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 intak
