# The best/Quiestest pump out there ?



## candymancan (3 Dec 2014)

Ok I have 3 fish tanks in my bedroom...  A 44g pentagon, 27g hex and a 10g bowfront...  Issue is... filter noise...  my 2.6g Top fin tanks I got for my mom came with top fin internal 10g filters... they are the quietest filters I have ever seen...  So naturally I got a 20g version for my bowfront..  absolute silence..   So to replace my aging 15 year old HOB which is fairly quiet actually has no impeller noise.. just a little motor noise but still too loud for a bedroom..  To replace it I got a Top Fin Internal 40...  SUUPER quiet.. but the 27g hex isn't very big and the filter does take room up and is kinda well ugly to look at..   Another good thing about this filter is I don't need airstones anymore or powerheads as it acts like a power head and I can make a lot of surface agitation with the spray bar..  Thus cutting noise down even more....

I got one of the 40's for my pentagon as well...  My room is now Litterally dead silent.. I mean you cant hear anything until you put your ear on the glass of the tank...  They filter pretty well and have a lot of bio media..  But for my 44g I have discus in it and 1 of these filters isn't enough to completely remove ammonia im always at .25ppm..  I put the 2nd 40g internal from my 27g hex in there and the ammonia went away... However obviously 2 internals in the tank well takes up a lot of space and they look kinda ugly...  But again soo quiet..

So I did a lot research asked around and people suggested I get fluval filters..  I got the Fluval C3.. I really like the concept of this filter.. but man its noisy.. impeller crackles.. and even if it wasn't I can hear the motor running, that and the waterslide exit is too high I have to fill my tank to the very brim where my glass lid is touching the water in order to keep the trickling noise away... stupid design...  let me tell you its louder then my 15 year old HOB (which is the same size HOB filter) just a typical 1 filter pad slide in type HOB..   So I mean why spend $50 on this fluval if my 15 year old filter is quieter lol..

Clearly fluval sucks..  So im going to return this thing.. and no im not lubing it with vasoline I shouldn't have to do that to a new filter...   Sorry for the long thread but I wanted to get as much info as I could to why I want SILENCE..  I have a marineland penguin 350 in my 55g its noisy but doesn't bother me as its in the living room area so I never hear it unless im standing there watching the tank..  I have a Aqueon 20 in 5.5g its fairly quiet but deff not enough media.. but due to it being quiet im debating on trying the 55g version.

So yea honestly.. what filters are quiet... and have good media...  Right now running these internals they are far far superior noise wise to HOBS that I have tried.. and they a lot of room for BIO Media, they have adjustable flow.. spray bar.. ect ect..  In fact this internal 40 room wise.. has a lot more Bio Media then this fluval C3 has..  The dripper for the C3 where you put those rocks in... I mean can only fit like 2 table spoons of those rocks lol the filter pad.. is extremely thin.. The chamber where you put the carbon bag is a pretty decent size but still..  The internal has a lot more surface area for filter pads.. and it has a large chamber where I can put an entire small 12 OZ glass of bio media rocks inside......  ..  Am I stuck with these internal filters ?  Or is there something better that's as quiet but doesn't go inside the tank?


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## dw1305 (3 Dec 2014)

Hi all, 
The quietest filter I have is an Eheim 2224. You can't here the impeller or motor humming, it is only fractionally below the tank but it seems pretty good at clearing any air from cavitation when I haven't cleaned the hoses or sponge pre-filter for a while. . 

cheers Darrel


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## candymancan (3 Dec 2014)

I was looking at canisters... But im not sure which ones would be best for my 44g pentagon..  I don't want to spend anymore then $100 either.  And ive read canisters leak sometimes and when you take em apart to change filters.. they leak water all over the place...  Im a tad scared of getting 40 gallons of water on my carpet.


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## Vinkenoog1977 (3 Dec 2014)

You could use the double tap connectors; taps on both sides, so you can shut of the water to and from the filter from both ends (filter and aquarium), and be sure no water even drips on the floor.
I mean these.


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## parotet (3 Dec 2014)

Hi all

I recently purchased a JBL e401 which is really a good and silent canister. I use it in a 24 liters tank but it can deliver up to 400 liters per hour. I have it beside me on the floor when I work on the computer at home and I can't hear it, and it is not even inside a cabinet

Jordi


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## foxfish (3 Dec 2014)

I am not sure if the quality control over the mass produced pumps and filters you are talking about, can guarantee one manufacturer      
being quieter than another? In other words .. It can be a bit hit or miss even with two supposedly identical units!


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## candymancan (3 Dec 2014)

Well here is my dilemma..   I have only a limited amount of funds to spend on filters.

I have 2 tanks in question here..  My 27g Hexagon uses a 15 year old HOB.. and its quieter then this new Fluval C3 I got lol..  Actually its very quiet and normally I wouldn't complain but the motor noise which all pumps have is still too noisy for me..  So I got that Internal 40 top fin filter.. I got one for the 27g and one for my 44g both tanks in my room..   But the one in the 44g isn't enough apparently to keep up with the bio load.  I still always have .25 ammonia and almost .25 nitrites..   So I put the internal in the 27g in the the 44g and the issue went away, but I had to put my older HOB back on my 27g..

Now... I have $70 on me, one of my discus died last weekend he got stuck in my driftwood his pointy spins got stuck in a little tunnel.. I blocked the tunnel..  I've had him in a bag in the freezer for 4 days now.. waiting for Petco to get more discus in but they haven't gotten any so im debating on returning him and getting my $40 back.  I will then have $110 still not quiet enough for a canister..  If I return one of the two internal 40's I have ill have $140 and I can get a pretty good canister with that..  If I do this I can take the last internal 40 I have out of my 44g put it back in the 27g hexagon and take off the noisy HOB.. and my 44g will use the canister, thus elimintating the unsightly filters from my tank and walla I have a quiet room 44g looks better and my hexagon while having the internal showing is quiet also.   Am I making sense lol ?

Or option B would be to take my $70 get a 3rd internal 40 for my 27g hexagon thus making my room quiet (keeping the 2 internal 40;s in my 44g) and buying another discus from another store. Upping my numbers have to 5 (I currently have only 4 of them)

I hope I am making sense...  This is the dilemma im at..  What would you do ?

A. Buy a 3rd Internal 40 for $30 for my 2 tanks.. 2 in the 44g and 1 in the hexagon and buy a 5th discus..

Or

B.  return one of the 2 internal 40's i have and get a canister, and put the last internal 40 back in my hexagon, but I cant get a replacement discus

As for canisters if I do get one...  the marineland ones seem to leak and break easy.. the fluval ones seem to have impeller issues after 5-6 months and they also seem to leak after awhile too..  So really that is my main concern is a leaky canister


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