Tetra Whisper Internal Aquarium Power Filter with BioScrubber

I bought the large filter about a year ago and have been using it ever since. What I like is how quiet it is, thus living up to the Whisper name. Cleaning the filter and media gets mixed reviews, however. The bio scrubber lives up to its name and function. A simple shake in used aquarium water is sufficient to clean the gunk off without harming the bio bed. The filter pad gets rinsed off in the sink. The gunk goes down the drain and leaves some biological filtering. Getting to the filter impeller to clean that out to maintain water flow requires taking the entire filter out of the aquarium to remove the screws holding the bottom together to access and clean the impeller and compartment. I I bought the large filter about a year ago and have been using it ever since. What I like is how quiet it is, thus living up to the Whisper name. Cleaning the filter and media gets mixed reviews, however. The bio scrubber lives up to its name and function. A simple shake in used aquarium water is sufficient to clean the gunk off without harming the bio bed. The filter pad gets rinsed off in the sink. The gunk goes down the drain and leaves some biological filtering. Getting to the filter impeller to clean that out to maintain water flow requires taking the entire filter out of the aquarium to remove the screws holding the bottom together to access and clean the impeller and compartment. I find this a bit unhandy. I have used pressurized water to clean out the gunk using backflow and that works to a point. My advice is be aware that this filter may need more effort to clean than a smaller Whisper unit. All in all, i like the filter, but believe the design could be much improved for ease of cleaning. … more

I had an older model of this filter and after 6 months it stopped working. I purchased a new one, expecting it to work just as well as the original had in the beginning. I even upgraded to one for 20-40 gallons, even though my tank is only 20. After a full 24 hours, my RES's water is cloudy and looks exactly the same as it did before the new filter went in. I'm so disappointed and now i have to try to find something else until I'm able to get yet another filter delivered. I love Chewy, but this filter is no good.

This filter was discounted when I bought it. Definitely worth the price. It's so quiet, I'm not sure how silent some of these reviewers are expecting a filter to be. Especially considering that my tank is not completely full, this is supposed to cause the filter to be louder- but it's still nearly silent. I must say, I didn't realize how bulky this filter was going to be. It will work great for now but I'll be looking for something more minimal in the future. Packaging says it cleans up to 125 gallons per hour, I have a 5 gallon tank. Instructions were incredibly easy considering this is my first tank. I did call the manufacturer because I was concerned about something that I was assured is completely This filter was discounted when I bought it. Definitely worth the price. It's so quiet, I'm not sure how silent some of these reviewers are expecting a filter to be. Especially considering that my tank is not completely full, this is supposed to cause the filter to be louder- but it's still nearly silent. I must say, I didn't realize how bulky this filter was going to be. It will work great for now but I'll be looking for something more minimal in the future. Packaging says it cleans up to 125 gallons per hour, I have a 5 gallon tank. Instructions were incredibly easy considering this is my first tank. I did call the manufacturer because I was concerned about something that I was assured is completely normal. Over all great product so far, I highly recommend it. It does say not to use with sand, but it seems to be working fine. I assume this means wait for the sand to settle before running the filter. … more

This filter is so quiet and the guppies honestly seem to enjoy hanging out in the stream of it. It is doing a good job, too!! What a relief, we were having some household tension over the volume of my last aquarium filter.

Silent, slow and steady water current. suitable for my betta fish BUT it’ll be great if it didn't have a flimsy top cover piece. I woke up this morning to my entire table soaked and game console damaged. for 2 hours I was figuring out if it was the tank that was cracked but to my surprise I notice sometimes the water will make pressure under the top piece, go over and pass the clip that holds it to the glass and over. I will advice anyone to have the filter lower then the clip to avoid leakage.

Literally cannot hear it, the water was almost black and it cleared it up within an hour or two. Super happy with it. I hope this lasts because I don’t want to continually buy more.

I do not like this fish filter AT ALL but it was totally my mistake as I ordered the wrong one. Chewy was great - as always. Quick delivery. Totally my fault .

This filter has exceeded my expectations. I was a bit nervous at first because of the price point and was completely realistic. I had quite a bit of debris in my turtle tank and the moment I plugged this filter in, it cleared up the water in minutes. Like... crystal clear. I was completely baffled. Definitely a great buy!

I purchased the 5-10 gallon filter to use in the water feature in my snake's enclosure when the pump I had previously been using wore out (it was a bit under powered, so I didn't want to replace with the same model). I've got a friend who has a larger version of Tetra Whisper pump/filter in their fish tank, and theirs has been reliable and quiet, so I figured I would go with the same brand and product line. The smaller model is pretty loud for something that claims to be whisper quiet. Since this is for a snake enclosure, I'm mostly concerned about vibration noise from the pump motor rather than water noise, since vibration will carry through the frame of the enclosure. The vibration is very I purchased the 5-10 gallon filter to use in the water feature in my snake's enclosure when the pump I had previously been using wore out (it was a bit under powered, so I didn't want to replace with the same model). I've got a friend who has a larger version of Tetra Whisper pump/filter in their fish tank, and theirs has been reliable and quiet, so I figured I would go with the same brand and product line. The smaller model is pretty loud for something that claims to be whisper quiet. Since this is for a snake enclosure, I'm mostly concerned about vibration noise from the pump motor rather than water noise, since vibration will carry through the frame of the enclosure. The vibration is very audible when the enclosure is open. It's not enough to disturb me when the doors are shut, but my snake seemed pretty agitated and avoided that part of the enclosure for a few days (she is used to the water moving since there has been a pump and filter in there for a few years, so that wasn't the issue). Based on some posts in aquarium groups online, I put a pad in under the water feature and stuck a silicon trivet between the pump and the side of the water feature, which helped a little. It's still audible, but doesn't seem to bother her quite as much. I have anywhere from 3-5 gallons in the water feature at any given time, so maybe the claims of silence are based on having more water to muffle the vibrations? At this price point I really don't expect perfection and I doubt the other brands are much better, so I'll keep tweaking things until I'm happy with it. … more

Updated version of the same model I had for 5 years that doesn’t live up to the performance of the previous model. This one makes more noise. (Not Whisper quiet). Does not clean the water and leaves it very cloudy. Never had that problem previously. Water was always clear. Even the picture on the box is not the same as what they are selling now it’s a picture of the old model. This change should not have been made. Do not buy this product. No longer lives up to Tetra’s previous quality.