Sharkitty

I have an aquaclear 20 at home and at work. The one at work is silent. The one at home, which I bought recently, is quite noisy. Should I take the one at home back? Or is my filter at work just a freak of wonderful not-nature in its quietness? What say you?

aquarist48

Hello Sharkitty. I have an Aqua Clear (AC) 70 so quiet I have to check it to make sure it's running. Also, I have 2 AC 110's same thing. I don't hear a sound. If it's been running a few days and still noisy (I've seen mention of a break in period), and you've checked the impeller then I'd consider taking it back.
Hope you're doing well!
Ken

Sharkitty

Thanks, Ken! It's been running at least a week. I even took it apart and put it back together (not that there are really many parts). Glad to hear that yours are as great as the one I have at work, as that's why I forked over $27 for a 2.5 gallon tank that already had filtration.

aquarist48

Anytime. When I buy new hang on backs (HOB's) I cross my fingers when I plug them in, that I don't hear it. LOL I just unplugged a 10 year old Whisper 5 that just started getting loud. It ran non stop for all of those years. It wasn't really loud but bothersome. I'm using another Whisper on a 29g that came with the tank and it's ok. Not as quiet as the AC though.
Ken

Sharkitty

, I will have to find my receipt to take the thing back to Petsmart. Filters are one of four kinds of items that you must have one for. Fingers crossed that it's still in the plastic bag crumpled up in the drawer and the bag hasn't been used for cat litter yet . . .

aquarist48

LOL Good luck! Hope you find it!
Ken

ccb04

I have an AquaClear 50 that's quiet. I've had a couple of AquaClear 20's that weren't ... and I took them back.

Sometimes, removing the lid can diminish the sound quite a bit ... though most don't want to run it that way. Even with the lid place correctly, it can have an echo effect in some cases. Another thing you can do, is coat the impeller area with a slime coat enhancer like NovAqua+. Simply use a Q-Tip and dip it in the conditioner and then apply to the impeller and housing areas. Also, make sure the impeller stem is straight and that there's no burrs or chips on the impeller blades.

Personally, I've had the most problems with the AquaClear 20's. If I wanted the flow rate of the AC20 (100 GPH & 33 gph with flow control applied), I'd likely buy an AquaClear 30 and install an AquaClear 20 impeller. The AquaClear 20, 30, 50, and 70, all share the same motor. The difference is the size of the impeller. By using the smaller 20 impeller in the 30 ... the impeller would be less likely to contact surrounding surfaces, even if the stem were a little bit off.

As Ken mentioned ... if it continues to be noisy after a few days, take it back.

fishingman001

I purchased a aquaclear 50 and it was noisy. the motor was making a cracking a humming noise so i took it back and now it's silent.