Comments on: Quiet Aquarium Filters

Question: Quiet Aquarium Filters

about_time — Fri, 27 May 2005 13:41:07 -0800

My aquarium filter, an aqua clear 500, makes a lot of humming noise. Do you know of a very quiet filter (maybe one of those external ones?), or do you have suggestions for making it less noisy?

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Fri, 27 May 2005 14:04:09 -0800

I had a Fluval canister filter that worked very well for years. It still hums, but if it's in a cabinet under the tank you can't hear it.

By: sleslie

sleslie — Fri, 27 May 2005 14:45:56 -0800

A submersible (underwater) pump worked for me.

By: mosch

mosch — Fri, 27 May 2005 16:46:52 -0800

I have an eheim canister filter on my (90 gallon) tank. Works great, and is extremely quiet.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Fri, 27 May 2005 17:09:26 -0800

The Penguin filters are pretty quiet. The only noise ours makes is the kind of babbling-brook sound that some people buy one of those little fountains for.

By: geeky

geeky — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:06:13 -0800

My mom has a Tetra Whisper filter for her 30 gallon fish tank, and it's very quiet.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Sat, 28 May 2005 08:50:11 -0800

Go natural and eliminate the heater and filter.

By: freq

freq — Sat, 28 May 2005 11:00:31 -0800

Another vote here for the eheim canister filter. They are expensive, but do an excellent job and require less maintenance than others, plus they're nice and quiet.

http://www.eheim.com/

By: unrepentanthippie

unrepentanthippie — Sun, 29 May 2005 13:07:05 -0800

If you'd like to think about it a couple of days before you replace it, set the offending pump on a block of foam rubber or something. I always find the table top or whatever acts as a sounding board, and if you isolate the vibration, it'll quiet down a lot. In a pinch, stick it on an old folded towel for a couple of hours to see if it makes a difference before you make a trip to the store.
Sometimes they get louder when they get older, a rebuild kit used to be like a buck, and may help the noise. (It's just new gaskets and rubber bits.)