This will be written by me but with my 6 year old daughter narrating. She's absolutely fascinated with our 20-gallon tank and she does a great job of helping maintain it.

Well, I was feeding the fish today and there was no water moving at the top. I yelled for my Mom and she tried unplugging it from the wall and then plugging it back in. Nothing happened. I think Mom got worried about our fishes because she made us get in the car really quick and go to the pet store.

Mom said that she didn't want the Top Fin brand again because it was too noisy. She asked a guy at the pet store which kind was quiet and did a good job. I was getting scared that our fish might be dead when we get home.

The guy at the store told Mom that Whisper power filters were a good kind to get because they were really super-duper quiet. Mom asked if it was hard to put it together. I think she wanted to know because Dad wouldn't be home until late at dark and he usually does this kind of stuff. The guy told her it was very easy and he even pulled all the parts out. He made a big mess in the store.

Mom will have to tell you more about the filter thing because I don't know all the words. I'll catch up in a minute...

This is Mom talking: She's right. The guy at the store was very helpful and suggested the Whisper Power Filter. He said it was a Tetra product which is a widely known name. I use that brand for my fish food.

The unit itself hangs off the back of the tank, mine's in the corner. The directions that came with the box were very detailed yet simple enough that anyone could figure them out. There was some simple assembly as far as getting pieces put together and all, and then getting the Bio-Bag, which contains the carbon, properly installed. Total set-up time was no more than 10 minutes at most.

Whisper has 3 main points that they make on their product:

~Mechanical Filtration: The Bio-Bag Filter Cartridge is made of a thick, high quality floss which traps debris. The bag is white in color and measures approximately 4" x 6". Before installing this bag into the filter you must rinse it under running water to eliminate the carbon dust. This only takes a couple of seconds.

~Chemical Filtration: The Bio-Bag is filled with Ultra-activated Carbon which removes dissolved contaminants, noxious odors and discoloration, as well as, hundreds of other chemicals such as chlorine, insecticides and detergents. Now, I don't know about you, but I have never used any detergents or insecticides in my fish tank. I realize that chlorine is there naturally from the water that you use to fill the tank with. Be sure to treat your water for all chemicals, chlorine, ammonia and anything else that may harm your finned friends.

~Biological Filtration: Aerobic biological filtration converts toxic ammonia and nitrates into harmless nitrates.

Ok, now back to my daughter:

Mom says that we have to keep a good watch on the mesh bag thing because it gets dirty really fast. It holds all the fish poop and other yucky stuff. I'm supposed to watch when feeding the fishes to see if water is coming out of the place where the air tube goes up. Mom says it should only come out of the left side and not the right side. If it comes out the wrong side then I tell Mom and she pulls the bag out and rinses it in the sink. I have to get the trash can for her because it drips really bad and we don't want fish poop on the carpet. We run the water over the bag for a long time and then Mom puts it back in the box on the back of the fish tank.

I can't think of anything else so that's all.

This is Mom again...I just want to comment that Whisper has done an excellent job in making a product that really is whisper quiet. And it still gets the job done. One of the best parts is that I only paid $19.99 for this 20-gallon unit and it's got a full 2-year warranty!

When she mentioned above about cleaning the Bio-Bag I wanted to note that I do this about once a month. My tank has 6 fish in it (2 being bottom-feeders) so there isn't an overabundance of "junk". The guy at the pet store told me that if we took care of the bag and rinsed it often it could possibly last up to a year. I'm not so sure I believe this and I plan to replace it at least every 3 months.

I also want to mention that if you are treating your tank with any medication or other chemicals you will need to remove the Bio-Bag from the filtration device. With the carbon that's in it, it will remove those chemicals or medication before it gets the chance to do its job.

For more information about this product or any other from Tetra you can visit: www.tetra-fish.com

Recommended: Yes