Cannot stand noise coming from AquaClear 110

The amount of excessive noise coming from my AquaClear 110 filter on my 75g tank is unbearable. I can hardly stand to be in the room with it because of the consistent humming/rattling noise that comes from it. I've tried everything - leveling device, Vaseline on the impeller, completely cleaned it out multiple times... I cannot figure out how to reduce the noise. Here's a video of the noise I'm getting:
I bought it within the past year in the hopes it'd be quieter than an older Marineland 350. It started off quieter, but overtime has become noisy. I'm at my breaking point with HOBs and am considering an internal filter, like the one I have on my 20g.

Does anyone have any suggestions/tips for reducing this noise or going with an alternate solution? I'm moving to a new house within the month, so I think I want to ride out this filter and figure out what to do with it in it's new setup.

 

Check the impeller housing. Might be that

 

That sounds awful! I don't blame you. I have the same filter and it is definitely way louder than the AC70 I have on my other tank, but yours is too much I agree. Is it possibly still under warranty? Might be worth contacting Fluval...maybe you got a dud?
I, too, am about to ditch it and I'm looking into canisters myself.

 

I will take both of yours if you ditch them.

 

Check the impeller housing. Might be that

Are you reffering to the cover that sits in the filter on top of the motor?

That sounds awful! I don't blame you. I have the same filter and it is definitely way louder than the AC70 I have on my other tank, but yours is too much I agree. Is it possibly still under warranty? Might be worth contacting Fluval...maybe you got a dud?
I, too, am about to ditch it and I'm looking into canisters myself.

It's terrible. It's definitely under warranty, but I'll have to find receipts... I reached out to them again today. I reached out to them previously and they were responsive and mentioned they might be able to send out a new motor or impeller. I'm hoping that's still the case.

 

The spinning thing

 

Make sure the back lip of the lid hangs over the back of the filter box. Make sure the intake tube is firmly seated & move flow arm to the far left.
Don't clean or lube the impeller. Allow it to gunk up with bio goo. Sometimes that takes several weeks.
Once you master all the quirks, the 110's are great filters. I have two running on my 120 gal.

 

The spinning thing

Oh, the green fan-looking thing that has blades on it that the actual impeller spins? When I just took it apart this morning it seemed to be fine and functioning. Is there something I should specifically check with it? Is that small part something I can replace?

 

If the impeller is not bent and is intact, the problem lies somewhere else.

 

Is this on. mines makes noises when it falls off

 

Make sure the back lip of the lid hangs over the back of the filter box. Make sure the intake tube is firmly seated & move flow arm to the far left.
Don't clean or lube the impeller. Allow it to gunk up with bio goo. Sometimes that takes several weeks.
Once you master all the quirks, the 110's are great filters. I have two running on my 120 gal.

Just checked on these things and they are in place properly... I won't lube the impeller again and see if that helps down the line since I can't do anything until I move anyway. I really do like the efficiency of this filter, the noise has just reached a boiling point with me.

Is this on. mines makes noises when it falls offView attachment 692374

You mean the leveling device on the bottom that touches the tank? Yes, I have that in-tact and it's leveled the filter out.

If the impeller is not bent and is intact, the problem lies somewhere else.

I think it lies somewhere else... I haven't been able to completely remove the impeller shaft from the motor, but it certainly isn't bent or dinged-up.

 

My guess is the intake tube is off just a little. Mine occassionally goes a little wacky and I have to push down the flow arm & adjust it one way or another.

 

My guess is the intake tube is off just a little. Mine occassionally goes a little wacky and I have to push down the flow arm & adjust it one way or another.

I've noticed adjusting it slightly can help. I can't find any which way I move it that impacts sound though. I think a lot of this sound is coming from the impeller/motor area... I'm taking apart again to took further into the motor and shaft areas.

 

Maybe it needs a break

 

Don't clean or lube the impeller. Allow it to gunk up with bio goo. Sometimes that takes several weeks.

I found this to be true for my Aquaclear 70. However, it did not become as quiet as my Tidal 55. I also have two Aqueon QuietFlow 30’s. They are both quieter than the Aquaclear, but one is quieter than the other and both are noisier than the Tidal.

I had a Marineland Penguin biowheel 100. It was quiet but died after two months.

I bought my Aquaclear used. I do not know how old it is. So perhaps not fair to compare it to my new Tidal. We will see if my Tidal stays quiet long term. For now, I am very pleased with it.

 

I had a Seachem Tidal sound like that out of the box before too. I ended up returning it but I suspected it was a bad pump.


Definitely pursue a replacement. It’s not super old show it shouldn’t deviate much from how it sounded from day one.

 

UPDATE: I ordered a replacement impeller shaft on Amazon for $12 and installed it this morning. It's now extremely quiet once again.

My filter and tank are pretty level and I'm using the leveling device, so I'm not sure why the impeller shaft was worn. Nonetheless, that fixed the problem!

 

Mine had the same problem and I ended up trading it in and buying another marineland biowheel 350. I have 3 of them going, 1 has been running for almost a decade with no problems. I'll never understand why people prefer the aquaclear.

 

I have two aquaclears on my 75.
I think you just got a lemon.

I love them; I use a 70 and a 110 on opposing sides.
Huge media tray and excellent flow.

I would be annoyed by anything more than water trickle as well.
Hope you find a cure !!
Good luck.

 

BolognaBopper , very good news to hear the new shaft helped.

A few months ago I replaced the impeller shaft on our AC110. I dont think the noise was as bad as yours judging from the video clip, but it was close. Mine had run for over 2 years in a 75g with pool filter sand, although it did have a pre-filter on the intake tube that helped catch most sand that tried to get sucked in.

New shaft made it run silent and like brand new again, although about 2 months later mine started to make a small hint of noise, then most of it went away after cleaning it and making sure everything fit back in place properly.

Next on the aquarium supply order list is a new impeller for it. I wanted to replace the shaft and the impeller at same time but it was out of stock at the Ken's Fish website when I bought the shaft and some other items from there.

I googled some images for Aquaclear shafts before I ordered a new one and saw many with worse wear patterns than mine.

Did your original impeller shaft have any noticeable wear patterns on it when compared to the replacement?

 

Just saying, my marinelands have needed legit zero work to stay quiet, and I can fit way more media in the biowheel 350 than an aquaclear 110.

 

Posts like this have me leaning more towards the tidal over the aquaclear.