29 Gallon Tank I'm surprised at how loud the Penguin Pro 275 is

[AndyP]

I picked up a Penguin Pro 275 a few days ago to replace an Aquaclear 50.

I was noticing bypass on the Aquaclear 50 when I completely filled the basket. The Penguin has the pump in the water, and had some nice features, so I thought I would give it a try.

And I am not all that thrilled with the noise of this thing. The pump is in the water and it hums much louder than the Aquaclear did. I can't imagine how loud this would be outside the water. And the thing makes a pretty annoying splashing sound. I bought an Emperor Pro 450 last year and have that on a 55 gallon tank. That one splashed pretty loud for about a month and then quieted down as the biowheel got seeded. So, I will try to ride it out and see if it quiets down.

I'm noticing that ALL the HOBs with submersible pumps have loud pumps. I have tried the Seachem Tidal 75, the Whisper IQ, and now this filter.

IMHO, the Tidal's pump is pretty unbearable noise-wise and have a major bypass issue.

 

[BigManAquatics]

Yeah, some HOBs can be pretty loud. I prefer sponge filters, partially for that reason.

 

[AndyP]

Yeah, some HOBs can be pretty loud. I prefer sponge filters, partially for that reason.

I have tried using sponge filters. I hate cleaning them. HOBs are disgustingly easy to clean.

I just pulled the biowheel out of the 275 and the splashing sound went away.

 

[SotaAquatics]

I have the tidal 110s and don't really notice them, but to be fair my fish room is not a quiet place. I did enjoy having a canister filter on a small 20 gallon living room display tank, was completely silent and was one of the main reasons I used the canister - a fluval 207.

 

[AndyP]

I have the tidal 110s and don't really notice them, but to be fair my fish room is not a quiet place. I did enjoy having a canister filter on a small 20 gallon living room display tank, was completely silent and was one of the main reasons I used the canister - a fluval 207.

I went through 2 Tidal 110s. Returned them both. I made a warranty claim on one, and Seachem sent me a new motor and impeller. It didn't help the issue.

 

[BigManAquatics]

I have tried using sponge filters. I hate cleaning them. HOBs are disgustingly easy to clean.

I just pulled the biowheel out of the 275 and the splashing sound went away.

I have heard the bio-wheels really aren't necessary so you should be ok there. Still loud otherwise?

 

[AndyP]

I have heard the bio-wheels really aren't necessary so you should be ok there. Still loud otherwise?

Well, louder than the Aquaclear 50 I had before. But bearable.

 

[Tryne]

I have a Tidal, am sleeping next to it, like 2 meters away. There is litterally zero sound. Now that is a Tidal 35, maybe the bigger ones are louder.. But by that much?

 

[BigManAquatics]

Noise level is kind of subjective. I used to work on loud airplanes and have things like F-18s and other jets take off near me, so my hearing is kind of shot. Not to mention, i work a lot of concerts and tend to be placed right between the speakers in front of the stage. Most of my tanks are in the bedroom and i can't hear any of it anyway over my fan!

 

[AndyP]

I have a Tidal, am sleeping next to it, like 2 meters away. There is litterally zero sound. Now that is a Tidal 35, maybe the bigger ones are louder.. But by that much?

I could hear the Tidal 110 from the next room over. I took a video and sent it to Seachem. They sent me a new motor and impeller. I swapped them out and it wasn't any quieter. I lubricated the impeller with food grade silicone and that didn't help any. I sent the whole thing back to Amazon with the new motor for a full refund.

Thinking I just got a dud, I bought another one from my LFS. This one was just as loud as the first one. A lot of people recommended that I leave it running for a few weeks and it should quiet down. I left it running for 2 weeks and it got no quieter, so I gave up on it. I packed it up and took it back to the LFS.

Months go by, and I am thinking that perhaps it was just the 110 that was the issue. Maybe if I bought a smaller one, it might be better. So, I bought a Tidal 75. And the 75 was still loud, but not as loud as the 110. I left it running for 3 weeks and I thought it quieted down, but I experienced bypass, lots of it. I tried to put 3 pieces of foam in the filter: 1" of 10 ppi, 1" of 20 ppi and 1" of 30 ppi, and as soon as I added the 30 ppi foam, the filter immediately bypassed out behind the back of the basket.

I took the 30 ppi foam out and cut a piece of polyfill to size and also got immediate bypass. Seachem used to sell pre-cut polyfill sheets for the Tidal line. My LFS still has them, but there is no mention of them on the website anymore. Pretty sure they caused bypass and were pulled.

I still have the Tidal 75. I may set it up back up and see how it does. It just sucks that I can't use a polishing pad with it or foam higher than 20 ppi.

 

[Tryne]

I added foam before and right after the motor where the skimmer is located. I did that to avoid any fry or shrimp getting sucked in. I just carved out a single piece of foam so it fits inside. It works very well. You can barely see it through the holes. I made a small drawing on paper to show you what it roughly looks like. Also added a small layer of filter floss inside the filter media chamber just between the foam that comes with the tidal and the seachem matrix. But that's again maybe just viable on a 35...

 

[AndyP]

Ok, for the curious, this is what the Penguin 275 sounds like with the biowheel in. I have the water level in the tank as high as it will go.

I added foam before and right after the motor where the skimmer is located. I did that to avoid any fry or shrimp getting sucked in. I just carved out a single piece of foam so it fits inside. It works very well. You can barely see it through the holes. I made a small drawing on paper to show you what it roughly looks like. Also added a small layer of filter floss inside the filter media chamber just between the foam that comes with the tidal and the seachem matrix. But that's again maybe just viable on a 35...

I'll give it a shot and see if I get bypass.

 

[Magua]

I have the Aqueon 20 for my 29 gallon (came with as a kit) and it’s soooooooo quiet. Barely a hum!

 

[AndyP]

I have the Aqueon 20 for my 29 gallon (came with as a kit) and it’s soooooooo quiet. Barely a hum!

I had an Aqueon filter, and the motor was dead silent, but it caused a fair amount of splashing I could not stop.

 

[AndyP]

It's been almost a day and the splashing has really quieted down. It's still there, but it's better. The Emperor 450 I have had running for months now has almost no splash at all and the biowheels are a nice tan color now.

When I search the unusefulness of the biowheels, I see two extremes. One group swears up and down that the biowheels are useless, and the other group talks about setting up a new penguin filter, and popping on existing biowheels from their old filter and having the tank instantly cycled.

I don't see any harm in having them. Just need to wait for them to break in, so that the splashing settles down.

 

[Dunk2]

Ok, for the curious, this is what the Penguin 275 sounds like with the biowheel in. I have the water level in the tank as high as it will go.
I'll give it a shot and see if I get bypass.

I have 2 110s and I didn’t think anything was louder, including a sonic boom.

I could be wrong, but I’m mostly hearing the waterfall in your video. Is the water level in your tank up to the lip where the water comes out of your HOB?

If not, try raising the water level to that point.

 

[AndyP]

I have 2 110s and I didn’t think anything was louder, including a sonic boom.

I could be wrong, but I’m mostly hearing the waterfall in your video. Is the water level in your tank up to the lip where the water comes out of your HOB?

If not, try raising the water level to that point.

I keep my water level as high as I can raise in the tank.

You have Tidal 110s or Aquaclear 110s?

I have two Aquaclaer 110s. One is pretty noisy. The other is dead silent.

 

[Dunk2]

I keep my water level as high as I can raise in the tank.

You have Tidal 110s or Aquaclear 110s?

I have two Aquaclaer 110s. One is pretty noisy. The other is dead silent.

Sorry, I have 2 AquaClear 110s running now and I had a Tidal 75.

In my experience, the Tidal was definitely more quiet, but the AquaClears provide better filtration.