Tetratec Power Filter

[Mr. Gardener]

Has anyone tried one of these yet? I've used primarily Whispers for
many years, as well as a couple of Aquaclears and I've read all of the
debates on the strengths and weaknesses of each and I agree and
disagree with all of the agreements and disagreements. The Whisper
parts and filter sleeves are easily exchanged between their most
common sizes, and I have numerous parts and pieces accumulated over
the years in my spare parts and quck repair box. And it's nice to just
have to purchase a single size 12 pack of "biofilters." This new
Tetretec marks a couple of breakthroughs for Tetra: It is more than
twice the price of their regular line and it claims to move 500 gph,
making it much more likely to truly manage a 55 gallon tank, rather
than just barely almost not quite like the current biggest filter, the
Whisper 60, rated for a whopping 60 gallons. I usually find myself
adding a second smaller Aquaclear or Whisper to help it along. And
finally, the Tetratec is presenting yet another approach to providing
the ultimate wet dry biiological filtration in a HOB filter. Personal
experience or opinions, anyone?

Mr Gardener

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.
Mr. Gardener wrote:
> Has anyone tried one of these yet? I've used primarily Whispers for
> many years, as well as a couple of Aquaclears and I've read all of the
> debates on the strengths and weaknesses of each and I agree and
> disagree with all of the agreements and disagreements. The Whisper
> parts and filter sleeves are easily exchanged between their most
> common sizes, and I have numerous parts and pieces accumulated over
> the years in my spare parts and quck repair box. And it's nice to just
> have to purchase a single size 12 pack of "biofilters." This new
> Tetretec marks a couple of breakthroughs for Tetra: It is more than
> twice the price of their regular line and it claims to move 500 gph,
> making it much more likely to truly manage a 55 gallon tank, rather
> than just barely almost not quite like the current biggest filter, the
> Whisper 60, rated for a whopping 60 gallons. I usually find myself
> adding a second smaller Aquaclear or Whisper to help it along. And
> finally, the Tetratec is presenting yet another approach to providing
> the ultimate wet dry biiological filtration in a HOB filter. Personal
> experience or opinions, anyone?
>
> Mr Gardener

In my opinion the tetratec filter is the best "beginner" filter. It has all
(except for potential as the biowheels have a lot more surface area I think)
the benefits of biowheels without the occasional headache or two (i.e. the
headaches with biowheels are; small snails can clog biowheels, occasional
cleaning is needed; and biowheels might need to be adjusted slightly over a
long period of time), but like I said before - I think biowheels (the
penguins are good and cheap for beginners while the spray bar biowheels are
almost perfect for anyone's biofiltration) have more surface area than the
tetratec so biowheels have more potential capacity for a given tank as far
as the bioload is sized. I am interested in what anyone else here has to say
about the tetratec filters, overall they look really tempting to buy. Good
luck and later!