What’s The Quietest Filter?

[Potato1]

What’s the quietest filter you have ever had?

 

[JLeeM]

My filter experience pretty much only includes a Penn Plax Cascade canister filter, Aquaclear HOB filters, and basic TopFin HOB filters. I honestly think I prefer the simplicity of the HOB filters over the canister, which always makes a dull humming noise. Both the Aquaclears and TopFin Silentstreams are super quiet to me. The Aquaclears make a tiny bit more noise, but their ability to be so easily customized makes them my favorite.

 

[Bry]

Aquaclear HOB filters. I have a tank on my nightstand, with an Aquaclear and I literally can't hear it. I can, however hear my Tetra Whisper from across the room..

 

[Madison1017]

I third Aquaclear HOB filters. I have one rated for up to 50 gallons on my 37 gallon tank that I can't hear at all. I even have to check to see if it is really still on sometimes because it doesn't make any sound whatsoever. Definitely avoid Marineland Penguin HOB filters if you want quiet -- my 20 gallon tank is nicknamed Niagra Falls because of that filter.

 

[CanadianFishFan]

If my top fin HOB one is under the water its quiet. Other wise not many are quiet.

 

[Sydsam]

Wish I could help...I love the sound of water running, so I don't mind loud filters...lol I do know my Marineland Penguins are "loud", but I also have an Aqua Clear, and it is very quiet.

 

[Fishcat]

I love my sponge filters. The sound is very gentle as long as the air pump isn’t touching anything except the shelf it’s sitting on. It’s a soothing noise to fall asleep to.

 

[NickAu]

set up right sponge filters can be very quiet.

 

[smee82]

My sump is the quietest ive ever had

 

[goldface]

My two canisters, Eheim Classic and SunSun, are silent. You'd have to have your ear by the pump to hear any noise. I've tried HOBs, including the Seachem Tidal 75, and they've ways been rather loud for me.

 

[Thunder_o_b]

All HOB waterfall filters make noise. I have eight of them.

I have 6 running canisters (Marineland Mag 350, and Magnaflow 360) And I have to look at the out flow to know they are running.

 

[Cichlidude]

They are all quiet until something happens and they get loud.

 

[Thunder_o_b]

They are all quiet until something happens and they get loud.

Solid point.

ANYTHING in the impeller will make it rattle. Bladder snails are a serious pain in the neck. You must clear the impeller ASAP or it will wear in a way that it will make noise even when clear.

I have sponge pre filters on our intakes to prevent this.

 

[Dechi]

I have a 45 gallons with various peaceful community fish. At the moment I have a Fluval 407 running. It does a very good job, has very good water agitation (both at the surface and the bottom) and maintenance is easy enough.

Overall I like it a lot. Except for noise. My tank is in my living room, where I spend a lot of time, and I am getting tired of the noise. I made a lot of research before buying it, I even returned an Eheim because it was too noisy. So as far as canister filters are concerned, I don’t think I can have something as good and more quiet. I had a HOB that came with the aquarium (C-series) but I hated it, very noisy.

I saw a Marina filter that goes completely immerged in the tank and is supposed to be very quiet. It would take up space in the tank though so maybe not an optimal solution for a medium sized tank.

Do you have any recommendations for something really quiet ?

 

[e_watson09]

Personally I love my internal filters but you are correct, it does take up some tank space. I love sponge filters even more than the internal filters the best but you can hear the bubbles coming up. You could probably put an airstone in it to make the bubbles smaller so you'd hear even less.

 

[Flyfisha]

A sponge filter driven by a power head is possibly one of the quietest filters ? A 45 gallon could be filtered by one standard large or jumbo sponge but I would personally have two in any tank.

The biggest disadvantage Is in a very hot climate the motor/ motors running in the water raise the water temperature. Probably only a problem if like me you spend 6 months of the year with an air conditioner running struggling to keep the air temperature below 30 degrees centigrade/ 86f.

As far as not wanting to see a filter.
Well a double sponge ( fry filter) lying down with a power head mounted sideways would be around 4 inches high and have no bubbles.

 

[A201]

IMO, Canisters are your best bet for quiet running filtration. Marineland Emperors have been the most quiet HOB's for me.
Internal Sponge Filters are also relatively quiet, but are cumbersome.

 

[Fisheye]

EHEIM CLASSICS! After all these years, I still have to put my hand on mine to make sure it's working-and after all these years, and abuse it is!! I'm with you-I don't want to hear the filters.

 

[Dechi]

EHEIM CLASSICS! After all these years, I still have to put my hand on mine to make sure it's working-and after all these years, and abuse it is!! I'm with you-I don't want to hear the filters.

I had initially bought a Eheim pro 4+ filter and it was so noisy I returned it. I wonder if the Eheim classic is quieter?

What size tank do you have and do you get good water agitation even at the bottom ?

 

[Fisheye]

I had initially bought a Eheim pro 4+ filter and it was so noisy I returned it. I wonder if the Eheim classic is quieter?

What size tank do you have and do you get good water agitation even at the bottom ?

I swear....it's sooooo quiet.

I have the 2213 on a 20 long. If I understand what you mean by water agitation at the bottom, I do have to redistribute my sand from time to time.

 

[Dechi]

Fisheye I have looked at a few Youtube videos and the priming issue scares me. Not having baskets for the medias is also a hassle. I’ve seen 3-4 Maintenance videos and in all of them, there was splashed water and a general mess while doing maintenance.

I have it very easy with the Fluval. I barely have any water on the counter after cleaning everything. It is so much easier, and I don’t even have to prime it, it fills itself up automatically. A charm !

I would love the Eheim for the quietness, but I’m very hesitant because of priming and maintenance.

 

[Fisheye]

I put biomedia in mesh bags. I do prime with my face but finally figured out to hook up the intake and prime the output at the canister. The hoses are quick connect so it's easy to slap one one before the canister fills up.

But, you know what you will or won't tolerate. Just wanted to say how quiet and durable the classic is, in my experience.

 

[Jonmott]

Classics are known for being ultra quiet, while they don’t have baskets they aren’t that hard to clean imo, I load mine up with all sponge and floss at the top, you really don’t need anything else, all the bio you need is living on the sponge. One advantage to having all sponge is I just bring the can to the sink, turn the input nozzle down so it’s facing the bottom, then I let all the water pour out and just replace the floss! It literally takes 5 minutes! Every 6 or so months I’ll open it up and take out the sponge to rinse completely which takes me about 15 minutes at the most. If you have ceramic media in a bag it’s also just as easy.
that being said I have an old Eheim pro II that’s even more quiet than my classic but they don’t make them any more.

 

[AmnScott]

Internal filters are super quiet, but as others have mentioned, they take up tank space. So it's a win/lose.

In terms of Canister filters, it depends on the brand. Some can be quite noisy (relatively). I had a Marineland canister filter (Magniflow 160) that was loud enough to hear from across the room. IME, it really is a hit or miss, and depends on the specific canister filter you get.

The Fluval AquaClear HOB filters are somewhat quiet. You can hear the motor sound a little bit across the room, but it is very subtle. In my opinion, AquaClear's are among the best HOB filters.

Another filter I have used that turned out to be very quiet was the Aqueon Quietflow. The only thing that gets noisy with these filters, over time, is the lid rattles from time to time. But the motor noise is virtually silent. You sacrifice efficiency with these filters, though, as they don't provide very much filtration in relation to the AquaClear's.

So, based on the filters I've personally used, I've had good luck with AquaClear's, QuietFlow's, and internal filters for reduced noise. The fish tank in my room, for example, has an AquaClear 20. Quiet enough for me to fall asleep with no problem.