Silents Is Golden

[JohnJackson750]

Hello All,
I have currently made the mistake of buying an aquarium on the internet with very little experience. I purchased a Black (27L) Bow Front Coldwater Aquarium. As you can see I made the mistake of not selected what type of fish I wanted to keep before buying the aquarium before I purchased it, so I had to purchase a 50w heater for my tank.

The tank is the correct size and style that I wanted, because I want to keep the tank on my computer desk in my bedroom. The tank seemed fine when I set it up and very quiet. Although when I switched everything off to go to sleep that night all I could hear was the tank, forcing me to switch the air filter off to get some sleep. I have read a number of solutions to this problem such as putting the air pump somewhere else in the house which seems silly for the size of the tank. I have seen also a number of silent air pumps although I am unsure if they are completely silent.

Could you please help me select the best pump for the job at hand?

The tank details are shown below:

17" Aquarium complete with filtration, lighting & airpump built into the hood.

High quality all in one bow fronted glass aquarium with built in filter, fluorescent light & airpump with air stone. Bow fronted - giving 180 deg panoramic views. Ideal for the home or office. Child safe - complete system runs from one 12v AC adapter (supplied).
This aquarium has black multifunction hood and fitted 13" fluorescent light (with on/off switch). Hood also incorporates a silent 12v water pump with advanced 3 stage Filtration System (Mechanical, Chemical & Biological): utlilising filter sponge, activated carbon & bio balls (all supplied) in the filter compartment. This model also has a 12v air pump located inside the hood to power the air stone (included).
Light System: 10W fluorescent tube (with on/off switch)
Filtration: Advanced (3-stage) filter built into hood
Dimensions: Height 41cm (16â€￾)x 44cm wide (17â€￾) x 25cm(10â€￾) deep.

Many Thanks
John Jackson

 

[Miss Wiggle]

simple answer

turn off the air pump, either full time or at night, it's not essential and certainly doesn't need to be on 24/7

 

[alessasavoca]

What fish do you have/intend to have? Also if your filter is good enough you don't always need an air pump and airstone as long as you choose your fish wisely.

 

[scooterchick]

Hi John,

Not sure if a silent tank is possible. moving water will always make some kind of noise and any equipment being ran will usually produce a slight buzz. My tanks all make noises, some more than others, you'll get used to it, if not think you might have to move it. hopefully someone else can come with a solution.

 

[JohnJackson750]

I am still not 100% on what fish I am going to purchase. I worked out the total number of fish that my tank can hold, which was 18, although most of the fish I am going to purchase are going to be guppys or small fish around 1" - 2" in length with maybe one or two larger friendly fish around 3" in length

I like the idea of turning the filter off in the night and switching it back on in the morning, are there any plants or tools that i would have to purchase to help me out.

Thanks again for the help

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it'll never be totally silent, but turning the air pump off will help.

the filter needs to be on 24/7 can't turn that off sorry.

also the number of fish your looking at is way too much for your tank, have a look at the two links in my sig, 'fish suitable for 10 gallon tanks' and 'how to work out stocking lists'

also read up on fishless cycling if you haven't already

 

[The-Wolf]

are you using the 12volt air pump that you plug into the hood?
if so these are notoriously noisy and often vibrate against the hood too.

I suggest buying a proper air pump like a tetratec ap50 as these are much much quieter in running.

 

[loachman]

are you using the 12volt air pump that you plug into the hood?
if so these are notoriously noisy and often vibrate against the hood too.

I suggest buying a proper air pump like a tetratec ap50 as these are much much quieter in running.

You may want to get an external air pump, with rubber feet (and/or place on rubber). Usually the sound comes from the pump housing vibrating on something hard (table, hood, etc.) so if you can put some rubber to dampen it you should be able to quiet it down. These should run around $10 IIRC.

 

[DevUK]

You can also get thin foam sheet to sit your aquarium on which dampens some noises aswell. Its not perfect but every thing helps.

 

[indigo]

i was concerned about the noise that an airpump could make, having tried several different ones out, including one that doubles as a light and can be buried in the gravel (that may be a solution for you with the size tank you have) and have had to go back to a big double one, which at the moment is not too bad as i have a loud filter (that needs the sand cleaning out of it) masking the noise at the mo! my lfs dude suggested that if it does get too loud to irritate, then to make sure it's suspended somewhere so that it can't make the awful vibration noise as it's not touching anything!

it's the noise of the bubbles that is taking some getting used to as i have a curtain of bubbles fighting their way up and around a very very large piece of bogwood, we'll be watching tv.. loud... 5.1 surround sound etc and we'll hear a gargling noise, not unlike a tummy rumble! we're giving it some time to see if we can live with it, as the eel and plecs are having a great time lounging and bouncing about in the stream of bubbles!

 

[JohnJackson750]

My Plan is to buy a small group of fish and test it when i switch the pump off during the night and switching it back on the following morning. Hopefully the fish will be fine and if this is so then i will add more fish to my colletion.
I like to say thanks to everyone for the help.

 

[moey23q]

Mine is noisy, i don't think you should turn it off,, just turn it to low overnight, thats it. i am used to mine now.

 

[MHunt]

How does the filter return come into the tank? If it's on a spray bar or something similar that breaks the surface of the water, then that should allow plenty of O2 to be absorbed into the water, so you shouldn't need the air pump. I suspect the filter is a wet and dry trickle filter out of the hood, so the return water running out of the hood like rain will mean plenty of oxygen transfer into the water.

Unless you have the air stone for how it looks, then i wouldn't bother with it.

 

[darkwolf29a]

I have one for my bubble bar airstone. It's noisy as all heck, but....to silence it, I hung it up. Look at the pump you have and see it has a hanger. If it does, find some place near the tank that you can put a nail, so that the pmp hangs out in midair by the nail. Mine hangs inside my stand and you can't hear a peep out of it now.

 

[puffin3]

I drilled a 5/16" hole just above the baseboard and run the air compressor hose into the next room. It made the tank virtually silent. I also make sure the water falling into the tank from the filter doesn't have far to go. ie. I keep the tank 'topped up'.