Quietest aquarium filter?

[Wiuev]

Basically I'd like to have a fish tank in my bedroom and I'm looking for a filter that's quiet enough you can barely tell it's on from ~4 meters away. I've tried sponge filters but it's proved very difficult to perfectly silence the bubbles so I'd prefer if someone had experience with HOB or internal filters or something of the sort.

 

[tinylostwine]

What size is the aquarium - there are some canister filters with dc motors that are adjustable in speed - so to whether they are quite enough for you - how can i judge ?

I never found hobs esp quiet because of water movement - you can baffle the bubbles from sponge filters or break them down to much smaller size via air stone or similar. Again i can't comment if that is quiet enough for you.

 

[Fishguyforsure]

any filter from sicce brand super quiet a bit pricy around $40-500 range 500 being filters for 1000 gallon plus aquariums but another good one would be a sponge filter you will be able to hear it it is just not an annoying sound like gurgles from a pump its like a bubble fountain sort of thing

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Aquael makes the quietest canister filter I've never heard. Suitable for a bedroom.

 

[tinylostwine]

Aquael makes the quietest canister filter I've never heard. Suitable for a bedroom.

sicce stuff i don't find that quiet - i have a pair of aquael the newer bt models use dc motors - but of course it all depends on the aquarium size after all putting a filter for a 100 on a 5 isn't going to turn out well.

 

[Dechi]

I really hate noise so I chose filters that were less noisy. My Fluval 407 was 37 db from 7-8 feet away (2 meters) so it would be less at 4 meters.

That was inside a stand with doors closed. Right next to the stand, doors closed it was 44 db and with doors open, 52 db.

My tank was a 75 gallons so if you need smaller and get a 307 it would be even less noisy.

 

[GlennO]

What size tank is it? For small tanks internal power filters are the quietest since they sit inside the tank. The Eheim Pickup series is excellent.

 

[Mudminnow]

sicce stuff i don't find that quiet

My experience is the same. I replaced my Sicce pumps with Reef Octopus Pumps, because the Sicce pumps were too noisy for my taste.

Probably the quietest filter I've had so far was an Eheim Ecco Pro canister filter.

 

[tinylostwine]

My experience is the same. I replaced my Sicce pumps with Reef Octopus Pumps, because the Sicce pumps were too noisy for my taste.

Probably the quietest filter I've had so far was an Eheim Ecco Pro canister filter.

The dc pumps are generally pretty quiet - i use the el cheap jebo dhcp pumps in the sumps.

The reef octo are dc pumps but of course cost around 20x more (depending on model). Not sure why they are so expensive - i think they use salt resistance material for the blades (after all they are made for salt water). While the jebo are cheap plastic people with salt water aquarum report good success with them - certainly more then 5 years after which you can throw them away and buy a new one from that 20x savings

Of course this depends on which pump model you have as they might have some less expensive models. Don't get me wrong there are other salt water pumps that are even more expensive so expensive is releative - most of these more expensive pumps for example have titanium alloy impeller designs.

Anyway I spent 2 years looking into different pump prices et all when i was going to setup my 10ftx4ft as to what type of pump i should buy - as for the noise bit i don't know if the ac vs dc is the reason for the sound difference but most dc pumps i looked into are definitely quieter so i suspect that contribute to part of hte reduced noise. After all they do use a different type of motor for the different type of current.

Mrs google sez it is related to two factors the ac current pulses back and forth which create magnet hums and oscillation while the dc motor lack these issues due to the power being continous.

Oh well amusing or at least interesting.

 

[outlaw]

I run internal power filters on my tanks. You can't hear them unless the water outlet is pushing water over the surface, or the water level drops enough. I'd echo the question of what size is the tank? and What type of inhabitants? Based on your past posts, is it the 10 gallon?

I use both of these types
Aqua Top Eliminator with 7w UV. The UV light is not required to function if you prefer not to use it. You can remove it all together if needed.
--There is a flow control on the spray bar to adjust the strength if you have weaker swimmers like Bettas or guppies. Cleaning is a little trickier as you have to fully remove the filter to clean it but overall, isn't too difficult.

Oase Bioplus. They are sized for filter "cartridges" attached. ex the 50 has one, the 200 has three. If you have the tank space, having one with at least two compartments is nice as you can have the sponge, polishers, bio balls, etc. If you bought the 3 compartment, you can remove them and run what you need. Ex. the 3 compartment will still fully function with only 1 attached. Like the Aqua Top, it also has a flow control but has two forms of outlet, a single "jet" and/or multiple small ports like a spray bar that, if placed in the corner upright, would spray across the back wall, and the side wall. You can also adjust to use one or a combination of them. Cleaning is easier than the Aqua Top as the filter housing is magnetic, so you don't have to remove the whole filter every time to clean. I don't use it, but there is an optional heater for this filter if you need to save some additional space.

I've not used them but have seen them for sale. The Aqueon Quietflow internal power filter (AT10, AT15, AT30, AT40) series may be worth checking into. Like the two above, they are fully submersible which should make them nearly silent.