i had this filter for a grand total of a week before installing a new one, i would have taken it back to the store the same day if i had another option for a filter, however i went ahead and purchased the TOM Aquarium Mini Internal Filter 45gph adjustable flow online (which is working perfectly by the way) and waited for delivery. so why is this filter so horrible?
1) the noise is unbearable, this tiny filter for a 3 gallon tank is louder than another filter i have for a 75 gallon tank! unbelievable
2) its made of cheap plastic parts, ( the "lid" broke off during assembly)
the ONLY good thing about this filter is the fact that it is gentle the current is very weak, suitable for my delicate finned male betta.
as for as how it does with actual filtration, for the week i had it, it kept the water clear and well circulated; as far as any long term use i wouldn't know about but honestly in my opinion i wouldn't be surprised if this thing didn't last more than a month, its that flimsy.
I first bought this filter for my 1.5 gallon tank that has a betta fish in it. It was the perfect size for the tank. It did a really good job at keeping the water in the tank clear. At about 8 months after I bought it, the water would only trickle out of the filter. I tried taking it apart, cleaning the filter out, putting it back together (as sometimes gunk builds up in my other filter that slows the amount of workload it can handle). No change. I originally planned to buy a different brand of filter, but I couldn't beat this price and still had some filter cartridges left over. I saw that other people have said that they have bought more than one with better luck. So, I decided to take the risk. I was curious to see what the problem was, so i tried substituting certain parts of the filter with the old one. The problem was definitely the little motor. For some reason it didn't push air through the filter as much as it did in the beginning.
Either way, I do like the filter and I hope this one holds out. Its perfect for a betta fish's tankand I like the price.
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Wrote that review on January 7, 2011 and it is now February 10, 2011 and the filter is no longer working the way it should. The water only trickles out of the filter, making it unable to do its job. I'm sick of having to deal with this.. I would just like my filter to work like it said it would!!! Don't buy this filter unless you want to replace it a month later....(This is the second one I have purchased with the same result.)
Buy Tetra Whisper In-Tank Filter 3I, 1 to 3-Gallon Now
This filter is a clever design using the airlift principle, the rising bubbles force water up the intake tube, flows through the filter cartridge, and returns water back into the tank.
However, like everyone else says the air pump that comes with this filter is pretty junky and not powerful enough. Filters like these need a good air pump, I personally use the AirPod® Air Pump w/Battery Back-Up for up to 55 Gallon Tanks as it's heavy duty enough and lets you adjust the air flow. You can also use a less expensive air pump (or any other reliable one), as long as it's powerful enough it should do the job.
The filter itself is simply built in design but seems sturdy enough (the lid was kind of flimsy) but it does the job keeping the water clean and circulated. If you plan on getting this product, I suggest getting a more reliable air pump and it should work the way it's advertised. I also wish this filter could be sold alone, without the junky air pump included. It would make the price even lower and let people choose which pump they wanted.
Read Best Reviews of Tetra Whisper In-Tank Filter 3I, 1 to 3-Gallon Here
Ok, so for starters,I'm reading a ton of reviews claiming the air pump that comes with it doesn't work. well, I've have the air pump running nonstop for nearly a year now without any problems. If you need to buy a new air pump I think its worth it for reasons I will explain below. One thing, I put the air pump on a folded up washcloth on my desk, and I the noise is there, but I never immediately notice it from the whole setup. Btw it is best to use a check valve with any air pumps for aquariums to avoid the possibility of an electrical fire from water siphoning out of the tank during a power outage or something like that. Next, this thing is so simple to use but easily has numerous uses apart from filtration. One thing is, for small tanks, if the water level remains under the spillout but water is still flowing, you can actually use this thing as a gravel vacuum. Using it as a gravel vacuum only works if the bottom of the siphon can be pushed around into the gravel while the water level in the tank allows it to still flow out of the filter. If the water level is too high above the spillout you'll get debris spitting out of top. If the water level is too low under the spillout you'll get no flow. So if your tank is small enough where you can drain out enough water to let the bottom of the siphon be pushed through the gravel, using it as a gravel vac worked in all my tanks. Apologies for the complicated explanation. But it really is the same principal as those battery operated gravel vacs for bigger tanks, only its not designed specifically for that so you need to have the water level in the right place for it to work.
Now for filtration, Most people don't realize that features can be added to filters to make them more efficient. There is room in the front and back of the cartridge to some small things that aid in bio filtration. "bio pellets" most aquarium pet stores sell them, the ones I'm referring to are the cylinder shaped ones that are roughly a centimeter in height and width. Some of these can be put in the back or front of the filter provided its not blocking the intake in the back. same principal applies with adding extra small pieces of sponge, cotton, or even small cotton pieces of a filter cartridge. All of them will provide extra places for your benificial bacteria to grow. its the equivelant of adding a tiny sponge filter to your tank. I don't recommend using too much so that you still get plenty of water flow and you don't have all that water just spilling out the top because it has no where to go. But rather small amounts will be a good extra place for your benificial bacteria to grow.
Now for the filter function as far as cleaning up debris in the tank. First of all you need to push the cartridge down a bit hard to make it go all the way, second you have to push it against the front of the filter to seal the sides of the cartridge to prevent debris from getting through. It does pick up debris fine, but once that debris is in the back it has nothing to do but sit there, and buildup of debris in the back both slows the flow down and rapidly deteriorates the quality of your cartridge. Once that debris starts sticking to the sides of the cartridge, it opens gaps in the sides that allows some bigger debris to get through. Unfornatly this thing is not designed to be 100% effecient with the tiniest peices of debris. But if you push the cartridge against the front, it helps seal the sides which does then catch most of the tiny peices in addition to the big ones. Then to preserve your cartridge and the water flow you need to be emptying debris out of the back. All I do is take it out and pour it into a cup, Whether the biopellets or sponge falls out or not doesn't matter, as long as they doesn't dry out or aren't washed with tap water it'll be fine (tap water will kill all the benificial bacteria). Then put the filter back in. That preserves the flow of water and the cartridge itself.
Now for complaints on inconsistent flow. There's 4 factors that effect the flow. The consistent efficiency of the pump, water level in the tank, debris buildup in the back, and a poor quality cartridge.
If the pump isn't working consistently, (I've had no trouble with all 3 of mine) you can try a different type of type of pump, most places have them for 8-12 dollars.
For debris sitting in the back I recommend emptying the back an maybe a 2 week or so basis depending on how dirty your tank is, all i do is take the filter off and pour the water into a cup, filter goes back in, and just discard the cup of water/debris.
For quality of cartridge, if your cartridge is really dirty (will be effected by debris buildup in the back. make sure the back of the filter is empty of debris and put in a new cartridge, flow improves a bit every time for me.
For water level in the tank, if the spillout is too high above the water, it won't flow as much, if the spiilout is to low under the water it just spits water and debris back out. I still have a very minimal amount of water spilling out the top, as long as its very minimal water spilling out the top, the main function of the filter is still working.
For complaints about the lid. Its true, the lid is not well designed to stay on (another con). However with a bit of a guided hand, the lid can rather easily be put back on so that it lifts up and down. Its best if you take it out so you can see what your doing connecting it in the back, but I've been able to put them back on every time.
And last thing is, the replacement cartridges come in packs of 2 for about 4 dollars. Two dollars per cartridge is a pretty decent deal compared to some other filter type replacement cartridges. Notice how everyone loves the tom filter but the replacement cartridges are hard to find. Almost every aquarium store I've been to for this filter(petsmart, petsupplies plus, etc.) has them. So cartridges are rather cheap and easy to find.
I hope this review helps, feel free to comment with any questions. Have a great day!
Update, i have noticed that for the one i have in the heated tank, there are a lot more bubbles in the back. And the flow did slow down a lot after a week, i solved this simply by moving the cartridge back so its not wedged against the front anymore. I'm more worried about bio filtration than i am debris filtration,debris can be easily picked up other ways. I added more bio pellets to both of them, and water parameters in both tanks are testing normal. So, I'm not switching to any others, for now at least.
update, I am now using the hagen elite mini model, the bio pellets made this one work fine, but warning to buyer, I've now had 2 white cloud minnows and 2 cherry shrimp sucked into the back of the tetra 3i model. If you have aquatic pets that are small enough to fit into the siphon, cover the siphon with something (sponge, empty tea bag or something). The hagen model is quite a lot quieter than the tetra 3i too.
Its a few months later now. The hagen model didn't work out. I'm back to this in one of my tanks, not using the cartridge at all, just filled this filter with biomax bio pellets, and its finally keeping the parameters stable without any difficulty.
Want Tetra Whisper In-Tank Filter 3I, 1 to 3-Gallon Discount?
I actually ended up buying this filter at walmart for more then it sells for on amazon but I needed a filter for a small 2.5 gallon mini bow aquarium my neighbor gave me for a Betta I wanted. In any case this was the only filter I could buy in my area. Even the local pet shops did not have a replacement filter for my small tank, so I ended up with this one. I am really not that happy with it at all. It was noisy at first, but has quieted down a bit with time. The filter inserts are pretty expensive when you account for the fact that you can only get 2 in the pack for about 3 dollars at walmart as well. The filter does keep the tank clean but it takes up too much space in my small tank and is not attractive to my eye. I am replacing this with an azoo mignon 60 power filter sometime this week that I bought from amazon. So in the end this works in a pinch, but I really don't recommend buying it at all if you can find something better.
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I ordered this from OnlinePetDepot. It turns out it's actually Malaysian Driftwood, which I am happy with, not some cheaper driftwood treated somehow so that it would sink like the ad made me fear. It's a pretty nice piece, of course nothing beats choosing the piece yourself but I wasn't sure where to get it around here. Happy with the product.
