my filter...

[debomb4u]

hi i recently bought a 10 gal kit. the filter it came with has only two stages. but it has activated carbon. after awhile does it turn biological once the bacteria have spread out? i have a whisper power filter 5-15 gal its a hob i belive. does anyone know anything about this filter? i want to know if my filter will control the bacteria. or if i need to buy some kind of insert.

well i have a whisper fillter and mine came with the sponge and a bio-bag and if would help if you specify what you want to know

[debomb4u]

o ok the bio bags work the same as bio filters? i just want to know how well it cleans compared to the others

[Jchillin]

What brand of filter is it? You mention it has two stages, but only mentioned the activated carbon (charcoal?). The bio-bags Rudy mentioned are critical to harvest and maintain nitrifying bacteria.

[debomb4u]

its a tetra whisper power 5-15 gal filter it came with one bio bag it has both mechanical and chemical filtration. i just thought that maybe the bio bags wouldnt work because it says only two stages on the box.

[TomK2]

many smaller filters use a sponge for mechanical filtration as well as the substrate for the bacteria to grow on. If your filter can only accomodate a sponge and a charcoal bag, yes, the charcoal will become a substrate for the bacteria as well as the sponge. Activated charcoal has its proponents, but many think it is of little value and is a poor bio-susbstrate. Thus, if you can substitute the charcoal with another form of biologic substrate like ceramic noodles or pourous rock, you might be better off. but many of the small filters only accomodate the cartridges that are solf for them, so this may not be possible.

If there is a spot that you can put a mesh bag that is downstream from the sponge, you can buy some biologic substrate (merely a material with a large surface area for bacteria), put it in the bag, and let it sit in the filter.
HTH

[TomK2]

Or just use the filter as it was designed. Remember, many of us like to customize the stuff we use as we gain experience. But it may not be essential. For your first tank, why not use the equipment as it was designed? Just remember not to replace the filters sponge and biobag/charcoal/whatever at the same time. Just rinse the sponge in old tank water to clean it and you would preserve the bacteria on it.

so for maintenance, just dont do more than one of these three things in a short period of time (two week interval):

Gravel vac
filter sponge change
biobag/charcoal change

Since the bacteria you need will live in the gravel, sponge, and biobag, you don't want to disturb all these near the same time.

[severum mama]

I haven't used a Whisper before, but I've heard some not-so-great things about them. For a 10 gallon tank I prefer an Aquaclear mini or Penguin mini, I've used both and have really liked them. The Aquaclear uses a sponge instead of cartridges so you don't have to replace cartridges all the time, and although the Penguin uses cartridges it has the added benefit of the Biowheel. Both of these filters can be found really cheap online.

[debomb4u]

can i just buy a sponge filter to put inside of the filter. inside where you put the cartridge theres just a space nothing really locks in. i think one would fit.

[mjkelly]

All I can Say is my tank came with a Whisper and had the Bio bag..and it really didn't do a good job. It would get clogged up rather quickly and hardly flow. I switched to an Aquaclear...Awsome Filter no problems and the water is so clear now..

[Hooie]

I have 2 Whisper 40's and a 60. I use the "Bio Bag" as my mechanical/chemical and the sponge near the outlet as my bio filter.

[mandi]

I was not overly impressed with the whisper you have.......the biggest problem I have with them is that they only have one cartridge (the bio bag) and so when you change your filter medium by taking the old one out and putting a new one in you are stripping a HUGE amount of your beneficial bacteria (at least with the larger whispers there are 2 bio bags AND the bio-media piece so you can alternate the bio-bags and have the bio-media in place at all times thus avoiding that problem). Honestly I was not even that happy with the larger version and have just recently replaced the last of our Whisper filters. If you can afford to upgrade to a different filter I would.

[debomb4u]

does the sponge that you put in the filter have to be a specially designed sponge from a lfs? or can it just be any ordinary sponge like a non used clean dish sponge? but thank you all for your feedback!

[severum mama]

Your fish will thank you if you never use a dish sponge in your tank anywhere. A lot of sponges that are not specifically for aquarium use have been treated with antibacterial chemicals and stuff like that. These can be deadly to fish. Your best bet is to buy sponges that are made for aquariums.

[debomb4u]

what i think i will do is before i change the filter like a week or two before hang another filter bag inside of the tank. that way the bacteria start to go in there before i get rid of the old bag

[joedarat]

get an aquaclear mini - i have it on my qt tank.. it comes with everything u need , and its works great.. i only post this cuz i had bad experiences with whisper filter..

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