Why is everything so loud?

[Indytraveler83]

This is mostly a rant, but if anyone has suggestions I'm willing to try anything:

Why is everything in our hobby so loud? Poweheads, filters, skimmers, even lights get insanely loud.

My reef tank runs 2 very small powerheads for circulation, and one medium sized powerhead powers the skimmer. It's in the guest room and most of our guests need earplugs to sleep in there.

My African cichlid tank in our living room runs a pair of hob aquaclear 70's, and they grind like a muted food processor despite pulling all of the tricks I'm aware of to quiet the impellers. And they are only marginally quieter than the marineland filters they replaced that sounded like a broken lawnmower.

Is there any equipment in this hobby that doesn't grind, groan or rattle till it drives you insane? I know sumps offer some quiet options, but neither of my stands accommodate them.

 

[Hemmdog]

I don’t hear anything from my tanks other than water movement. Buy quality brand pumps known for operating at low decibels. Sicce are quiet imo, reef octopus are quiet, tunze are fairly quiet, ecotech wavemakers are silent. Sumps are key though.
I would plan your next build to have a sump for sure, they help a lot with noise, amongst many other benefits.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I don;t know exactly which pumps you are using, but my tanks are all virtually silent other than the occasional sound of water trickling. The only exception is ancient Reef Octopus Protein skimmer (when I run it).

 

[Waters]

I agree with everyone else....I run a sump with skimmer and UV and my tank is pretty silent. HOB filters can add a little noise depending on the model and age.

 

[Redfoxtang]

Agreed with everyone here. I here only water and it’s very minimal with all my tanks. Which is 3 tanks 265, 125, 60.

 

[Indytraveler83]

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.

 

[RapidReefer]

i have a fluval 306 canister for my planted freshwater tank ! i love it its directly in my living room and it dosent make a sound very quite been running for about 2 years! still quiet.

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

My tank is loud but only from the sound of water as my water level is much lower than the output nozzle

 

[S.Pepper]

My tank is basically silent. Running RO Various return pump; RO octo pulse wavemaker; and Bubble Magus skimmer with sicce pump. AI 16Hd LED fan occasionally comes one, but not much of an issue. Quality equipment helps.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Seeing a lot of recommendations on the sicce pumps. My reef tank has a Jebao pump on the skimmer right now. Any specific models work best? If I could replace the Jebao with something silent then the tank would quiet down significantly.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

For your cichlid tank, you should consider an Eheim cannister filter. I've been using them over the last 30 years or so, and they are absolutely silent.

On the skimmer subject, it's not clear whether you're talking about a needle-wheel pump that supplies both air and water to the skimmer body, or a pump that's supplying water to a venturi or an air-stone driven skimmer. The size of a needle-wheel skimmer pump needs to be closely matched to the original pump's capacity. If not, you will have issues trying to tune the skimmer.

 

[Indytraveler83]

For your cichlid tank, you should consider an Eheim cannister filter. I've been using them over the last 30 years or so, and they are absolutely silent.

On the skimmer subject, it's not clear whether you're talking about a needle-wheel pump that supplies both air and water to the skimmer body, or a pump that's supplying water to a venturi or an air-stone driven skimmer. The size of a needle-wheel skimmer pump needs to be closely matched to the original pump's capacity. If not, you will have issues trying to tune the skimmer.

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.

 

[don_chuwish]

The Seachem Tidal HOB filters are silent. I prefer them over the Aquaclear for that and many other reasons.
Loudest thing on my tank is the skimmer - a noticeable low level hum that I think is unavoidable. I've minimized with a silicone pad, which does make a measurable difference, but it is what it is.

 

[Waters]

Well that makes sense since it is an older skimmer. So to answer your question, yes there is a lot of equipment that isn't loud......unfortunately that silence often comes (but not always!) with an elevated price.

 

[motortrendz]

The only thing that's loud on my tank is my skimmer. And it's just a dull droning noise.. you dont realize how loud it is until you turn it off. I have a reef octopus 200 skimmer. One of the reasons I'm moving it down my basement currently is to eliminate that noise in my living room. But my pumps 2 nero5s and the lights 2 hydra 26s and 2 radions are quiet as can be.. I run a bean animal style drain system and have zero noise

 

[Greybeard]

It's in the ear.

I've got friends that can't hear the whine from their MP40's. 'Quiet Drive' my rear end... no way could I have one of those in my living room. Some folks are simply more sensitive to electronic whine or hum. A good friend has an Icecap Gyre in a 93g cube in his bedroom. That thing whining up and down the scale with it's wave pattern... man, no way I could sleep in that room. He doesn't hear it.

I recently went from four Rossmont Mover 1900's to a pair of Mover 4100's. The 1900's were pretty darned quiet, as long as you didn't turn them off... they'll click and bang starting up in the right direction, but once running, I couldn't hear them. Even ramping up and down on the controller (Waver). The 4100's, on the other hand, HUMMMMM. I put a 1/16" sheet of silicone rubber between the pump and the glass... helped, but didn't really fix the problem. Still working on it. Sometimes, a good break in for a month or so and giving them a good cleaning in citric acid can help quiet them down. We'll see. If I cant fix it, I'll put the 4x 1900's back, and get rid of the 2x 4100's.

 

[fish farmer]

I have an old light timer that sounds like a ticking clock.

I run a lot of danner mag drive pumps. Recently upgraded to a Reef Octopus skimmer, that pump is quiet compared to the danner pump.

I actually like some noise. I work at a trout hatchery where there is a constant trickle of water noises....sometimes when I'm alone it sounds like people talking. If I don't hear any noises that means something isn't running...a quiet reef would make me panic.

 

[sharpimage]

You could turn off the skimmer at night. and any noisy stuff just keep the circulation and gas exchange going

 

[Greybeard]

I run a lot of danner mag drive pumps.

I've still got several... pump, white noise generator, and heater all in one :)

Seriously, they click and tick and hum... but the darned things keep on running. I've got a big mag drive pump that I bought to run a Precision Marine Bullet (Beckett Injector type) skimmer, circa 1996. Ran that skimmer for years, until I retired it. Been used for various things since then... was using it as a mixing pump, until I realized that leaving that pump running in a 60g barrel of water overnight, the water temp was getting close to 90f. That's some serious heat output :) Through the summer, I'm using it to pump water from the swimming pool up the water slide, for my grand kids. Still going strong!

 

[stanleo]

The only thing loud on my tank is the water movement through the sump, I can't hear any of the equipment over that. I am hoping to eliminate most of that when I get it plumbed to my planned basement fish room. I think the more expensive the equipment is the quieter it is.