# DIY media for Whisper overflows



## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Hi--
I was able to pick up a whole box of whisper/top fin overflows for $5 at a yard sale. I hate the filters for these, the BioBags. I wondered if there was a way to stack carbon and/or zeolite and sponge or floss in them (preferably sponge) so that I could have more carbon and better filtration. I notice some of the newer overflows do it. Any ideas? I've got my tanks scattered throughout my house due to space issues and can't really do a large scale filtration thing.

There must be a better way...


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Not sure if you are talking overflows or maybe HOB powerfilters like my whisper 60's. If you are, check out the Library's Power Filter "Tricks" found *HERE*
I removed the original charcoal pouch from the plastic framework and used the blue backed filter media wrapped around the frame. Then packed 4 small Pot scrubbies in the open compartment after that. Adding an air line and airstone to that as directed in the reading for other brands would finish the project :wink:


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

Can you post a pic?


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Sure...


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

Hoosier,
Looks cool. I have the same Whisper and may give this a try. Are you running the airline underneath the sponges?

gacichlids,
Do you have any pics of the the items you picked up for $5? Are they the same as this pic of Hoosiers?


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

I will try to get a picture. They are the HOB clear filters with two chambers on either side. What I've tried so far is to place the recloseable mesh bags of zeolite in the bottom of the two sides and then coarse sponge square prefilter type sponge to fill the rest of the chamber on either side. My goal is to have more zeolite or carbon or maybe a mix and then have the sponge be the biological part of the filter. The water seems to be seeping up around the sides of the sponge. Is that adequate? I have no additional air going in to the filter at this time. The closest type filter to these are the aqua clear. I don't like the cartridges at all and just want to stuff the filter, but don't know if it's working. I have some cloudiness now but the fish are doing okay and I have the old cartridges with the biological material on them to put back in if the fish seem stressed. I forgot to rinse the zeolite.

Do you think this will work? is there something else I can do, like add a plate for the media to set on or some other thing? Do I need to have a minimum amount of water in the pump at all times, I mean, in filling the compartments up with bagged zeolite and sponge, I'm displacing more water than with the skinny biobags? Is it okay for the water to be running up along the sides of the stacked media, trying to make it work like an overhead stackable filter while hanging on back? Is this possible? Would the current setup I described work as well as biobags at least? Thanks for any help.

Picture is at (you need to scroll down, it's just the whisper power filter 60 and topfin is the same, just clear housing instead of black, takes same cartridges, they both hang on back)
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/plantedtkssu ... Index.html

Any thoughts on how to do a stackable thing would be great. Maybe if I set media on a plate , siliconed it inside and drilled holes in the right places to control how the water seeps through? I also have plenty of blue rubber floaty bubble hose I can work with too.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Yep same, even with the little knob to redirect the water. I can't see where the airhose is.
I'm trying something different. Do you think it will work?


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Yea I know, you cant see the air hose, sorry.  I had to take it and the airstones out for my fry tank sponge filter when their air pump quit. It's the smallest double outlet airpump Walmart sells and each line just runs down the sides of the individual chambers through a small hole in the lid to the airstone under the pot-scrubbies. Simply more oxygen for the Bacteria.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Do you think simply doing away with the cartridges and stacking media inside would work, like in the old time box filters with the carbon and floss? It's sort of like what they do in that article with the Cascade 300 except im putting bagged zeolite on the bottom. I'm trying to do away with the whisper cartridges altogether and fill the rest of the filter with hard sponge--or scrubbies (hadn't thought of that and already bought the sponge.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

So far so good, three days and my ammonia is 0ppm and the sponges are being inhabited nicely and the bags of zeolite and carbon are getting growth as well. I also have a 48" bubbled screen powered by a strong pump in the tank, so that might be doing most of the work! The water seems to be flowing up and around the sponge material on all sides. I think if I do my other tanks, I will use scrubbies. Much cheaper and probably better flow, traps better. I'm wondering if putting a piece of this blue bubble hose under the gravel in the filter would improve it. My fish keep tearing up the bubble screen (held down by these blue rock weights) and rearranging it.


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Sounds good, I never thought about stacking it. Yes most Benny Bac. does better with a little air, similar to a miniature wet / dry. 
Thanks for the feed-back.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm not convinced that there is any benefit to any filter media over a coarse sponge. I've got a smaller whisper powerfilter with just one basket and I don't use any floss or biomedia. I cut a piece of foam to cover the intake as a prefilter and I've got a sponge that fits in the whisper basket, I bought it probably 10 years ago as it was marketed to stabilize bio-filtration since you don't have to change it when you change the bio bags. I ran out of bio bags and got tired of replacing my DIY bio bags made from polyfill so I just took out the floss all together. Since then I've actually started thinking the whisper filters aren't so bad.

With the prefilter sponge and the sponge in the basket my water is just as clean and clear as it was with the other filter media. I like my AC filters a little better because I never get water flowing backward through the filter like the Whisper filters do when they get clogged, but I've pretty much eliminated that by just using sponges in the whisper.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Thanks Hoosier, Kornflake,

Thanks, Hoosier, with your expertise and Kornflake's comment I feel better that this may work. I bought some sponge for a fancy new stackable filter that were cut just right for the whisper (I threw away the box but got three big chunks for $5 (it was one of the three stages of the stackable media--the biological so it's like prefilter sponge but white) at Petsmart, bought the pre-bagged zeolite which happens to fit just perfect in one side and got a reopenable bag and put carbon in that which fits on the other side. I have the carbon and zeolite on the bottom and the sponges wedged across the top with the tops just out of the water and the water is flowing through the sponge, which is great. I had them turned the other way but wasn't catching the sediment. Need to get the prefilter sponge for the intake too. I think you are right about the sponge, Kornflake, there is so little carbon in the new filter cartridges I can't see that it would have much effect . I have well water with naturally high ammonia so I just want to be sure that it is neutralized. Eventually, when the sponges are good, I will probably skip the carbon except for medicine removal. If this keeps working, I want to convert all of mine and stop buying those expensive cartridges (they get expensive when you have a bunch of tanks!). I'll rig up something with that bubble hose under the carbon and zeolite and hopefully will be set! Thanks again!


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## partsrep (Mar 14, 2005)

Your well water has ammonia! :-?


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Yeah, it's within what is considered "normal" these days, which is .25 ppm, the lowest amount on the test card, but my fish sure didn't like it. Now I have to use amquel when I do water changes. I have a really deep well (over 200 feet with 180 feet of casing), but apparently not deep enough. I have found out that what is normal for city water and well water supplies can be a real health hazard to anyone with any kind of chronic illness, like liver or kidney problems. I have started drinking distilled water.

The Associated Press released an article about pollution of the city and rural water supplies by pharmaceutical drugs that apparently are not removed by waste treatment centers. So far, every water supply tested has shown abnormal levels of various types of pharmaceuticals, like Estrogen, blood pressure medicines, narcotics, and psychiatric drugs. These substances have long lives and there has been no research done on what long term use would do to us.

Here I live near the ocean and 2 miles from a brackish river. My property is low. I've been told that the ammonia comes from decomposing compost and peat, acid rain, and ground water contaminated from landfills and farm chemicals seeping down into the watershed. I guess maybe it could be naturally occuring due to the composition of the soil there, I don't know. We have lots of titanium. It was recommended that I get an aerator, but with the drug thing, I think distilled is the best way to go. if anyone is interested in the article, I can get it for you.


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## partsrep (Mar 14, 2005)

Wow, that's interesting but it makes sense. Makes a good argument for a RO/DI filter for the whole family including the fish.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Yeah, I'm not sure that RO would get rid of pharmaceuticals, but distillation should, provided the distillation facility is clean. The funny thing is that like in urban places like New York, the levels of psychiatric drugs is very high, and they don't know what the combinations of low levels of these drugs do to you.

Here's the story, it even talks about the feminization of fish, there may be more info elsewhere:
ABC--Drugs in drinking water
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?secti ... id=6009953


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## partsrep (Mar 14, 2005)

Are you talking to me or are those just voices in my head? :?


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Why not have a nice glass of tap water and think about it? :wink:


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Tank is clearer than ever, guess it's working well. The bagged charcoal and zeolite have grownth on them and the sponges do as well. My tank has never been clearer. I'm so happy. Now I can say goodbye to those stupid biobags and cartridges forever! The pump even flows better with the sponge. So glad it worked!


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## Jerseyfish (Apr 16, 2008)

Thats a pretty awesome idea to get rid of the biobags on my whisper. Do you happen to recall which sponges you bought that fit so well? I'd like to try something similar, since I feel like I'm getting no where with the biobags for filtration; they seem to collect more garbage then bacteria.

Also gacichlids, did you throw an airline in there too, as Hoosier did? Or did you go without one?


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

I didn't put an airline in but I have a 48" bubblescreen that blows tiny bubble up across the back of my tank and aerates the water really well and some do get sucked into the filter. the sponges where in an orange box and were part of an expensive stackable media filtration system. They were off-white and coarse and if I saw the box again I'd remember. I gto them at petsmart, three for around 5-6 dollars. I also got the reloadable media bags there, although I had one non-reloadable bag of zeolite. The reloadable ones are nice because then all you need to buy is bulk carbon or zeolite. It's working really really well. If you don't put an airhose in, I would put some kind of aeration in your tank. I have found that fish tend to breed easier and tanks don't need as many water changes with lots of aeration. You can easily fit airline tubing down the slots of the filter lid , if it is slotted, or drill a hole. I like the bubble screens, they are like ten or twelve bucks for a full length one and walmart has had good sales on large pumps and I don't have to worry if a tank gets a little too crowded or something.

I will try to look on the petsmart site to see if I can find the sponges and then I will post again, if I can find them. I just eyeballed it.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

They look like the Hagan aqua-clear but I got a three pack and I was pretty sure it was in an orange box, but I could be wrong. Memory not what it used to be and the box got thrown out pretty fast. I have to go there tomorrow, so I will get some more and let you know, but check out the aquaclear, I can measure the dimensions of mine for you too, so if you have to cut it, you have an idea of a good size or you can match up another.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

> tanks don't need as many water changes with lots of aeration


are you sure about this?what are your reasons that lead to this conclusion?lots of aeration leads to evaporation.so are you just replacing what has evaporated?


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

I have pretty tight lids for one and evaporation isn't of concern to me, since my water stays in balance despite evaporation. Actually, I recently found that my ramphochromis bred just before my water change, when the water was the lowest, and I suspect that has to do with my substrate as well. There is more than one aspect to putting together a successful low maintenance tank, if you want one. I do. Some people prefer their tanks to look a certain way or be setup like the natural environment which is really nice. Sometimes this takes more maintenance. I bed with crushed coral, which buffers my tanks and I don't have to use buffer, ever. For the fish I keep it works well. I occasionally add salt, but only if I remove a lot of water. In nature, water changes based on weather, the amount of rain, etc. My fish outside experience drastic changes in water composition. Fish seem to adapt, even to aquariums.

I'm saying that oxygenation assists in the breakdown of ammonia, which is why they recommended an aerated tank for people with wells in my area. Why would anyone bother to aerate a filter if it didn't help? I do one third of full tank changes. If water has evaporated, it is replaced then. I can change every third week instead of every other week or even every week in some cases with more oxygen. I use bubble screens so I am supplying a lot more oxygen than say a small stone, so even if the water becomes more concentrated, to some extent the ratio of benificial bacteria also becomes greater. BTW, most of my evaporatioin comes from my HOB filters.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Still working really well, tank very clear and ammonia negative, fish stress free. The sponge actually is cleaning the water better from any debris and there is less pressure on the pump due to the backup from easily clogged whisper cartridges. The sponge is well infused with beneficial bacteria and I've got five times the carbon (and zeolite) than in the whisper cartridges. Also, great solution because the tank is the lower tank in a 55 metal stand and reaching in there and pulling out inflexible whisper cartridges is pretty messy and involves some contortion. The flexibility of the sponge helps in this regard. I actually like the whisper filter now that I don't use the cartridges.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Just an update. My ramphochromis have successfully bred in the tank with the new filter media still unchanged, even unrinsed. Works great, tank clear. Am converting all my whisper and penguin hang on backs.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

Now that you've got fry in the tank you should put a sponge on the intake tube to give a little more filtration capacity and keep the fry from getting sucked up into the filter. I've got sponges on the intakes of my tanks (the ones with breeding Endlers) they catch a lot of garbage and it makes seeding new tanks a breeze, just swap the sponge from the established tank into a new tank and you've got two cycled tanks for the price of one. A chunk of foam stuck on the intake of the filter looks a little hokey, but it has so many benefits that I can get over it.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

Thanks! Yeah, I do that on my fry tank. My ramphs keep swallowing their eggs so I had to strip and bubble. I'm not thrilled with the bubbler I got from Wet Thumb as I had some eggs get stuck on the top edge of the rounded vented bottom plate where the eggs tumble. I hope it works for them. On my krib tanks I have sponge, but they have narrow intakes. What do you do for that if you can't get a right size prefilter sponge? Any ideas?


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

I just bought an AC110 sponge and cut it into squares with a sharp knife, then I cut a slit on one side 3/4 of the way through. I slide the slit in the sponge over the intake. If you've got a small intake you only need a small slit, the larger the intake the larger the slit needed.


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## gacichlids (Sep 19, 2007)

So I don't need to worry about creating a round center hole, that's good. Well, I"m off to the pet store to pick up another farlowella and some more media bags and sponges. I haven't had to clean algae at all with the farlowella and he has even been safe in my nursery tanks. Actually someone here posted that the farlowella cleans so well that he can die of starvation. I just plop him into another tank. He does a much better job than even you or I could do. If you havent tried one, they are about 4 bucks and really neat looking, long pencil thin, with a pleco like mouth and really mellow temperment. I don't have to use a net to catch him, I just pick him up. I can't believe I don't have to scrape algae or use algae cide or something. He even does the brown algae, silicone, rocks, gravel, filter intake and thermomether, everything is spotless. Just thought I'd pass it along. I have eight tanks and circulate one pencil thin 4" farlowella through them all and he is so still that my most agressive fish don't pick on him. He acts like a stick. 
Thanks for all your help.


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