I have 7 tanks set up all with power filters. Half of my power filter is tetra EX. They have been in this line of business for a long time and have been known to be reliable and trust worthy.
Power filter that hang at the back of the tank are design for aquarium of 5 to 80 gallons. For tanks of 10 to 55 gallon I definitely would say power filter is the best type of filter for them. You should get a power filter that is rated twice the size of your tank and may be even up to 3 times if you have a lot of "living things" in your tank. So the EX 30 is perfect for 10 gallon tanks and reasonable for 20 gallon tanks.
Power filter performs three filtration functions, mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. Each type of power filter has its advantage and disadvantages and none is perfect for all three functions. The EX is good in mechanical and chemical filtration and is great for biological filtration. The chemical filtration is great if you use bio bag and added more chemicals inside the bag instead of using the sealed cartridge. The sealed cartridge is more expensive but easier to handle. The bio bag is more time consuming to use but you can add more and different types of chemicals and I think the mechanical filtrations is also better. (The carbon that comes with the bio bag is the same amount as in the seal cartridge and you should add a lot more chemicals to the bio bag and I like the Ammo-Carbon) Another advantage of the bio bag is if you need to remove the carbon for some medication you can just empty the chemical out of the bag and keep the bag for mechanical filtration. If you use the sealed cartridge you have to remove the whole cartridge and lost the mechanical filtration (or replace it with an empty bio bag).
The noise level of the EX is better than most other power filters. The best power filter especially in mechanical filtrations is Aqua Clear. Unfortunately Aqua Clear has one big disadvantage. It will not restart by itself after a power failure. You need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply used by computer system) to make sure if you lost power for a short period of time the Aqua Clear stays working. If you do not have an UPS using Aqua Clear is a big risk and if there is a power failure and you are away for a few days you may lost your whole tank.
I bought 4 other power filters before this one. They either failed within a year and/or were loud and not doing a good job of cleaning the tank. I finally came across this one and it's a keeper. It's really quiet, does a thorough job of filtering the water and keeping it clear, especially if I replace the filter regularly. I use this for an aquatic turtle tank and they are difficult to keep clean but this pump does the job. I used to have to buy a new power filter every 9 or 12 months due to failure but I've had the Whisper EX30 for 2 years now and it's still going strong and still quiet !
6/20/2013: Update: It now has been 4.5 years and this thing is still working like a charm, keeping my turtle tank clean and still quiet. Great value!
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I have 7 tanks set up all with power filters. Half of my power filter is tetra EX. They have been in this line of business for a long time and have been known to be reliable and trust worthy. Power filter that hang at the back of the tank are design for aquarium of 5 to 80 gallons. For tanks of 10 to 55 gallon I definitely would say power filter is the best type of filter for them. You should get a power filter that is rated twice the size of your tank and may be even up to 3 times if you have a lot of "living things" in your tank. So the EX 70 is perfect for 29 gallon tanks and reasonable for 48 gallon tanks. This filter uses 2 cartridges and there are some advantages for using 2. You can clean or replace one at a time and you still have the other one working for you.
Power filter performs three filtration functions, mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. Each type of power filter has its advantage and disadvantages and none is perfect for all three functions. The EX is good in mechanical and chemical filtration and is great for biological filtration. The chemical filtration is great if you use bio bag and added more chemicals inside the bag instead of using the sealed cartridge. The sealed cartridge is more expensive but easier to handle. The bio bag is more time consuming to use but you can add more and different types of chemicals and I think the mechanical filtrations is also better. (The carbon that comes with the bio bag is the same amount as in the seal cartridge and you should add a lot more chemicals to the bio bag and I like the Ammo-Carbon) Another advantage of the bio bag is if you need to remove the carbon for some medication you can just empty the chemical out of the bag and keep the bag for mechanical filtration. If you use the sealed cartridge you have to remove the whole cartridge and lost the mechanical filtration (or replace it with an empty bio bag).
The noise level of the EX is better than most other power filters. The best power filter especially in mechanical filtrations is Aqua Clear. Unfortunately Aqua Clear has one big disadvantage. It will not restart by itself after a power failure. You need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply used by computer system) to make sure if you lost power for a short period of time the Aqua Clear stays working. If you do not have an UPS using Aqua Clear is a big risk and if there is a power failure and you are away for a few days you may lost your whole tank.
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The filter is very quiet and easy to set up the fish tank water was clear the next day.
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I like the high flow. The volume is not as loud as some described. I am very pleased with the price and quality!!! Its not the best filter but it does move a lot of water and seems to be doing what it should, filtering water...lol
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Working just as they said, awesome delivery time, will go back to this vendor if I need any more red sea replacements. only had one issue, not a vendor issue probably a manufacturer issue, the intake tube is a little loose, easy fix, not really a problem but worth mentioning to anyone looking to replace.
