Silent running tank?

[Waylander]

At some point in the future, I would like to have a fish tank in my bedroom. My current tank was originally supposed to go in my room but I soon realised that with the noise of the filter, I wouldn't be able to sleep. My room needs to be absoloutely silent.

So my question is, can I run a tank in my room which will make no noise at night. Any noise is fine during the day. Any ideas anyone? I was thinking that maybe a normal filter would work, just turning it on when I get up and then off again when I go to bed...

It could be coldwater or tropical. I would also be able to run a light during the day so maybe if it was heavily planted the plants could do alot of the filtering...

Anyway, a tank which runs silently at night. Discuss :)

EDIT: also size-wise it would probably only be 5-10 gallons.

[echoofformless]

An internal filter like a Fluval, Stingray, Duetto, etc will make a relatively silent tank. And they're especially good for small tanks like a 5 or 10. Larger tanks can be relatively quiet with a quality canister.

I actually have a 20g long and a 5.5g in my bedroom. The 20 long has a Fluval 104 canister filter and a Penguin 125 HOB, and the 5.5g has a Stingray internal. I sleep like a baby.

[Ms.Bubbles]

Plants in the tank actually take IN oxygen at night, so turning off the filter at night is not adviseable as it could lead to oxygen depletion.

Like echoofformless mentioned, the internal filters are some of the quietest I have come across for smaller tanks, as the motor is under water. I've got a Fluval 1 Plus internal filter in my 10 gallon, and when I lay it horizontally on the floor of the tank (which it is designed to do) I've found it to be extremely quiet--although I don't have it in a bedroom, so I can't judge in that way.

[jm1212]

whisper aerators are silent. i have a tank in my room and i can bearly hear it, even if i try lol.

[Nitro]

I have a 20gallon in my bedroom with a rena filstar xp1 canister filter on it. It is dead silent unless you put your ear right next to the filter.

[plah831]

yup, many of the current filters and air pumps run virtually silently. there have been great improvements in technology since i started in aquaria in 1990. i have 4 fish tanks in one room (not my bedroom), and can barely hear anything. as suggested, the internal filters are dead quiet. i use Rena air pumps and they, too, are almost undetectable, as long as they don't touch something and start vibrating against it.

hang-on-back (HOB) filters usually produce a splashing sound because they dump water back in from the top, although that is preferable for surface agitation. i personally like the sound because it's like white noise that some people actually buy on CD's to help them sleep. but i understand the need for silence to sleep :) My boyfriend loves falling asleep with the TV on for the light and sound, and it drives me insane. i, like you, can't sleep unless it's perfeclty quiet AND dark.

you can get around the waterfall effect with a HOB by just making your water level at or above the outflow, though. at 5-10 gallons, an internal filter would be perfect. Whisper makes the 10i that I use in my betta tank and it is SILENT.

[jm1212]

the whisper line of products perform really well too

[attiladahun]

i have an emperor 400 beast of a filter on my 20gal in my room that makes a crapload of noise when there is just a little space between the output and the water surface-its like a waterfall and i sleep just fine, but that's just me.

i've thought that those eclipse and other self-contained filter, hood, and heater systems are good in this area

[Grundy]

I can't even hear my Fluval 305 under my tank when I stick my head in there...

[sumthin fishy]

I run an UGF in a 2.5 in my bedroom. I actually sleep better with a little white noise than in total silence, but...umm.....overnight guests don't like it that much ;)

[naruto123]

^same i was going to sleep in my room when my friend was over and we whent in the living room from the noize .he went to sleep but there was the same kind of tank out there he didn't know.i think he hates fish :mad2:

[nancec]

the whisper line of products perform really well too

I have a whisper 10i in my 10g, which is in my br. I don't even hear it when standing next to the tank. Sometimes I have to check to see it running. It's great!! I will buy more Whispers in the future.

[Waylander]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think the filter in my current tank is just a cheap and nasty one then, lol. It came with the tank along with the heater and some other stuff. Most of the noise comes from it vibrating against the tank glass I think. I think it's an internal canister filter.

I have never seen any of these brands of filters you have mentioned in my local pet shop, though I have to admit I haven't really been looking at the filters. I will pay more attention next time I am there to the brands available.

Thanks everyone.

[webcricket]

Thumbs up here also for the Whisper products. The internal filters are totally silent - I use them in all my tanks!

My tanks are in my bedroom, and even with all 4 of them running filters it's nice and quiet.

[Needeles]

I have 2 Penguin 660R units hooked upto a RUGF system and it is dead quiet. They sit about an inch under the water. I have a small air pump to keep surface movement but cannot hear that either. I keep this tank in my room and only a few feet from my bed and I sleep like a baby. My fiancee hates any type of niose and she can't hear it so it must be quiet.

[desync0]

I also agree that the whisper line of products are totaly silent.

You'll probably need an air stone or something to move the surface though..... my whisper 10i did a great job cleaning but it didn't have enough flow to break the surface so i kept getting a film on top of the water.

I've got a penguin biowheel on there now (the small one) and it's silent too as long as the water is level with the output.


Ohhh if you do get a whisper internal, don't buy replacement filters...

Remove the old filter floss/carbon from the filter frame and cut a piece of filter material to the same size and stuff it back in, it worked 100x better then the original, soaked up alot of crap.

Chris

[nancec]

Tetra makes the Whisper filters & they have a website. www.tetra.com Check it out.

[Needeles]

Tetra makes the Whisper filters & they have a website. www.tetra.com Check it out.

I think you have the wrong website. Doesn't seem to be anything "fishy" about that one. How bout trying this one... Tetra Link (http://www.tetra-fish.com/)