Tetra Whisper Power Filter, 3-in-1, 60-Gallons

It’s a little over two months that I purchased this product and it is giving me all kinds of problems, it stops on its own, my aquarium fish are stressed because of this, i am currently using an old filter but will contact the customer service to see if it can be fixed.

Over the past 20+ years keeping fish, I’ve used Marineland Emperor, ATI HydroSponges, Eheim 2213 and 2215, Tetra Whisper, and most recently, Seachem Tidal filters. All were reliable and capable of maintaining good water quality if properly maintained, however, the maintenance required was different on each. I’ll mention some of the high points for the other brands, then go into a little more depth for the Whisper, which is the subject of this review.

To just briefly sum up some of these differences:

Marineland Emperor used disposable pads which cost quite a bit more than those used in the Whisper, plus had a separate media basket which could be used to hold anything you liked.
I’m not sure the Bio-wheels are as great as the advertising implies, which is to say, they worked, but I could not tell that they worked better than other solutions for biological filtration. My Emperors had the adjustable flow control knob, but newer models have deleted this feature, and only run at one flow rate.

ATI HydroSponge sat inside the tank, and provided excellent biological filtration, but if operated by an air pump, not great mechanical filtration (the water didn’t circulate fast enough to pick up debris). If operated by a power head, water circulation was much improved. Very economical to operate, as maintenance simply involved reaching into the tank to remove the sponge, then rinsing it out in the sink. The downside was that they were somewhat bulky and took up space inside the tank.

The Eheim 22xx series are their classic canisters. They typically have a moderately slow flow rate but compensate by holding a great deal of media. Mine ran quietly and reiiably, however I found maintenance to be quite a bit more involved than anything else I’ve used. The recommended procedure was to unplug the unit, disconnect the hoses, carry it to the sink and open it up, then wash the media. Reassemble it, reconnect the hoses and plug it back in. The hoses and all the fittings in the tank were supposed to be cleaned periodically as well. I noticed that the hoses, which are very soft and flexible when new, become stiff with use from exposure to the water. The fittings in the tank are all held on by suction cups, which fairly often lost their suction and had to be reattached. The suction cups also became inflexible over time and required replacement. There are quite a few joints and connections which have the potential to leak. A failure at the wrong connection could empty most of an aquarium on the floor.

Seachem Tidal filters are a recent design which can be viewed as similar to the AquaClear, but improved and updated in many ways. Both use a media basket which can be removed and carried to the sink for maintenance. Both have a “bottom-to-top” flow design, with a sponge on the bottom of the media basket, then other media above the sponge. However, compared to AquaClear, the Tidal is made of a tougher, non-brittle plastic. The Tidal has the pump motor inside the tank, so it doesn’t need to be primed. The Tidal draws water from three levels in the tank, including the surface. The Tidal comes with a coarse sponge and a bag of Seachem Matrix biological filtration, but needs to have a handful of poly-floss material placed in the filter basket above the sponge for improved mechanical filtration, as the coarse sponge included is a little TOO coarse except as a first stage. Using bulk poly-floss as a disposable media, the Tidal costs very little to operate, even less than the Whisper, however the Tidal costs a little more to buy initially, and because of the built in surface skimmer, cannot be used with as low water levels as can the Whisper. I don’t find this much of a disadvantage, as I keep my tanks full up to the rim anyway.

The Whisper power filter is a decades old design, simple, reliable and economical to operate. The older models were almost completely silent, but since manufacture was moved overseas, they may (or may not) make some kind of noise when new. The noise will diminish as the rotating parts wear in. I own two of the Whisper 20 (one made in U.S.A. and the other made in China), and both are almost inaudible. (see picture 1).

I also own two of the Whisper 60 (both made in China, see picture 2), and when new, they made a coarse growling sound at about 58 dB, which gradually diminished over the first several weeks. Now with more than a year of use, and having cleaned and rinsed out the socket in the housing where the impeller fits, they make a very faint whirring sound at about 52 dB, not quite as silent as the two 20’s, but commendable nonetheless, and not at all distracting. I believe the noise is caused by a very close fit where the impeller fits into it’s well. After running for a few months, I carried the filter to the sink and removed the intake tube, exposing the impeller. I then carefully removed the impeller and cleaned the well with a small brush to remove any residual debris which may have been trapped (see picture 5). This should be done at least every year, if not every six months, as part of regular maintenance. This applies to all filters, not just Whispers.

Even looking very closely, I can see no difference whatsoever in quality of the plastic moldings between my old U.S.A. made 20 and the newer Chinese made example (picture 1, China-made is on the left, U.S.A. made is on the right). If not for the lettering on each, they would be virtually indistinguishable. The two 60‘s are also flawlessly made, with precise moldings and parts which fit together properly, with one note.

In the photograph of the impeller from the 60, you can see the red blades and hub, and a section of white plastic between the red hub and the cylindrical magnet. On both of my 60s, that white plastic wasn’t trimmed very well, and had rough edges which protruded a tiny bit wider (less than one millimeter) than the magnet itself. This rough edge rubbed slightly against the inside of the well or socket where the impeller sits, making noise when the filter ran. I trimmed the white plastic with a pocket knife to remove the rough edges, and the noise went away instantly. I can’t say why the impeller for the 60 has this rough edge, and the 20 does not, but neither the American-made nor the Chinese made 20 had this rough edge.

There are a few negative reviews for various Whisper models, many of which appear due to errors made by the owner in setting them up. The two most common errors appear to involve incorrectly inserting the intake tube into the main housing, and in selecting too many extensions for the intake tube.

The intake tube has a socket for the impeller’s upper bearing (see picture 3). Some owners have failed to properly insert their intake tube, with the result that the upper bearing for the impeller is not properly supported, thus making noise. Also, if the intake tube isn’t all the way inserted into the housing, the flow adjusting knob on top of the tube will be too high and the lid won’t fit, usually vibrating and rattling. If a review says “noisy unless I hold down on the intake tube”, be sure that the owner has not inserted the tube all the way. The recommended way to install the intake tube is WITH the impeller already in the upper bearing. If the upper bearing fits loosely into the intake tube, wrap a small piece of teflon tape around the rubber bearing, just enough to make a snug fit in the intake tube.

Many of the larger Whisper filters have adjustable length intake tubes, which allow them to be used on very shallow aquariums (you can put the 60 on a 10 gallon tank, if you like), or snap in extensions if your tank is very deep. However, this flexibility leads to some problems when people make their intake tube TOO long so that it is too close to the gravel/sand and the powerful suction picks up grit and debris which eventually jams the impeller. You should have at least 3 inches space between your gravel and the intake tube. My 55 and 75 gallon tanks have the intake about 6 inches above the gravel. Don’t worry, water currents will carry fish waste up to the intake.

A friend from work made several errors in trying to use her Whisper 60. When she assembled the intake tube, she left off the black flow control knob altogether, so the tube was open at the top. It couldn’t possibly siphon water from the tank without the flow control knob sealing the opening. And when she did try to install the knob, she thought it was supposed to go on top of the cover, when it’s actually supposed to be just beneath the cover, and accessed through the round hole. Additionally, she tried to start the filter without first filling it with water, so the rotating impeller was just spinning dry, instead of moving water. She didn’t understand that the filter has to be filled with water before plugging it in. Once I explained what the problem was, her filter ran properly and quietly.

Whispers, or any brand filter with an external motor (Marineland, AquaClear, and many others) have the potential to leak from the O-ring between the motor housing and the main filter body. This did happen on one of my own 60s, after I took it out of service for a while. Apparently, the red rubber O-ring dried out or shrank while the filter was not being used, which created a slightly loose fit between the main filter body and the motor housing. When I put it back into service, it leaked slightly, a drop every few seconds, which would have been a problem if I hadn’t caught it. The proper repair would have been to replace the O-ring with a new one, however I removed the motor housing and wrapped several layers of white Teflon tape around the O-ring, which made up for whatever shrinkage had occurred. When reassembled, the motor fit snugly into the main filter body, and the leak was gone. I think some of the people who said that their filters leaked when new may have gotten a filter which had sat on a shelf for too long before being sold.

Whisper filters use a simple poly-floss “sock” that fits over a plastic frame. They come with a small amount of carbon which you can use, or not use, as you wish. They also have a separate sponge which is intended to grow a colony of beneficial bacteria, thus providing biological filtration. Whisper filters are extremely economical to maintain, probably less than any other filter which uses disposable pads. If purchased in a 12-pack, the replacement pads cost much less than $1.00 each.

One excellent feature on these filters is the adjustable flow control, which can be used to reduce the flow for feeding, or to accommodate fish that don’t like a lot of water movement such as Bettas. The Whisper flow control works much better than the device on the Marineland (current models are no longer equipped, although mine had them), or AquaClear, and even a little better than the one on the Tidal. The Eheim had valves in the suction and return hoses which could be turned down to restrict flow, and they did work, but they weren’t as easy to use as the simple knob on the Whisper.

Some other brands (Aquaclear for example) are known to commonly have problems restarting if power is lost and may require the owner to intervene. Years ago when I used Marineland Emperor filters, they would restart with a loud sound like a buzzsaw, and sometimes need to be reprimed by pouring water into the back. In contrast, my Whispers are plugged into a power strip, so that they can be turned off completely when feeding. After an hour or so, when the fish have finished eating, I turn them back on. The filters have been very reliable in restarting without repriming. The design of the intake tube and housing allows the Whispers to hold their prime well and restart properly.

I have found that all filter manufacturers are extremely optimistic with regard to rating their filters. If a manufacturer says a particular filter is good for “up to 55 gallons”, this is under the very best conditions (think low number of fish and no live plants), and/or if you are willing to maintain the filter (rinse/replace pads) every single week.

I prefer to maintain the filters no more often than once each month. To make this possible, I over-filter all my tanks. On a 20 gallon tank, I use a Whisper filter rated for 60 gallons. On a 55 gallon tank, I use TWO filters rated for 60 (Whisper) or for 75 (Tidal) gallons each. On a 75 gallon tank, I use TWO filters rated for 110 (Tidal) gallons each. I always try to at least double, and if possible, triple the rated filtration for the tank. My experience with Whispers has been very good. I think the Seachem Tidal is a somewhat better filter, if you don’t mind the higher initial cost. However, the Whisper, if properly sized and maintained, is perfectly adequate for any tank up to 55 gallons.

I’ve been using Whisper PFs for all my aquariums for over 20yrs and have never been disappointed by them. As with any filtration, you should always get a filter that’s rated higher than what you need — for example, if you have a 60 gallon aquarium, the filter’s MINIMUM GPH (gallons per hour) rating should be no less than 80 GPH — because all filters lose filtering capacity over time as media gets dirty and/or loses effectiveness. Aquariums housing particularly messy and/or big fish need filters that can turn the water volume over at least 3x per hour — for example, a 60 gallon Goldfish aquarium needs a filter capable of no less than 180 GPH. It’s for this reason that people have issues with filters not keep their aquariums clean.

Whisper PFs are exceptional! Very well constructed and most are very quiet. The Whisper 60 is the biggest model and is also the noisiest of the bunch. They’re not insufferable, though, but you can hear them working compared to their smaller cousins. Usually the noise is caused by impeller assemblies not being seated properly and/or air being trapped in the impeller compartment. Should ALWAYS add the impeller assembly into the motor housing after adding water to that compartment so air doesn’t get trapped inside. The cover tends to rattled from the vibration generated by the motor, but putting a rock or something like that on top of it eliminates that issue.

The Whisper 60 has a 2 compartment system which makes these filters extremely versatile! Using the filter pouches, you can add any media you want. I always keep one side stuffed with blue bonded media and sponge type media for beneficial bacterial to take on biological filtration which keeps the water crystal clear even with no chemical/mechanical media in use. The other compartment is used for chemical and mechanical filtration. Keep in mind that carbon by itself isn’t 100% effective in keeping aquariums clean, so the carbon packets that come with the filter media for these filters isn’t particularly useful — especially since there is so little of it. I used PhosPure & Sea Gel and have also used Diamond Blend in the past for media.

To sum up, these are excellent filters and pretty quiet when setup & maintained properly. I’ve had 5 of these 60’s so far and never had an issue with them. I also have the Junior and 30 model in operation currently. My 300+ gallon planted Goldfish aquarium has two of these 60s keeping it crystal clean.

At first this filter was extremely loud. After about 5-7hrs of run time it has gotten much quieter.

Muy chingon.