HOB filter

[lightning]

i had a thread earlier where i am going to attempt to make a denitrator, my supply nitrates are 30 and i just cant seem to get my nitrates down no matter how many water changes i do, my next step is to buy a RO unit,, but until i can afford that, im going to play with the denitrator thing, i will probably go with 2 aquaclear 500;'s since i do plan on getting or building a 100 gal tank in the neer future

 

[Jawz]

do u use ebay? cuz i can give u a link to this company who constantly sells Ro/Di kits, with a whole load of extra catridges for like $80 US plus shippin...if u want it just ask, justr trying to help your cause.

 

[lightning]

who doesnt use eBay.. .. send me the link

 

[Jawz]

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2326761389&category=20758

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

In comparison to the penguin and emperor series, I prefer Whisper's HOB filter for a few reasons.

1. Fewer moving parts. The Whisper hob has only ONE moving part. The impeller. Simple technology rules.

2. Very durable. Again, the single moving part lends itself to sturdiness

3. Quietness. The penquin and emperor HOB's make that annoying gurgle a lot. Especially if you have them turned up high. The whisper HOB has a nice little waterfall shoot. If you keep your aquarium water topped off, you'll never hear a splash

4. Smaller size. Emperor/penguin's are a bit bulkier. I notice that I have to pull my aquarium out from the wall a little farther than with comperable whisper HOB's.

5. Cheaper. Simpler technology lends itself to a better price. There's about a $20 - $30 price difference in the large size HOB filters. The emperor whatever is like $77.00 and the whisper one is $50. It's better AND cheaper. You can't beat that.

 

[cholula]

Lightning...
I also make my filters for the emp... I buy the white/blue
air filter media in bulk, and insert it in the media baskets
that I cut one side out.... works great and I dont have to
buy their cartridges.... for chemical filtration I do regular
water changes and have some chemi-pure in the sump....
(I have a wet/dry as well as 2 emp 400s on a 150 gallon).

Now I am wondering if I can use the white/blue media
instead of the sponge in the AC 500... ?? I am the type
that doenst like to clean stuff... just replace it.

 

[lightning]

i never thought about using air filter media, we have that stuff in huge rolls at werk, i can get big scrap pieces for nothing,

i have been reading up on whispers, they sounded good, now i have another unit to consider, the price diference between these 3 filters is only a couple dollars so my main issue is performance

 

[cholula]

Lighting.. careful not to get the orange/white air filter material.
It has an anti-bacterial substance added... and I believe its
for micro filtering... I use that on my air conditioning system
in the home, but I got to change in often...
But the Blue/white stuff is not as dense and it doenst have
any of that chemical in it as far as i can tell. (you can almost
feel the stuff in the orange/white stuff)....

I have a couple whister 3s I've been running on my 55g
planted tank..... they do have a low profile against the wall
and are very quiet.... also have one on a 20 X-tall... which
is a nice little set up....
.. I have wet/dry and emp 400s too... thought of getting
an AC 200 just to use for some chemical filtration... by dropping
a Chemi-pure in it.....

 

[lightning]

ok ive rulled out the emporer,, now its down to whisper or aquaclear, fosts and smith says whisper is the #1 selling filer, aquaclear says it has mover filtration that other filters,,, i guess i need to go to the store bust open some boxes and do a side by side comparison

 

[Jawz]

i havent heard much thats great about whispers ive heard they clog too much, heres some posts from another site i check out time to time, im not makin this up to pursuade but inform:

"Anybody reccomend a good filter for a 30 gallon? The Whisper-2 that I currently have is really annoying. I change the bio-bag about twice a week - it gets clogged up so fast, it makes me dizzy. I can hardly keep up with this thing. I have 1 6" O and about a 5" pleco. I clean the tank every weekend - sometimes more and my weekly water tests are fine."

http://forums.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=9603&highlight=whisper

whispers suck. i have to clean the removable filter cartridge every few days or else it will stay clogged from all of the slime and debris, greatly affecting the flow rate.

i lightly rinse the bio foam every two weeks or so to preserve the beneficial bacteria. and I end up replacing the removable cartridge every two weeks. i clean the intake tube and the whole unit with those tunnel brushes also... every two weeks

http://forums.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=13353&highlight=whisper

The worst filter I've ever used is my Whisper 10-20. It is very hard to get back started again after unplugged or power outage. Even the Aqua-tech 5-15 filters a 10 gallon aquarium better than the whisper did because it is less hassling to clean and prime. They both kept the water clear but the Aqua-tech although cheaper is easier to get to start.

I wse a whisper 4 in tandem w/ an AC500 on my 55 Oscar tank, and don't really have a problem with it. It's a little noisy, but I got it W/ the tank for $10.00 extra, so I'm not complaining. And I cut foam stuff for extra bio fil. on it. I'll probably switch to a Emp. 250 sometime, though.


http://forums.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=9702&highlight=whisper
(good post about HOB comparison)

I agree with Don. I did recently retire my only Whisper filter because it was too hard to restart after the power goes out. I had to repeatedly push down the impeller to get it to start. I still have it in case my new 10 gallon filter breaks or something. That's why I don't like whispers. Oh yea, it was a whisper 10-20 and I had bought it because a friend of mine recommended them. Even the aquatechs work better imo.

http://forums.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=6904&highlight=whisper

hope that helps

 

[lightning]

WOW, thanks alot Jaws, that was a load of good information and links !,,
i think im going to go with the aquaclear 500 , i am going to just buy 1 and run it along with my emporer 400 for now, i can get it from foster and smith for 29 bucks,

thanks alot to everyone who posted here