Whisper HOB diatom filter on Drs foster & Smith

[Karlsbad]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3623&Ne=1020&R=7095&N=2004+22768+2147013795

OK I got my diatom XL, and I knew what I was getting into. I don't have a link to the thread, but I have to agree with the guy who said these things are annoyingly ancient in design. The design and the instructions that appear to have been duplicated on a mimeograph machine and the funky motor and all the work that it's going to take everytime I want to use it are annoying the crap out of me. The inlet for the tube thing that goes in the jar has a mfring defect so that its not quite round which makes it really hard to get that tube on and I mauled the ends of the tube assembling it, this seems like its probably going to shorten the lifespan or effectiveness of the filter. It's got lots of brittle plastic parts. The bag inlet looks different from the instructions. How hard are you supposed to push down on the motor assembly to get the O-ring to seal? Mine's like wobby. There's no water line on the bag.

I haven't run it yet, I'm tempted to send it back to petsmart and go with the whisper, I just don't have a very high opinion of the whisper brand either, and Drs Foster & Smith's website says its for up to 100 gallons but they don't list a flow rate for it and it's not on the tetra site at all, so if I ever upgraded or got a larger tank I might not be able to use it. For that matter, knowing how mfr's rate their filters to tank size, I don't know how effective it would be on my 90.

For the XL I have to have someplace to store this glass jar, with the whisper it doesn't seem like there'd be any crazy priming or powder blowouts, and I could leave it sitting on my tank. The whisper uses a grate on the side of the filter box for an intake, so I don't know how well it would get water from the bottom of my 90g. I'm not really into trying things and returning them, but I suppose I could go that way with the whisper.

Drs Foster & Smith also carries another HOB diatom filter called System 1 by Aquarium Products: http://www.aq-products.com/Catalog/Accessories%20&%20Fresh%20Flow/system1.htm Which seems kind of cheesy too, it includes a glass jar, DrsFosterSmith have a warning that it will overheat if you leave it running too long, and the name of their powder is 'preemo'(why does that remind of pot smokers?)

The Vortex site shows the XL with 400 gph but I don't see a tank size recommendation there or bigals.

Btw Joe Vortex sells that bracket thing convert your XL to a Freedom.

Don't mean to whine here or irritate you prowd XL owners. I should probably send this one back for exchange even if I don't switch brands. I'd appreciate anything you have to say......

[blitzen25bm]

those are too much work to just polish the water once in a while. here is what i use. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3597&R=6995&N=2004+22768 the micron cartridge clears everything up really fast then you just rinse it and soak it in a bleach solution.

[ewok]

if you think it's defective it might be good to send it back and get another...... the oddest thing about my xl was the silly little rubber band hose clamps it says to use where the hoses attach to the filter. both of them won't fit! i haven't had problems with the hoses slipping off without them tho. :)

it is sort of an antique kind of thing too.... there must be ways to update it and i'm surprised they haven't.....

it works like a charm tho, and it's a little more versatile than a HOB/HOT type. what i do to prime mine is:
1) i set it up in front of the tank in question and set a stool with a bucket on it in front of the tank (3g bucket, 1/2 full).
2) fill the water in the jar to almost the top and you can either add the powder to the bottom of the jar or add it to the bucket later.
3) set the hoses in the bucket and flip the jar and turn it on, let it run for a few seconds until it starts to prime (and the powder is off the bottom).
4) turn it off and flip it right side up.
5) pick up the bucket a bit higher off the stool and let the air come out
6) set it down and turn it on

at this point you should be primed and running in the bucket........ (leave the black ends off the inlet and outlet tubes for now)

now add the powder to the bucket if you haven't already and let it run. you can use the outlet water to stir the bucket occasionally to keep the diatom powder from settling in the bottom. run it until the powder is in the filter and coating the bag.

next: with the filter still running, take the inlet and outlet hoses in each hand, put a finger over the end of each tube and lift them out and place them in the tank. remove fingers and let it run. replace the black defuser end on at least the inlet side. (or some nosey fish might get sucked in, not pretty. :( )

and you're done. you might get a slight blast of bubbles and/or powder when you remove your fingers from the tubes, but it's generally minimal if the bag is coated decently.

this sounds like a pain and it sort of is, but it works good.

the great thing about this filter? i leave the outlet tube defuser off and i take an extra piece of (1/2 inch?) tube that i have and i slide it into the outlet tube. then i use this to stir up the gravel in sections. the water pressure is pretty strong coming out and it will dig right into the gravel and put the junk up in the water where one of the filters will grab it. so do a section of gravel and remove the extension tube (or not) and let the filter run for a bit until the water clears. do another section....... etc....... and then after you do the gravel, just let it run to polish the water..... it works great!

this cleans even better than a gravel vac, it gets ALOT of junk out of the gravel. :)

actually i believe you can buy a gravel vac extension for the xl from bigals or somewhere. this would even eliminate the need to make a mess in the water.

to move it to a different tank. take the defusers off and plug the tube ends (filter running still) and transfer them back to the bucket. then shut the filter down. carry the bucket and filter around together and you won't need to reprime the filter, but after each move you should run it in the bucket to prevent any major powder blasts in the new tank. as the powder gets dirty it will be less apt to come off the bag when you move it tho, the dirt seems to sort of lock it on.

you can't do the deep cleaning with a HOT/HOB that i know of........ personally i'll put up with the hassle for the results, i've almost never needed to "just" polish the water.

good luck whatever you choose. :)

[ewok]

just a small side note......

www.diatomfilter.com is vortex's website

edit: if the top with the motor is wobbly, it probably isn't on all the way. try wetting the o-ring or something....

this little gizmo is also supposed to make life easier..... http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/p-29_recharge_valve.htm
and they have a couple of other neat goodies on their website i didn't notice before. :)

edit2: the gravel thing.... (i think) http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/gravel_washer_model_gw1.htm

[Karlsbad]

Originally posted by ewok
you can't do the deep cleaning with a HOT/HOB that i know of........ personally i'll put up with the hassle for the results, i've almost never needed to "just" polish the water.

good luck whatever you choose. :) [/B]

The HOB that I mentioned is a diatom filter as well.

[ewok]

Originally posted by Karlsbad


The HOB that I mentioned is a diatom filter as well.

i know, i meant that the HOT/HOB type only deals with the water. with the xl you can do a little more with cleaning the tank.

edit: that's neat, they even make a "sponge filter" you can use instead of the bag and diatom......

http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/str4_star_filter.htm

maaaaaaaaan i gotta stay off these websites, it just makes me want to spend money! :D

edit2: and a UV light? :confused:
http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/germkill_uv1.htm

sort of looks like they are working their way to actually updating the filter. :D

[Karlsbad]

I got an email from Whisper saying the flow on their diatomagic is 365 gph

[Tom.E]

I’ve had the Whisper for quite awhile now. It’s basically a water polisher. The turbulence from the outflow on the filter (points straight down) will kick up some debris from the substrate into the water column where it gets sucked up. It works very well cleaning up GW blooms, messes from replantings,etc. Not so good for substrate cleaning. You have to manually stir up the substrate to get debris into the water column for the filter to remove it.



Tom

[SayersWeb]

The XL has a much bigger surface and will not clog anywhere near as fast as the HOB types. That is one of the biggest problems with diatom filters... they clog very quickly.

I owned a couple of XLs many years ago. They do a good job, but I find them unnecessary if the tank is established properly.

[Karlsbad]

Originally posted by Tom.E
I’ve had the Whisper for quite awhile now. It’s basically a water polisher. The turbulence from the outflow on the filter (points straight down) will kick up some debris from the substrate into the water column where it gets sucked up. It works very well cleaning up GW blooms, messes from replantings,etc. Not so good for substrate cleaning. You have to manually stir up the substrate to get debris into the water column for the filter to remove it.



Tom

What size tank do you have?

[RTR]

I'll second that the Diatomagic is just a polisher, and not for a very big tank at that. BTW, it is a HIT - Hang IN Tank, not on/behind, inside. It is good for whatt it is, but it is a long way from an XL.

The XL is a PITA to set up, but with the recharge valve and a catch bucket, you can cahrge the unit and move tank to tank with little problem. Ditto if you want gravel cleaning, use the gravel tube - you don't vacuum when partialing without a gravel washer on the end of the hose, well, the same logic applies to the XL - get their gravel washer, it does the job.

[Karlsbad]

I sent back my vortex and bought a diatomagic from Ameka Aquatics (http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=_CLOSE_OUT) for 65 bucks including free shipping with an extra filter bag and powder. It worked great on my 90 in an hour, and its totally plug and play, I cleaned the gravel first and turned off my emperors but left my eheim with a gravel mounted intake on and put the diatomagic with its intake door about 6 inches from the output of the eheim.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Karlsbad
I sent back my vortex and bought a diatomagic.....
My Vortex XL is a great product. Actually, it's amazing how well it works, on the old 80 gallon, and the 125 gallon I now have. Here's a couple websites...

http://digitalaquaria.tripod.com/vortex.htm

Sorry I missed this posting.......... :(

And these are the directions that should have come with the Vortex!

Using the Vortex (http://www.carolinagal.com/diatom.htm)