Tetra Whisper Power Filter, Up To 30-Gallons

I think I have figured out why there are a mix of opinions about the noise level. My guess is that there is a quality issue and some people get better working parts then others. Mine CAN actually be very quiet but it is short live, because most of the time it sounds like a loud buzzing, rubbing, or rattle. I tried to shave the fins on the part that spins with a razor thinking they may be rubbing against the sides, no luck. I’ve pulled out the tube and put it back in countless times. I pushed it down hard, pulled it out some, but there is no sweet spot on mine. I will add a video soon to show how noisy it runs. It also came shipped with a nice crack in the top cover right out of the box. I already trashed the box and shaved the fins with a razor, but I still may try to return it. This is way too loud. The filter does do a great job, but quiet it is not.

EDIT (MOD FIX):
OK, I figured out why this is so loud. The part that goes into the motor (fins attached to a magnet) is two connected pieces. However, this makes the spinning part with fans vibrate against the magnetic piece below it. So, I dried it and took a small piece of scotch tape and tightly wrapped it around the top of the magnet and the bottom of the fin. This made it act as one solid piece. I put it back in the motor and it is now super quiet. Problem solved for next to nothing.

Finally got this installed and working well. There’s hardly any noise (we have a super-quiet canister filter, but I added this for a little more accessibility/flexibility). The ONE problem I had was terrible impeller vibration/noise. I assumed I had it seated wrong, but multiple adjustments didn’t fix it. The impeller magnet cylinder is surrounded by some whitish plastic. I found a small chunk of that plastic sticking out from the rest, like it just hadn’t been finished properly — and tried smoothing it down (I ended up using a glass nail file). That completely fixed the problem. So if you get seriously bad impeller noise with one of these, check that part to see if it was finished correctly. Tetra folks, PLEASE do the same before you ship these out, because this was a pain in the drain.

ALSO NOTE: The impeller/tube assembly needs to be seated a LOT deeper than some people realize, apparently, or your unit will seem dead. There’s a groove on the top of the filter where the tube assembly sits. But it shouldn’t just SIT in the grooved area — you probably need to shove it a lot further down. If the cover of the filter doesn’t fit properly, you can guess that the tube assembly is still up too high. I just hate to see people buying these filters and returning or pitching them when there are really simple fixes. The manufacturer could do a LOT in the instructions to put an end to this.

UPDATE: Since I bought a second and third one of these in 2018 and can’t leave subsequent reviews for different-sized products:

The 2nd one was the Up To 40-g size. I bought it not quite 2 months ago, to replace a smaller-capacity 2nd HOB on a 36-g tank. (Two big HOBs work very well on that tank.) It mostly works fine, BUT every once in awhile it emits a disconcerting click that I’ve occasionally heard on filters that are about to die.

The 3rd one I bought recently, intended for up-to-20 gallon tanks — the smallest offered here — is just slightly too wide to fit in the opening of the lid of my 10-g. (Sadly, I can’t remember what brand it was… I think we bought it at Petco, and 6 total (3 each, encased separately) bright, white LEDs built into the underside of the hood itself.) I’m gonna have to try to gently create a larger opening in the hood or keep this filter as an emergency replacement if one of my bigger-tank HOBs dies. Measure VERY carefully. I thought I had, plus I assumed that any filter intended for UP TO 20 gallons would be closer to a standard 10-g filter width — that the makers would assume that 10-g owners who want occasional heavy filtering would choose this filter. Anyway, since it won’t even fit in the tank, I have no idea if it has clicks or badly finished parts or whatever.

I may be done with Whisper filters — a shame, since the Whisper name has had a good reputation going back decades.

Works great!

It quit working after just shy of 2 months. I messaged the seller and they would not exchange it because he said I used it. (In order to even plug it in you have to have water in it so it can filter or you can ruin the motor. States that in the directions) I would not recommend this product/seller.

I have a 20 gallon tank, this pump/filter works well. It has a hum sound but my other one had the same hum (same brand 10-20 gal size was no louder or quieter)- and it is not loud, it blends in to background. The difference between this size and tetra 20? Well, this cleans at a faster rate.

My tank is in the living room, so I change my filter often – I do weekly maintenance, I like my fish tank to have crystal clear appearance. During the weekly maintenance, I shuffle the base rock at the bottom of the tank about to keep the base rock clean (you know all that waste/stuff that settles in the rock), this filter seems to clear the water out pretty quickly. Once a week I remove and replace about 2 gallons of water to keep the water from accumulating ammonia. I buy unassembled filter bags. This filter takes the Biobag size Large filter bags:

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I buy filter rock in the bulk and use a generous amount of the carbon rock (fill the filter bag up) to really filter the water well:

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Overall, I would recommend this filter. This is a fairly inexpensive way to keep the tank clear. If you have a different filter that you use and feel is better, please post a comment.