really, the sound of bubbles bother you???

Magnum Man · 2025-12-23T06:39:50-0600

so I get the appeal of a completely quiet aquarium... but I actually find the sound of bubbles to be an appealing white noise ( like those relaxation sound tracks, people pay good money for ) now the sucking noises the hang on back filters make, when the water level gets too low, I don't find relaxing, and that motivates me to keep the tanks topped off, even if I am busy ( only requires moving the fill hook to the offending tank, and the push of a button to fill ) But. I find the sound of the bubbles on a properly filled tank, to be a soothing sound...

Whitecloudminnowguy09 · 2025-12-23T08:17:29-0600

I have 3 tanks in my bedroom, a great white noise for sure, I love it.

TwoTankAmin · 2025-12-23T08:19:59-0600

It isn't the sound of bubbles which is annoying it is the buzzing of the airpump that is so. I use a few tricks which often can deal with this.

1. Place a piece of foam under the air pump. I tend to use Poret as it is a rigid rather than a soft foam. In some places I will surround the pump with the foam.
2. When using a smaller air pump for single tank use I often hang it by the power cord so it dangles in the air without touching a hard surface.
3. I prefer not to use them in the bedroom unless I can make them virtually silent.

My water levels almost never get low. It takes more than a week for the water level in my tanks to drop so you can see that is has. If I miss a weekly water change in the winter when heating causes more evaporation I may have to top up a tank. But this is a pretty rare thing.

What actually gets loud for me is when the water level in a tank using a canister filter drops so the spraybar output gets pretty noisy .

GaryE · 2025-12-23T08:27:12-0600

My youngest daughter had a bedroom on the 2nd floor of our house til she was 10 or so, and now can't sleep without a fan or a mechanical noise. We had a forced air heating system, and the bubbling of my then fishroom down in the cellar carried upwards through the ductwork. I didn't even think of it, or notice it for a while, but there you have it.

I use no spraybars and only one diaphragm pump for the brine shrimp. It makes more noise than the two large linear piston pumps combined. The noise isn't the machines, it's the actual bubbles from a lot of box and sponge filters. I don't mind it, but in the house, it would be a bit much.

I like listening to music in the fishroom, but the bubbling does limit the genres and the sound quality from the cheap speakers.

lottabubbles · 2025-12-23T08:29:39-0600

I like the sound of bubbles, like camping out beside a flowing stream.
if the sound of the vibrating air pump is a bother, you wouldn't believe the sound of the old 1950's aquarium piston air pump.

GaryE · 2025-12-23T08:34:22-0600

lottabubbles said:
I like the sound of bubbles, like camping out beside a flowing stream.
if the sound of the vibrating air pump is a bother, you wouldn't believe the sound of the old 1950's aquarium piston air pump.

I see your 1950s pump, and raise you three partially torn diaphragm pumps from the 90s.

I had a German made pump with leather in the diaphragm - probably 1950s. I found it in a shed I was cleaning out, and didn't know its story. It ran silently and with lots of air for its size for many years, til it started burning one evening.

lottabubbles · 2025-12-23T09:20:20-0600

those old piston air pumps used a leather seal that you had to put drops of oil on. really messy if you handled It as time went on.
they cost $45 back in 57 and that was a lot of money back then.

Back in the fold · 2025-12-23T12:11:20-0600

lottabubbles said:
I like the sound of bubbles, like camping out beside a flowing stream.
if the sound of the vibrating air pump is a bother, you wouldn't believe the sound of the old 1950's aquarium piston air pump.

Oh Man ! I loved the sound those made . A friend’s Dad had one and it absolutely fascinated me as a kid . The belt that drove it was fun to watch as the piston went in and out . I’d love to find one and rebuild it and use it .
As for diaphragm air pumps I am shocked that most of the newer ones are throwaway’s . I have one that cost me $30 bucks and it stopped working . I contacted the distributor and was told they don’t sell replacement diaphragms . That’s a rite of passage in this hobby - replacing a diaphragm .

lottabubbles · 2025-12-23T12:35:11-0600

I've had my Fluval Q2 vibrator air pump for quite a few years. I've re bellowed it once and those parts are on amazon.
this is the quietest pump I've ever seen.

emeraldking · 2025-12-23T14:14:34-0600