How Loud Are The In-hood Biowheels?

[wodesorel]

Looking to add another tank to the house, but the only space we have left is the countertop on the far side of kitchen. It's away from all appliances and heat and there is a 5 gallon bowfront there now.

The counter is only 11.5 deep, and from what I've found, a standard 10 gallon or a 15 gallon high are 10.5 inches deep. Not a problem, but that would only leave 1 inch behind the tank for an HOB filter.

I've looked at the in-hood biowheel and the only thing keeping me from getting one is that I've heard they are loud from the water splashing down . There is a paper-thin "wall" (no really 1/8th of an inch) between the countertop and the top of my bed, so whatever I end up buying needs to be on the quiet side. I have a Whisper HOB on the 5 gallon and there are nights when I can hear that splashing clearly even when the water is as high as possible, so anything louder than that filter has to be ruled out.

The internal Whisper filter that originally came with the bowfront is way too loud, and I don't know if there is an internal filter made that is more quiet. If there is one that's quiet, and if it actually worked, I'd get it. We have two HOB Whisper filters that I prefer for the small tanks, and an HOB Aquaclear that's on the 20 gallon. I don't have a clue about other brands or types of filters.

Ideas and suggestions welcome and appreciated! Would love to set up another tank- I'm really missing having ADF's in the house, or we could divide it up for bettas, or maybe kilifish, or who knows!

 

[Aussie_Dog]

I may not be the best to answer here, but I did recently get a little Eclipse tank (3gal, biowheel, not sure what I'm going to do with it other than have it as a backup for a fear-of-spaces Betta) just because it was on sale, and I can say that it's literally a great example of being perfectly silent. My 60gal has an AquaClear HOB filter that's quiet, but it still hums (I think part of the noise comes from the lid rattling about in a very minimal way, but enough to actually get noticed). But with the biowheel I have, the water doesn't fall down; I have the water level right up to the bottom of the rim of the tank, so the tank water meets the filter flow. There's no falling, it's more like a river meeting up with an ocean or something, lol

 

[JimShorts]

Does the water on those in-hood BioWheels free-fall down to the tank or is their any kind of return ramp? If their is a return ramp for the water, they they'll be pretty darn quiet. I have one of the HOB BioWheel filters, and it's almost silent.

There is a paper-thin "wall" (no really 1/8th of an inch)

Actually , the average thickness of a standard sheet of office paper is about 0.110 mm. Trust me, I'm a Paper Science Engineer. B)

 

[benniebru]

i love the bio wheels. but in large tanks 100gal and above i would buy a canister filter

 

[wodesorel]

Thanks Aussie-Dog! And owner's account was what I was hoping for. We'll probably end up getting the 12 gallon, and then comes the excitement of filling it!

Thanks everyone!