I must be more sensitive than most, so be it. But I am willing to try
anything to
reduce the noise from the filter of my tank. In my first tank of 10G I had
a UGF
powered by an airstone. I asked the LFS for a quiet pump and they sold me
a Tetra
DW-24. It was very powerful but way too noisy. I swapped that for a "truly
inaudible" Rena Air 50 which was less powerful and less noisy. It was
marginally
acceptable only after I added a muffler in the airline, though still
audible from
20 feet away.
Now I have scaled up to a 37 gallon show tank with an Eclipse 3
hood/filter/light
combination. Once again, a LFS said that this would be inaudible. It was
not, the
primary problem being vibration from the motor rattling the cover. I have
called
Marineland a few times and they have sent me two replacement pieces. The
new rotor
was a big improvement. The pump still makes a vibration that is easily
felt
touching anywhere on the hood, and I still have to fiddle with the cover
many
times a day to keep it from rattling. My guess is that the impeller is not
balanced at the factory, which explains the vibration and the difference
between
impellers. The suggestions from Marineland center on being sure that the
pump is
isolated from the hood in every respect. I have done so and must assume
that it is
working about as well as can be expected.
So in the quest for quiet I am wondering if I could swap out the
Marineland pump
with another inline powerhead that would be more vibration-free. Or
perhaps ditch
that entirely and plumb in a canister filter ? It would be a shame to lose
the
Marineland biowheel which works well in this setup, but whatever it takes.
I am
limited in that there is no basement or closet nearby to hide a pump or
filter, so
whatever it is must be near the tank.
Any suggestions ?
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