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Product: TetraTec Power Filter & Heater o
Manufacturer: Tetra
Price: $40 (150) $55 (350) $80 (500)
(Heater Capsules sold separately $30 (150) $35 (350 & 500)
Pros: Living Filter Chamber fills and empties providing a pseudo
wave effect and high quality filtration. Heater is inside the filter
making for less cords. Long power cord on heater.
Cons: Impellor mechanism has a terrible habit of freezing up.
Living Filter Chamber does not work properly. Filter overfill is not large
enough. Heater inside is out of water far to often when impellor freezes
up. Far to large to place on most aquariums. FAR too expensive.
It was nearly one year ago when I went into a pet store and was very
excited about a new product I saw on the shelves. The new TetraTec power
filters had just arrived! These filters had several new features that I
thought might finally provide some competition for the Bio-Wheel filter
series. They had heaters which could be placed inside the filter, meaning
one less cord hanging over the back of my tanks. They also had a surge
chamber (Living Filter Chamber-LFC) that would fill and drop providing a
highly effective method of filtration that could rival the Bio-Wheel. The
other nice pluses were that the spouts were directional, so the water flow
back into the tank could be aimed where I wanted. The surge from the LFC
also created a wave effect in the tank which would be useful for Salt
water aquariums or just cool for fresh water aquariums.
I immediately worked on obtaining this very interesting concept filter,
but unfortunately have been very disappointed in its performance.
Maintenance (3)
Since the original whisper filters were released, there has been some
complaints about the impellor system of the filter. The impellors often
will seize up and stop turning. It is easy enough to get them going again,
typically you can pull the impellor out of the unit and drop it back on
which the unit is plugged in and the impellor will start up again. I've
run up to 7 Whisper filters simultaneously, and 6 of the seven exhibited
this behavior every time I unplugged the filter and then plugged it back
in. While this is a minor fault of the typical whisper filter, it becomes
a major problem with the TetraTec filters.
Since the TetraTec filters have heaters in the filter, an impellor that
seizes will cause the heater capsule to be left out of water while
over-heating. Over time, I believe this will lead to the heater cracking
its glass. (author's note: while some heaters state on their packages that
they will not crack even if left plugged in out of water, most heaters
will break if left out of the aquarium. The TetraTec heater unit itself
contains no statement of it being able to be out of water without damage
to the unit, so I am assuming it to be like the majority of heaters on
this point.) To combat this, you will need to clean the impellor out at
least monthly. For most hobbyists, that is far too much maintenance.
In addition, I found the set-up and daily running of the heater to be too
difficult. In order for the LFC to function properly, you must let the
filter run for several minutes. You then adjust a dial in the filter to
set water flow into the LFC. Setting the water flow correctly will make
the LFC fill and empty very regularly until the water level in the
aquarium drops substantially. The process takes typically 5-10 minutes
when the filter is first set up, and then another 5-10 minutes a week
later as the water level drops in the aquarium. (Due to the splash created
by the LFC surge, I found water levels in aquariums with this filter will
drop quicker than normal)
Noise (2)
The LFC creates A LOT of noise as it discharges the water through the
chamber. The good thing about it doing this is that you can easily tell by
listening to the filter if the LFC is working correctly or not. The bad
thing about it is that it is quite noisy. If you have ever been to a
public aquarium and seen a tide pool tank, then you should have a concept
of how this sounds because it is the exact same concept miniaturized.
Durability (6)
To its credit, the heaters used in this unit have very thick glass. They
are shatter resistant, and for a good reason considering the impellor
seizing I've had with this and other Tetra power filters. The filter
intake tube is made of less durable plastic than the original whisper
filters. It will not survive if you accidentally step on it. Since the
filter intake tube has a heater plug right into it, it is quite large and
hollow, making it easy to break if you handle the brittle plastic
incorrectly. Still, as long as you never leave it lying around, I believe
it should work for quite some time, perhaps 5-10 years.
Quality (6)
The filter is intended to provide competition for the Bio-Wheel filters
which have come to dominate the market in the last 10 years. The LFC in
this filter is made to provide better filtration than Bio-Wheel, through a
large bacterial bed that receives maximum oxygen. Bacteria that receive
more oxygen (up to a point of course!) do more work in breaking down
harmful chemicals in the water. The only problem with the set-up in this
filter is the extra effort needed to ensure that the LFC is functioning
correctly. Typically it will need to be adjusted every 1-2 weeks, or the
LFC will stop pulsing water through it, defeating the entire purpose of
the chamber.
When running, the LFC provides water filtration as well as, if not better
than any filter on the market. The only problem with the quality is that
on average, I found the LFC not to be functioning correctly and thereby
providing a lower quality of filtration than most filters available. If I
was to rate the filter on its quality when working correctly without
considering anything else, I would give it a 10 in this category.
Overall (1)
"This filter does a good job of cleaning, but it requires far too much
effort on the part of the aquarist in order to make it work correctly. For
my money I’d recommend any other power filter before this one." I
initially said that about the Wardley SandMan filters, but I believe that
to be more fitting now of this filter than that one.
In my opinion, this is the worst filter on the market today. It is far too
expensive, nearly double the price of a Bio-Wheel, and on average, it
provides lower filtration than other filters on the market. Some other
negatives that I haven't discussed yet include the ridiculously large size
of the unit and potential for disaster. When I set up the filter on a 25,
as it was built for tanks up to 30 gallons, I was unable to put my tank
top on correctly as the filter hung so far into the tank that there wasn't
room.
However, I found something I believe to be far worse than that which
plagues this filter. Every filter has an overfill, so that if the filter
clogs, it can dump the water back into the tank instead of creating a
large mess. Typically if you replace your filter pads at least every 4
weeks, the pads will not clog, and you will not ever see water coming back
into the tank through the overfill. However, most people don't replace
their filter pads every 4 weeks. This filter features 2 filter pads. While
I initially thought that was a good idea, it proved disastrous. When both
my pads clogged, the overfill was not nearly large enough for the water
that needs to go over it. I had to clean several gallons of water off of
the floor that had overflowed off of the back of the filter. I have been
in the hobby 20+ years, I have 35+ aquariums set-up, I have power filters
on nearly every one of those tanks. I have never, ever before had a filter
overflow onto the ground. If this had happened while I was out of town for
a week, the filter would have ruined my floor by dumping 10 or more
gallons on it, not to mention the likely impact on the aquarium's
inhabitants.
While it may be the case that my experience was out of the ordinary, I
cannot in good conscience recommend this filter/heater combo to anyone. I
think the heater setup combined with the impellor seizures make it a
likely hazard to itself. The poorly designed overflow makes it a hazard to
your floors. The bulky size makes it hard if not impossible to use with
many tank top sizes. The price is also far more expensive than any other
filter of the same size that is on the market today. I strongly recommend
against this filter and suggest you look to other filters available on the
market to meet your filtering needs..
On a last note, if you do decide you must have one of these filters, I
would recommend that you do not purchase the heater capsule. The heater
capsule itself costs much more than far better heaters made by Ebo-Jager
and MarineLand. The filter works fine without the heater, in fact, I would
suggest it is less stressful to run as you do not have to be concerned
about what will happen to the heater if the impellor seizes and all the
water in the filter drains back into the tank.
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