Bill

http://www.tetra-fish.co.uk/tetratec/airpumps.html

It looks good, but I'd like to hear if anyone's had experience with one like this. My Hydor Ario 3 oxygenates the water very well, but it's noisy and clouds the water with tiny bubbles. It was guaranteed no noise and no matter how much I fiddled with it it still makes a loud vibration - I don't think the fish like it much either.

I would get a Whisper 40 air pump, but they're not sold in the UK, and if I ordered one from the US it would need a new plug and a voltage adaptor and GAH... I can't be bothered with all that.

Also, if anyone in the UK has a good, quiet air pump, I'd like to hear from you :P

Thanks

~Bill

Isabella

If the one you want to buy has legs like that: http://www.fish.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=710407+060, then it will be quiet. I have a Tetra Whisper airpump with such legs and it's very quiet. I believe the legs is what absorbs the noise/vibrations from the air pump.

Bill

Thanks Yes, i thought it had s similar shape which is why it's the one I'm considering. I'll have to put up with my curent air pump for the moment though, I can't afford to go another 20 quid in debt

Chief_waterchanger

What do you mean by clouding with bubbles?

Bill

Loads of really tiny bubbles that fill the whole of the tank, rather than just rising up to the surface. It's a bit annoying, especially in the evening when the tank light is the only illumination and it catches the bubbles like when you can see the dust in a room.

Tazmiche

I have been told that they are very good and relatively quiet. I have an Aqua vital for my smaller tank and very powerful and noisey despite the store saying it wasn't so i plan to change to this type also. ( i'm in the UK too)

Bill

Yay, another fish-owner in the UK! I wish we had an equivalent to the Doctors Foster and Smith website, that would make thing so much easier wouldn't it?

armadillo

Our Eheim 100 are REALLY quiet. You should be able to get these in the UK. I think they're about 20 quid.

Tazmiche

Oh Bill if only!!! There are a few uk fish freaks online if you keep your eye out. Timg is fantastic, look him up in the members list if you can and look at his tanks!!! Michelle

Bill

Lol, Tim puts his air pumps in a cupboard :P He has the same as my spare one. I wish I could silence mine!

timg

The air pumps I have are VERY noisy, especially when you turn the power up, and when the 4 of them are all running it's a real pain. I have now built them into a cupboard outside, so that I don't have to listen to them anymore!

But for output, they are fantastic. They are all plumbed together now into 8mm air pipe and supply all the air I need for the 15 tanks in the living room. As I use air for all my filtration, they had to be good, and noise was a secondary consideration from day one. It was only when I put the forth one in that I decided that it was too much and moved them all outside.

timg

But a trick to quieten a pump is to hang it from the power cord, so that the pump doesn't come into contact with anything. It'll run nice and quietly then!

armadillo

We've got some that are hanging mid-air and still making a racket, unfortunately.

Tazmiche

I find my father screaming 'omg, that pump is driving me mad' tends to drown out part of the racket!

armadillo

Well I was under strict orders to sort out my pump situation, as it's driving Thijs mental too. So now I have to buy the more expensive Eheim ones for all my tanks.

timg

can you not buy one decent sized pump instead of several small ones? This is the one I use for my tanks. It can be noisy, but put into a cupboard it's ok. I have 4 of these now, and they vary in noise output a lot. One of them continually rattles, where another one is almost silent, so if you're lucky, you'll get a quiet one. They are about 28 pounds each, which is well worth it for the output they supply.

Cody

i have a whiper for my 20 gal that looks just like that and is very quite

Tazmiche

28 is really good. I only have one tank with one at the mo as the guppies love it. Their old tank had a very gentle filter flow which didn't agitate the water much hence air pump. One of the bettas has the old tank and it is just right for him. However when i set up my next tank i think i will link them, i have a rena that is adjustable and have all the valves and tubing ready.