cheap. Like $10. I actually resurrected a submersible pump last week (pictures once my app works) it was a 500 gph marineland return pump. The ceramic shaft broke and the impeller broke in two. I have no idea how this happened. I never used it. Funny enough a spare fluval 406 impeller fit perfectly. It was about 1/8" too short so it required some shimming. I substituted an impeller shaft with a piece of stainless steel. Where did I get this stainless steel shaft? I grabbed a wire cutter and clipped a section out of my wife's wire shower caddy thing. She wont miss it. It was the perfect size. Stainless steel, son! The fins on the 406 impeller are way bigger and the thing moves water big time. I think it's hilarious.

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Nice! Wait until the soap falls out of the hole you just made.

This is like vintage fish equipment heaven. It really makes me reminisce about my dad's set ups too. He got out of it a few years ago though.

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I didnt bother reading the whole thread but I did see you went with whisper.

Good choice.

I bought an AquaTech for my 10gal hospital tank just as a cheap hob for a quickfix for filtration.

It ran for 20 minutes total. Ran like hell for those 20 minutes though. I suggest buying 15 of them to make it one whole day.

Whisper makes a decently solid product however.
 
predatorkeeper87 said:
I didnt bother reading the whole thread but I did see you went with whisper.

Good choice.

I bought an AquaTech for my 10gal hospital tank just as a cheap hob for a quickfix for filtration.

It ran for 20 minutes total. Ran like hell for those 20 minutes though. I suggest buying 15 of them to make it one whole day.

Whisper makes a decently solid product however.
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Buying by the case! That made me laugh.

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Aquafreak said:
Buying by the case! That made me laugh.

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I've never had even the cheapest of HOBs fail that fast. The motor was underpowered to begin with but dear lord. Took me 10 minutes just to get the thing to pull water on its own too.
 
I'm glad I went with the whisper then. I've got several dozen filter caetridges. I should be set for a while

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mudbuttjones said:
I'm glad I went with the whisper then. I've got several dozen filter caetridges. I should be set for a while

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+1. I got an old whisper filter with a 55 I bought. It turns water over. I use the aqueon 55/75's too. Havent had mine quite as long as you have though.
 
The aqueoun 55/75 is probably still my favorite. The noise just started to get to me. I have 4 of them actually.

I had 2 set up on a 75g in a retail space at my mom's store. I decided to be sneaky, and since it's my tank anyway, I would swap the brand new motors with the old ones in my bedroom. To my surprise the new motors were louder than my old ones. They vibrated like mad. The new ones had a slightly different impeller design from my old filters. I started chasing down loose pieces that could cause the vibration. Put foam between the glass and the filter.... nothing worked. Upon closer inspection I found a crack in the housing of one aqueon filter, there were hard water deposits so I know it was leaking slowly. I just decided to throw in the towel. My cichlids knocking the flimsy tubes off the impeller cover was driving me insane anywah

I threw the body of one filter In the trash but kept all the accessories, along with my other complete filter so I could have spare parts, especially since once they are a few years old they wont restart after a water change without reseating the impeller

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