yea I have a whisper 10i too so now I have something else, when you throw out the cartridge you do lose bacteria which can put the tank in a mini cycle, but it does not take as long as the first one!
What I did was buy some Filter Foam (sponge) and cut it and stuff it behind the cartridge, This way the foam also contains alot of the bacteria and you won't lose as much when you change them. The new carbon in the filter will hopefly help compensate for the bacteria loss and absorb amonia and waste while the lsot bacteria re-establishes.
To make the cartridges last longer (as long as water is flowing through them reasonably well) you can take them out durring water changes rinse them off with tank water as you change it then put them back into the tank.
Im in the process of ditching the whisper (will be a backup or something) for a Fluval 204, if you look online (Dr. Fosters )you can get a really good cansiter for really cheap. Otherwise this is where the bio wheels come in handy on some filters or at least stackable media.
What I did was buy some Filter Foam (sponge) and cut it and stuff it behind the cartridge, This way the foam also contains alot of the bacteria and you won't lose as much when you change them. The new carbon in the filter will hopefly help compensate for the bacteria loss and absorb amonia and waste while the lsot bacteria re-establishes.
To make the cartridges last longer (as long as water is flowing through them reasonably well) you can take them out durring water changes rinse them off with tank water as you change it then put them back into the tank.
Im in the process of ditching the whisper (will be a backup or something) for a Fluval 204, if you look online (Dr. Fosters )you can get a really good cansiter for really cheap. Otherwise this is where the bio wheels come in handy on some filters or at least stackable media.
Last edited:
