Tetratec Power Filters

Discussion in 'Product Review Archives' started by Matt Rogers, Nov 20, 2002.

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  1. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    These filters are quite a break through in hang on the back power filters. They have a place in them to put the heater - which keeps it out of the tank, and they fill and release water in directional surges making waves and making the filter media more efficient like a wet/dry.

    I am REAL curious about them and might give them a try.

    This is inspite of what I have read online. They are first generation and appear to have some major flaws. They are loud, with gurgling and siphoning noises. They are hard to adjust. If you don't get it just right, the media is either completely dry or wet as the surge won't work. They also have major flood potential as a couple people have found if they get glogged.

    STILL, I see potential. One person even gutted a 500 model and fitted a fiberglass screen and made a ATS filter out of it. He has turf algae now (he put a light over it) and says it works great.

    I, for one, love surge devices and think this may be good on our nano seahorse tank. - WE GOT A 30 HEX TANK WITH STAND FOR $50 THIS PAST WEEKEND!!! - I'M BACK BABY!!  ;D

    Heh, anyway, if you know ANYTHING about this thing, please post here as always.  :thumbsup1:

    [​IMG]
    [sub]Tetratec Power Filter[/sub]

    http://www.tetra-fish.com/tour
     
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  3. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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  4. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Well the filters might not be all that yet, but I give them an 'A' for customer service. Check out my email and the next day response.


     
  5. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    For my little hex tank, I wanted a good hang on the back filter to go with my remora. I wanted something that had good mechanical and biological filtration since I am not putting a lot of rock in the tank.

    Ideally I would have got one of those cool Eheim wet/dry canisters. But I couldn't afford it.

    So I got a Tetratec PF150 with an inline heater. This was a nice option because the heater is in the filter and out of the tank.

    If you didn't read a lot of the posts above, I'll just say it wasn't really that hard to adjust. I followed the instructions. The instructions, by the way, were quite good I thought. Well thought out.

    I agree with one of the reviews above that having the pump mounted on the outside bottom is just strange and makes me think about flooding. But so far so good. I'll keep an eye on it.

    Anyway, these filters are one-of-a-kind with a built in carlson surge! Yep you read that right. Check out the pic below. The coarse sponge sits in the tidal chamber. It gets saturated with water, then the siphon kicks in and it get exposed to air and saturated with oxygen. This cycle is repeated every few seconds.

    [​IMG]

    So you can imagine the efficiency of these filters. Hard to beat I would think for the price. I paid about $50 for the filter and heater online.

    After about 12 hours of operation, all appears well.

    I will say these filters won't be for everybody, they are gurgly. It sounds like I am sitting next to someone bouncing around on a water bed. BUT, you can run it 'wet' by adjusting the siphon control, effectively turning off the surge. Then it is completely silent. So if it's in your bedroom, that might be a ritual before you go to sleep.

    The surge, even on this - the smallest model, is pretty impressive and causes some nice random turbulance.

    All in all I like this little filter, it packs a punch and is the only hang on the back filter with a surge that you can find. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
     
  6. Wrassman

    Wrassman Peppermint Shrimp

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    [glow=Red, 1, 90%]Great review, Matt!! I might be interested in one of those when I finally get my 37g FOWLR set back up. I like the built-in surge device, and the enclosed heater.[/glow]

    Pretty nifty!! On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, I give it a 8.5 (without seeing one yet)... ;D ;D
     
  7. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Yeah it's pretty cool!
    Other than the noise, the only other thing that people should know about is it puts a lot of bubbles in the tank with the surge. Most of the time, this is not a big deal, but since I am planning on putting sea horses in there, I will have to adjust the surge or turn it off completely or I will be burping my horses a lot.
     
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  9. Craig Manoukian

    Craig Manoukian Giant Squid

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    Which model of Aqua Clear HOB filters would this best compare 150, 200, 300, or 500?

    Thanks!


    :) ;) :D 8)
     
  10. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Hard to say. The PF150 model I am using is rated for tanks up to 30 gallons, does that help?
     
  11. Craig Manoukian

    Craig Manoukian Giant Squid

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    That's equal to the Aqua Clear 150. I have an AC 200 on my 29 gallon.
     
  12. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Ah. The numbers are the same. Maybe that stands for liters.