Why is everything so loud?

[Dkeller_nc]

Ah, thanks for asking that. It's a needle wheel pump for an older bak-pak skimmer. The skimmer itself works really well and is insanely easy to dial in. I got it free with a bad pump on it, and bought the pump that was as close as it gets to the factory replacement. I'm using the pill bottle muffler to silence the air intake, but the thing sends vibration from the motor all the way up through the skimmer body.

The sicce skimmer pumps are very quiet compared to the reef octopus skimmers I have (that use the "aquatrance" pump). At present, I have one Sicce skimmer pump in a bubble magus body (these were sold under the "Seaside Aquatics" name, and you can still get them on Amazon). It is very close to silent, but does emit a very low volume level hum that I can notice over other tank noise when I turn it off.

However, part of this is because it's immersed up to the neck in water in the sump.

Bottom line - all AC pumps will emit some degree of hum because it's the nature of the mechanics of the pump design. Correctly-designed DC pumps are very close to completely silent, but as others noted, there's a price premium on them because of the electronics needed to convert AC to DC and to permit speed control.

Were I in your situation, and the noise is loud enough to be really irritating, I'd install a sump on the tank, and get a new/used skimmer with a Sicce AC pump. A sump need not be fancy or expensive - I've several that are made of cheap, Petco dollar-a-gallon tanks. A bigger challenge would be if your tank doesn't have an overflow. While the reliability of HOB overflows have gotten a whole lot better than they used to be, they still have risks that drilled tanks don't. And, by the time you purchase and install a quality HOB overflow, it's almost worth it from a financial standpoint to simply get a new marineland tank from Petco with overflows already installed (or get a good used marineland off of craig's list - they show up all the time).

 

[Indytraveler83]

The sicce skimmer pumps are very quiet compared to the reef octopus skimmers I have (that use the "aquatrance" pump). At present, I have one Sicce skimmer pump in a bubble magus body (these were sold under the "Seaside Aquatics" name, and you can still get them on Amazon). It is very close to silent, but does emit a very low volume level hum that I can notice over other tank noise when I turn it off.

However, part of this is because it's immersed up to the neck in water in the sump.

Bottom line - all AC pumps will emit some degree of hum because it's the nature of the mechanics of the pump design. Correctly-designed DC pumps are very close to completely silent, but as others noted, there's a price premium on them because of the electronics needed to convert AC to DC and to permit speed control.

Were I in your situation, and the noise is loud enough to be really irritating, I'd install a sump on the tank, and get a new/used skimmer with a Sicce AC pump. A sump need not be fancy or expensive - I've several that are made of cheap, Petco dollar-a-gallon tanks. A bigger challenge would be if your tank doesn't have an overflow. While the reliability of HOB overflows have gotten a whole lot better than they used to be, they still have risks that drilled tanks don't. And, by the time you purchase and install a quality HOB overflow, it's almost worth it from a financial standpoint to simply get a new marineland tank from Petco with overflows already installed (or get a good used marineland off of craig's list - they show up all the time).

Lol. I've been down that thought process too. And again, cost is the biggest concern here. It's a 54 corner with no overflows, and while I'd do things different if I started from scratch, I've got neither the money or interest in starting this system over. Because of the size/design of the stand, and the lack of overflow, a sump is both cost prohibitive and would be far too small be worth it. For at least the next few years, I'm stuck with the tank ive got.

My best bet seems to be to find a sicce pump to replace the factory style pump on there.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Well for anyone who wants an update:

The Penn Plax Cascade was garbage. Right off the bat I was unhappy unpacking it, the spraybar was cracked and parts were all over the box.

It was insanely hard to prime, and I found out why: The seal on the top of it was entirely ineffective and the filter was sucking air. Once it filled up enough to get to the seal, it started gushing water. After looking it up online, Penn Plax is sealing the motor housing to the plastic body with one small rubber seal, and the plastic housing is frequently manufactured uneven, giving it a complete inability to seal.

Reccomendatuons are to sand down the body to be even, thus creating a seal... Um....

Listen... I know sumps are awesome. But they are expensive and require systems I don't have. It simply shouldn't be so hard to find powerheads and filters that aren't broken or stupid for under $200.

On to Eheim... Maybe? Amazon is gonna hate me. I will cycle though stuff till I find the right equipment...

 

[Indytraveler83]

For those of you still following my ranting at home here's a summary:

Marineland HOB- quiet at first, but the impellers eventually start bouncing around.
Aquaclear 70s- rattleboxes, thin plastic amplifies any vibrations in the motor.
Penn Plax cascade- air leak caused it to mildly leak and suck air like crazy
Marineland 360 canister- couldn't be bothered to include main gasket in the package, leaked all over as soon as it was primed.

After a Saturday of frustration the winner is:

Fluval FX6- emits a low hum like a fridge, as a bonus is a monster of a filter for a tank that probably needs it. Also, got it on sale for $200.


Next project- a powerhead for a skimmer. Here's looking to you Sicce products...

 

[lpsouth1978]

For those of you still following my ranting at home here's a summary:

Marineland HOB- quiet at first, but the impellers eventually start bouncing around.
Aquaclear 70s- rattleboxes, thin plastic amplifies any vibrations in the motor.
Penn Plax cascade- air leak caused it to mildly leak and suck air like crazy
Marineland 360 canister- couldn't be bothered to include main gasket in the package, leaked all over as soon as it was primed.

After a Saturday of frustration the winner is:

Fluval FX6- emits a low hum like a fridge, as a bonus is a monster of a filter for a tank that probably needs it. Also, got it on sale for $200.


Next project- a powerhead for a skimmer. Here's looking to you Sicce products...

An FX6 on a 54g tank? Holy smokes, that is overkill to the nth degree. A Fluval 306 or 406, or even the FX4 would be a better match. The FX6 is a beast meant for MUCH larger systems. I guess if you can reduce the flow enough without causing damage it will work well.

 

[Indytraveler83]

An FX6 on a 54g tank? Holy smokes, that is overkill to the nth degree. A Fluval 306 or 406, or even the FX4 would be a better match. The FX6 is a beast meant for MUCH larger systems. I guess if you can reduce the flow enough without causing damage it will work well.

The fx6 is on my 55 gal cichlid tank. It's crazy overkill, but the cichlids can handle the flow (and are dirty fish...)

 

[samnaz]

I have a four year old ac70 on my tank and it’s virtually silent unless I forget to top off for a day and even then it’s just water trickling. Maybe you got a couple lemons?

Not to mention I have never even cleaned it.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I have a four year old ac70 on my tank and it’s virtually silent unless I forget to top off for a day and even then it’s just water trickling. Maybe you got a couple lemons?

Not to mention I have never even cleaned it.

On those I was reading it is increasingly common to get filters with bad motors. Even when they did run, I'd guess they'd have been lucky to push 100 gph

I'm not really sure how I've managed to blow through so many filters that are all rated so well, and to get so many bad ones at once.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Cheap is loud. No to ways around it.

Unless you are talking about the latest jebao pumps, seriously so quiet you have to out your hand on it to know it's running.

You want loud? Step into my fish room with two hammerheads running. Lol

 

[Ranjib]

I know that sumps are very quiet option. And I also know the people around here love them for many very good reasons. but I also think there has to be some equipment for those of us who cannot afford them or make space for them that doesn't sound like a food processor attached to the tank.

For my cichlid tank I'm next going to try a Penn plax canister, as I've seen them rated as some of the most silent canister filters that don't cost an arm and a leg.

For my reef tank, I was experimenting this morning and found that my wavemakers are barely noticeable, so I either need a single quiet powerhead to power the skimmer, or to replace it with something (like a canister) that's more quiet overall.

I run since syncra for return, mp10 for power head and aquamaxx 1.5 hob skimmer. No sump. All equipment are fairly quiet.

 

[ReefRondo]

Have to agree that Ecotech pumps are not silent. I’ve tried everything as mine are in my office but still either a whine or small vibration. Quietest I’ve ever had though so not complaining. Also the new ‘silent’ gyres from Maxspect are far from it too. I ran the new Eheim digital external filter on my frag tank for a month or so and it was near silent. Great filter.

 

[hubcap]

I went to too many AC/DC, Slayer, and Iron Maiden concerts, so, everything just sounds like tinnitus to me. ;Singing

Joking aside, its nice to see what others are recommending for "low" noise.
Im still new to the game and Im after low noise equipment, too.
We're uprooting to the sunshine state so basements/remote sumps aren't an option for me.

 

[Indytraveler83]

I went to too many AC/DC, Slayer, and Iron Maiden concerts, so, everything just sounds like tinnitus to me. ;Singing

Joking aside, its nice to see what others are recommending for "low" noise.
Im still new to the game and Im after low noise equipment, too.
We're uprooting to the sunshine state so basements/remote sumps aren't an option for me.

I wish it's something I would have better considered when I set my systems up. I'll never buy another system without an overflow, The next one will have a sump in the stand. Both systems I have now we're purchased due to up front cost and design. That's resulted in a lot of equipment changes to accommodate needs they likely weren't meant to handle. I've probably spent more than if I'd just done it the right way to start.

 

[hubcap]

You hear that, a lot, in this forum, @Indytraveler83 :

Spend the extra, up front, as opposed to just getting there cheaply....9/10 of the time you'll be scrapping/selling the stuff you initially bought in order to buy a better quality/performer.

Kind of why its taking me so long to get all the stuff together.
Doing this while trying to sell a house isn't as simple as one makes you think. :)

 

[vetteguy53081]

3 tanks and all quiet. The only noise generally are protein skimmers.

 

[Indytraveler83]

You hear that, a lot, in this forum, @Indytraveler83 :

Spend the extra, up front, as opposed to just getting there cheaply....9/10 of the time you'll be scrapping/selling the stuff you initially bought in order to buy a better quality/performer.

Kind of why its taking me so long to get all the stuff together.
Doing this while trying to sell a house isn't as simple as one makes you think. :)

Totally get it. I wish I would have known what I know now when I set stuff up. It's also just really hard, because not only do I not have the money to totally reset, but I also have a stable, low nutrient system that I'm not interested in disrupting.

 

[Acan_Fan]

I enjoy the moving water noises. The only time I hear anything else is when its ready for a cleaning. Hope you find something that makes it better for ya!

 

[Indytraveler83]

I enjoy the moving water noises. The only time I hear anything else is when its ready for a cleaning. Hope you find something that makes it better for ya!

In the living room the FX6 on my cichlid tank is a godsend. It's been running for almost 24 hrs, and has gotten almost entirely silent.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

That was partly why I mentioned Fluval/Eheim for cannister filters. I own 6 of them, purchased as far back as 20 years ago and as recently as 2 years ago. All are silent, and none have given me any issues.

 

[Indytraveler83]

That was partly why I mentioned Fluval/Eheim for cannister filters. I own 6 of them, purchased as far back as 20 years ago and as recently as 2 years ago. All are silent, and none have given me any issues.

And I appreciate it. The cichlid tank is far better now. The reef tank I'm more hesitant to make any changes, and the Jebao pump cycles between loud and fairly quiet.