Whats the quietest air pump

[maverick2402]

I starting a small tank ( a fry tank) in my bedroom a I'm going to be running an air pump and I was wondering what air pump does everyone think is the quietest.

[patoloco]

An unplugged air pump. Sorry to say taht but all the comercial avaiable pumps use a system that is almost like a drum, so there is no way a standard air pump can be quiet.

I have a Whisper, a Maxima, and sopme other brands and all of them are noisy by nature. However, to reduce the sound, I hang them with a string so there is no vibration coming from surface contact. Also, you can wrap them in foam or any other cloth to reduce the sound.

If you don't want the air pump noise, you could consider using a small interior cascade filter, such as Tetra's 10. I have one in my feeder guppies tank and the fry have no problem escaping the intake flow.

[maverick2402]

An unplugged air pump. Sorry to say taht but all the comercial avaiable pumps use a system that is almost like a drum, so there is no way a standard air pump can be quiet.

I have a Whisper, a Maxima, and sopme other brands and all of them are noisy by nature. However, to reduce the sound, I hang them with a string so there is no vibration coming from surface contact. Also, you can wrap them in foam or any other cloth to reduce the sound.

If you don't want the air pump noise, you could consider using a small interior cascade filter, such as Tetra's 10. I have one in my feeder guppies tank and the fry have no problem escaping the intake flow.
Good idea about the internal filter.

[TipStylez]

yeah get an internal filter, im staying away from airpumps...somtimes my pump keeps me up at night...

[BryceMan]

I have heard that the whisper air pump is supposed to be almost silent. I haven't personally tried it but I have read many good reviews.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12738&N=2004+113800

[ghinksmon]

Do they still sell silent giants? They used to be pretty silent until they got a bit worn. They're the typical diaphram pump housed in a double walled case full of sand. The added weight of the sand reduced vibrations. Like patoloco noted the vibration of stuff around the pump is sometimes noisier than the pump itself.

[pedzola]

Rena air pumps are fantastic quality, and VERY VERY quiet.

I have a couple of the Model 50's and a model 300. The 300 is pretty much as close to silent as you can probably get in an air pump, and the 50's are very quiet as well, but not as quiet as the much larger 300.

I returned 2 other types of pumps before I got the renas because the others were too noisy.

Highly recommend Rena air pumps. Most pet stores have them I think.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3724&Ntt=rena%20air&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

[jimangie1973]

I like the surface agitation the air bubbles provide. I have two Rena pumps and mine are very quiet as well. My powerheads make more noise than my air pumps.

Also, if the pump is rattling, place a towell (folded to make a pad) under the pump. This has worked many times for me.

[cherrypie]

I have a couple of Hagen Elite air pumps here in my bedroom... I don't notice either of them unless they start vibrating against something. They're a good pump. I've only had one fail on me so far, I bought it in 96 and it failed in 2005, which is pretty **** good in my opinion. Most of the cheap pumps have a dead diaphragm within 18months-2years this Hagen actually died from an electrical failure.. broken connection or maybe the windings on the electromagnet that moves the diaphragm burnt out.

[TipStylez]

^yeah i have a Hegen, its a pretty quiet pimp you can hardly hear it in your everyday room, cause theres other noises going on like TV or whatever. But you only notice it when everything is silent.

[HolyBull]

The new Whisper is pretty quiet, but real weak.

[degbowl]

I bought two of these pumps because a friend told me they were quiet. I sleep right next to one of my tanks and it is silent. Here is a link.
http://www.aquatichouse.com/Pumps_files/stellarpumps.asp
I bought them from a different company, but this will give you an idea of what they are like.

[reptileguy2727]

when we got in the new whisper air pumps (the blue ones with 4 legs and rubber feet) where i work (at a pet shop) the owner wanted to try them out to see how quiet they really were. so he put it on this old wooden stool we had and i said, "plug it in", he said, "it is". i couldnt even tell it was on. i even put my finger over the hole, and then you could just barely hear enough to tell it was on. the pump uses special casing and design to eliminate all noise, and it does just that. i will be buying one this week for my goldfish tank that is right next to my bed.

[TipStylez]

This one?

http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/large/April05/lg_9180_459d7.jpg

The design dose look like its pretty quiet

[reptileguy2727]

thats the one. ill be getting the one made for 100 gallon aquariums for my 55 goldfish tank this week. i was stunned at how quiet it was. if you print out the price form petsmart.com and take it to petsmart, they will give you the cheaper online price for the one sitting in the store, in case you didnt know.

[TipStylez]

^wow how what kind of supplys are you gonna be running off a 100gal pump?!

[CatLover]

I've used air tech pumps, aqua-culture pumps, and hagen maxima pumps. The air tech pumps are kinda noisy. I needed one quickly, and I bought a couple 10 gallon air tech pumps for about $6 at petsmart. They are great to have on hand in case of emergency circumstances.

I keep mine on rubber mats. I run a 40 gallon aqua-culture pump for my 29 gallon. I have a cabinet stand and stick it inside the cabinet and then run the airline out the back of the cabinet. I don't even hear it and its in my bedroom. Of course, if you stick a pump inside your stand you want to make sure you have a good check-valve.

My 10 gallon does not have a cabinet stand- so it just has a pump on a rubber mat next to it.

I have a couple maxima pumps that I'm not even using right now. Of course, I have an extra heater and stuff, too. I'm kinda paranoid.

Anyway, little rubber mats work great. Or you can use the rubber gripper things that you can buy for opening coke bottles.

Good Luck!

[reptileguy2727]

just a 6" air wand at one end of the tank. here is a pic of the tank. there are now 3 goldfish, one died of unknown causes. that is live lucky bamboo in the vase. no gravel because round bodied goldfish can develop swim bladder disease if fed floating food. and if the gravel is small enough for the sinking food to not fall between the gravel, its small enough for them to accidentally swallow it and that can cause an impaction. i use 3 whisper 60s. it does have the hoods now. the bottom tank on the left is a 20 high with a breeding pair of convicts and their babies. the other tank is a 10 that will be for babies once the other tanks overflow (there is a tank of breeding platies that are also producing babies right now).
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/reptileguy2727/IMGP0629.jpg

[kyle3]

i have the one in bryce and tip's comments and it's really quiet- the only time it makes noise is when something touches it. it's on the ground in my office so it's on carpet, that probably helps.

[aquarob]

I have heard that the whisper air pump is supposed to be almost silent. I haven't personally tried it but I have read many good reviews.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12738&N=2004+113800

I have this exact pump, I think mine is a model 60 (has duel outputs) and it is very quiet indeed. I sleep with it about 4 ft from where I lay my head, if that gives you an idea. =)

[partsrep]

I own and have used most of the common brand air pumps available and the quietest one I have is the Rena. I have a Tetratec AP80 right her in my office and it makes a steady drone and it is suspended from a shelf so as not to vibrate anything else.
Then of course if you do find a reql quite pump the bubbling also makes noise.

Personally, I find other ways to aerate and only use air pumps to run sponge filters in fry tanks.

[test4echo]

The Rena ones are completely silent, but kinda pricey. I'd say its definitley worth it, though

[shaunakadub]

I'm gonna mark another one for the Tetra one thats been linked. Nice and quiet, and not to expensive.

[toerag]

Silent Giant "was" the quietest and very best....they quit making them in about 1979...

[Native American]

I had a Silent Giant...it was big and really quiet. Kind of strange to see this big white distorted cylinder (a little smaller in diameter at the top) with only one little air outlet at the bottom.

v/r, N-A

[gagaliya]

sorry to bump this but can someone with a tetra whisper 60 help me? Mine is very loud, i even tried putting it inside the fish stand with the door closed and can still hear the constant loud moter noise! here's my setup:


whisper 60 -> air output 1 ->air tube->check valve->air tube->bubblewand1
air output 2->air tube->check valve->air tube->bubblewand2


any ideas? :(

[HolyBull]

sorry to bump this but can someone with a tetra whisper 60 help me? Mine is very loud, i even tried putting it inside the fish stand with the door closed and can still hear the constant loud moter noise! here's my setup:


whisper 60 -> air output 1 ->air tube->check valve->air tube->bubblewand1
air output 2->air tube->check valve->air tube->bubblewand2


any ideas? :(

I have one with that same setup on my new 40. I just got it two weeks ago, it's not real quiet, but i can't hear it over my Emperor power filter, unless it's touching something.

Is there maybe something touching the pump?

[gagaliya]

nope i made sure nothing was touching it. One thing i noticed about air pump in general is if you just turn it on without hooking it up to any air tube,it gets very loud. Once you connect it to air tube to bubblewand(or whatever end), it became silent. But unfortunately not the case for my whisper 60.

I have a whisper 10 on my other tank, and it is near silent. Which is the reason i bougth the whisper 60 :(

[TipStylez]

What i used to make my airpump quiet was go out and buy one of these. http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19845;category_id=1623;pcid 1=;pcid2=

Controlling and tuneing how much air it pushes slows down the pump and makes it quiet, when all my valves are on full power my pump is loud...REALLY loud...

[Gumby131]

Rena 301

[gimincorp]

I starting a small tank ( a fry tank) in my bedroom a I'm going to be running an air pump and I was wondering what air pump does everyone think is the quietest.
The one that sits in your closet. It´s not the pump that wakes me up it´s the noise of bubbles escaping the water and the flipping of the bioweel filter...

[Native American]

Forgot about my Rena 400. Very quiet.

v/r, N-A

[Addict]

^wow how what kind of supplys are you gonna be running off a 100gal pump?!
The number is in litres... (100L = ~26G) ;) I have an AP200 on my 36 gallon with 2 air stones and a fizz block... Needless to say, there's bubbles for days! I don't leave it on all the time though. Maybe 2-3 days a week. And it isn't quiet.

[mikeiam]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12216&N=2004+113800

Venturi Style. I do not own one, but my LFS had one in a tank on display. Very cool for a small tank.

[TipStylez]

ok now what about the smallest airpump? I need one for the comp desk that has my 1gal on it.

[mandimoron]

ok now what about the smallest airpump? I need one for the comp desk that has my 1gal on it.
Heyyy, me too!

[lurker]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12216&N=2004+113800

Venturi Style. I do not own one, but my LFS had one in a tank on display. Very cool for a small tank.



I was thinking about getting one of these. My son has a Castle in his 29 gal. I thought it would look pretty cool with the light shining out the windows n stuff. Anyone have one of these and know how quiet they are?

[mikeiam]

All you hear is bubbles. The motor is in the water, with an airline to the surface. There may be a slight sucking noise, but I could not hear it.

[TipStylez]

i dont hear bubbles...maby cause i set mine on low...looks more better with slow riseing big bubbles then 1million small ones racing to the top.

[RTR]

IMHO & IME, "quiet" and "air pump" are mutually contradictory terms.

[steelspy]

I must have some type of backwards buying luck

My Marineland Penguin 150 is quieter than the Aquaclear.

My Tetra Whisper vibrates more than a back massager.

Think I'll give the Rena a try