# the Ultimate Power filters



## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

This is to help other people find a good cheap filter that works like no other.

back in the late 80's early 90's me and my pal started up cichlid tanks...
I had a Aquaclear 150, he had a ac-300... I bought me a Whisper 3...
We mail ordered some bigger power filters.. I got a Huge Whisper 5 (400 gph) turb power filter, he got a Aquaclear 500 (500 gph)

I always noticed that his tanks was more crystal clear than mine...
I figured out the sponge was it, the thin floss type stuff in the Whisper didn't polish the water very good..
I come to the conclusion that Whispers were junk compard to others... 
at the time I did not have enough money to throw em away and get new ones, so I thought up how to add a sponge to my Whisper someday...
After reading through an article in a magazine on what filters work best, they had picked the old air sponge filters of the old days had the most bacteria, they was better in many ways.. fifh fry (babaies0 could eat from them...

So I thought, why not have a power filter with a sponge on the end..

Soon after I did this, I had much much better water quality, always crystal clear... it was like I had 3x the filter I had...

here is how I did this..
I have some pics

scotty


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

face of stock Whisper 3


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

W3 top open


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

Here is a newer Whisper 3 (W3), now called the Whisper 30-60 or Whisper 60, they put out 300 or 330 gph


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

ahhh, wandering where to get sponges at?

Well they are cheap now get them at any auto parts store for maybe a $1.00


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

Sorry! some of these pics are blury, I was in a hurry.

Here is why I pick Whispers over others for this modification, the inlet tube is big and spacious, roung tubular shaped..


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

And here it is inside of sponge, nice fit, if I wish my ol lady was that good a fit. ;-)


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

here is the bio media for the Whisper 3, the black things are what Whisper now uses in front of the filters for extra bio media sponges... I used hair curlers hot melt glued together for extra media inside the filters long ago... 14 yrs ago, and they are just now starting to come apart some..


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

Okey, another mod I use is bio media inside the filter, just for extra biological filtration, the room is there, why not use it..

I bought some plastic hair curlers, and hot melt glued them together... 
here is what they look like


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

W3 top view modified


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

oh, here is my Whisper 5, I love this filter, it is HUGE, as HUGE amounts of space inside for bio media, in the real world, they are not too much better than the Whisper 3, as sponge and inlet tube are same size.
Still the Whisper 5 is a great filter, and are not made anymore.... put out 400 gph,,

I think this is the ultimate powerfilter... the pull method is 100% efficient... heck those 500 gph Ac-500's claim you have to turn em down to get effective efficiency.. no wander people have 2-3 of them on a 75-125 gallon

just one of these Modified Whisper 5's could filter a 200 gallon no problem
Not is the filter more efficient, but has to go through 2 stages of filtration, and the sponge is more bio media in itself.. not counting the extra you put in the filter..

Anyone know where I can find Second Nature Whisper 5's at let me know.


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

Back of hugh W5 modified


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

back of both to compare


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

another view, you can see why the 5 is good for bio media stuffing


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

front view of both..

They not only work great in therory, but in rea life.. These babaies have ben running for a good 12 years strait, no problems, no parts change...

the Sounge keeps most the bad stuff out of inside it...
I have used this setup on Jaquars cichlids, Red Devils, in 30 and 55..
over stocked Afrian tank with 5-6-7 inch Africans, maybe 10-15, with big 6-7 inch Convicts, Firemouths, Neets, Bluegills, large Pleco along with other fish..... fish was always overfeed to help grow... NEVER a problem, no amonia, no nitrites, when fish got messy, it cleared up in no time to super crystal clear...


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

dam dude thats some great sh*t


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

Sorry, darn I forgot to set camera for auto focus... it is a little blury, butyou can already tell with new water, and some air bubles on glass, that water is so clear you can't hardly tell water is there..

The only drawback to some people is the look of the sponge...
but the performance is worth it.

no I am not a Whisper chear leader.. Just want to help..
I know you can buy these Whisper 30-60's at Wal-Mart for $35..
I have 2 on my 75 gal, but would not worry if I had to use one, as long as it modified..... I am one to over do things.

scott


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## JAC (Jan 19, 2004)

Cool man, very clever.

just FYI, you can buy AC500s at bigalsonline for like 32$







.


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

Good job man, very resourceful. I will probably adjust your idea a bit and put sponges on the end of my filter intake when i change my 125 from sand to gravel to avoid raping my impeller.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

my friend...you've given me a marvelous idea...


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## Nova_C (Nov 8, 2004)

I got a Whisper 60 with my 55g tank yesterday and this is something I want to try. So it doesn't hurt the impeller at all to put the sponge on the end (As in, it doesn't have to work harder to move the water)? And will just about any sponge do? Also, how often would you have to clean the sponge? Would cleaning it just be shaking it out in a bucket with tank water?

Anyway, I might have to try this out.


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## 204CORD (Oct 18, 2004)

thats a really good info man!!


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## Scrappy (Oct 21, 2004)

Sorry I'm a noob, but what do the haircurlers do?


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## JAC (Jan 19, 2004)

scrappydoo said:


> Sorry I'm a noob, but what do the haircurlers do?


 I think they're meant to trap some extra bacteria.


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## Scrappy (Oct 21, 2004)

Ahh, so it's basically more material for the bacteria to latch onto, instead of extra filtration media. What types of material do the bacteria latch onto best?


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

scrappydoo said:


> Ahh, so it's basically more material for the bacteria to latch onto, instead of extra filtration media. What types of material do the bacteria latch onto best?


 biowheels, sponge media, ceramic rings, and apparently haircurlers


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

scrappydoo said:


> Ahh, so it's basically more material for the bacteria to latch onto, instead of extra filtration media. What types of material do the bacteria latch onto best?


 I don't think it really matters what you use - what does matter is the surface area: the more surface area, the more room for bacteria to colonize.
That's why biomedia is often poreous stuff like lava rock or sintered glass.

Good information, btw


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

I forgot to mentain, I string filter floss arcross the top of the curlers, and internal filters... the water flows over them some, and it traps good bacteria... in case you want to transfer it...

The sponge, you can either take out and squeze it under hot tap water, or when you clean out your tank, say in a 5 gallon bucket, you can squeze it out in that everytime or every so often in thatm that way you can keep the biological bacteria.... it helps.. although the bio media in the filter can do that part.

How often you clean them out depends... when I had a over stocked african 55 gal tank, at least once a week, the sponge collect alot.... if you wait the 300 gph will tricle down to 50-100 gph... you will know... better to not let it get down that far...

What I find is it doesn't really gut the flow... my Whisper 5 seemed to put out close to it's 400 gph with a clean sponge... and that is 100 efficientcy.

my friend who had the Aquaclear 500 (now 110) used to have more crystal clear water, but after this mod to the whispers, my tank was wwwwaaayyyy more crystal clear... all the time... couldn't tell water was in tank. even with a bunch of fish..

Now I love Aquaclears, but the inlet tube doesn't lend itself best for this mod, niether does the Emp-400, another great filter, but I'd guess if you crafted a inlet tube to fit a sponge for them, it would work as good or maybe better.

Like I said before, the Aquaclears have a sponge built in them, but those sponges are not as fine, they are more for combo filter and bacteria..
And the instructions on the Aquaclear say "for best results, turn filter down to lower setting", well I say, what is the use in having 500 gph, when you have to turn it down to 162 gph or a tad higher to be efficient... when you can buy a cheap Whisper 3, (Whisper 30-60 or Whisper 60) for $27-35, and get 300 gph at 100% efficientcy..

I'm not going to put down other peoples powerfilters, or say this is the very best, I know it works as good and better than any powerfilter on any tank I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot...
I just figured I might share this info after 15 or so years of doing it
Whispers are reliable filters, just stock out of the box they are not too good at cleaning the water or polishing it under any kind of load.

Also, the sponge would be good for people who use sand, the sponge would filter sand out too, as long as you have a sponge that covers the whole inlet tube good..

scotty


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## Scrappy (Oct 21, 2004)

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna give this a try this weekend. I've got a 125g tank to set-up anyway. I'll post up my results after the tank is cycled.


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

yeah,. let me know.... Keep in mind some people may not like the way the sponge(s) look(s) in the tank,,, but some people don't even like the way the inlet tubes look...

iI'm not going to say other methodes are not good, but it's like this you can't have both looks and water quality... not in a home... the sponge doesn't bother me, I'd rather give up a little eye candy for performance.... it's hard to beat the pull method of filtration... the more clogged the sponges get, it seems like the better they polish the water... it's amazing.. easy to clean-- just pull off, ring out in bucket in water a few times... stick back on... DONE.. I'd rather give my fish a little better water quality than worry about if everything looks perfect.... but each to thier own...
I wish this would work on a AC-500, I like the AC filters.

scott


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

scottyd said:


> And the instructions on the Aquaclear say "for best results, turn filter down to lower setting", well I say, what is the use in having 500 gph, when you have to turn it down to 162 gph or a tad higher to be efficient... when you can buy a cheap Whisper 3, (Whisper 30-60 or Whisper 60) for $27-35, and get 300 gph at 100% efficientcy..


 More efficient does not equal more filtered. Removing 100% of ammonia at 162 gph as opposed to 80% of ammonia at 500 gph means the lower setting is more efficient but the higher setting removes more ammonia and keeps your water cleaner. You don't know that you're getting 100% efficiency from your whisper either, you're just assuming you are.

Good idea anyway, I still prefer my AC


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## scottyd (Oct 10, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> scottyd said:
> 
> 
> > And the instructions on the Aquaclear say "for best results, turn filter down to lower setting", well I say, what is the use in having 500 gph, when you have to turn it down to 162 gph or a tad higher to be efficient... when you can buy a cheap Whisper 3, (Whisper 30-60 or Whisper 60) for $27-35, and get 300 gph at 100% efficientcy..
> ...


 Gee I'm almost afraid to reply to ya, got flamed last time really bad... but I still love you man!

Yes, I do like AC powerfilters, I think they are tops in stock form...

I didn't meanm they are more efficient biological wise, but filter (as in water cleaning or water polishing to crystal clear wise, they are... the pull methode can not be tops. the push methode has too much over flow.. that is why even Hagan or who-ever now makes those AC-500 etc say on the box or instructions, to turn down flow for best results.... I just don't see buying a 500 gph filter to set it at 162 gph for best results...
why not have a 300 gph filter that is efficient at 300 gph...

I know powerfilters are rated empty.. and even the sponge will restrict the flow some... but it isn't much.. if they flow 280 gph with the filters in, and the sponge (if big enough and clean) might lower it to 270 gph, still better than the 500 to 162 ratio..

Even so, stuffing the powerfilter like I do would help make it more efficient biological wise also..

now I think this would be better if you could get it to work on a Ac-500... you'd have to order a inlet tube like a Whisper or Penguin, and either Hot melt glue or use Silicone Aquarium safe sealer and make it fit..

As far as bio media holding capacity.. I think the Whisper 5 is tops.. 
They are 17 inches, wide compared to 13 in for the W3...
But they are not around anymore...
I have two Whisper 3's modified on my 75gal Rhom tank, 600 gph through the pull methode.. water is so clear you can't tell it is there.

scott


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