Quiet Reef?

Is there such a thing? So I put together my initial build (have to update my build thread, I've been a little busy last few weeks), but here's the equipment I am using so far:

• lifereef overflow
• lifereef skimmer with mag 9.5
• lifereef sump with eheim 1260

Well thing thing is loud as hell. It's in the living room, next to the TV, and we have small kids, so we try to be super quiet at night. Watching TV at this point is annoying due to the noise from the tank.

As next step want to forget the overflow box and go for drilling the tank with a built-in overflow. My guess is I need a new skimmer, this one is just too loud.

Is there such a thing as a whisper quiet tank?

 

There is. HIgh quality equipment is frequently, though not always, quieter. Usually the noise is the result of several things actually being poorly tuned, set up, etc. While it is true some things are just inherently noisy, those are not typical. I'd try to identify the source of the noise one by one then see if there is a sollution short of replacement. That Eheim for instance should be very quiet. If it isn't, something is set or positioned incorrectly.

 

There is. HIgh quality equipment is frequently, though not always, quieter. Usually the noise is the result of several things actually being poorly tuned, set up, etc. While it is true some things are just inherently noisy, those are not typical. I'd try to identify the source of the noise one by one then see if there is a sollution short of replacement. That Eheim for instance should be very quiet. If it isn't, something is set or positioned incorrectly.

 

Thanks for the feedback. So the overflow is deff a major issue of the noise, I think it just moved too much water too quickly and sucks in air in the process due to the water flow speed. I am using Jeff's silencer also, but it's still too loud for my comfort. Eheim is very quiet indeed, but I can still hear the vibration it produces. I am going to dry and get a large foam pad for the entire sump and see if that helps.

Skimmer I might just have to go a different direction on and get something different. Jeff's design requires a lot of water to go through it, and I think that's part of the problem.

 

The overflow can definitely cause a lot of noise until you get one dialed in correctly. Skimmers can be crazy loud as well. I have a reef octopus skimmer and it is pretty quiet - not silent - but more like a quiet white noise in the background. I don't know if its an option for you, but some folks have a sump room - either a closet, basement, etc. and put the noisy stuff in there and just plumb through the wall/floor to the tank. I am fortunate to have an in-wall tank so all of my noise is in a storage room, not on the display side so its nice and quiet. I will say though that before I had that set up - I had a tank in my office - with a sump - and the noise was not bad at all.

 

Thanks APC. Sump room is deff in the back of my mind, but that's a 2016 project. I know I want a bigger tank, just need to come up with the finances to support it first. But one day.

 

The overflow SHOULD be silent too. If it's the air line sound, put a sliecer on the tube.
If it's a flow issue- adjustments sould take care of it.
The sump and RP- both motors should be on a thick foam pad if needed.

My entire system is so quiet- as silent as one can get. I'm not even using any foam pads under my pumps, but would and have in the past where vibration/noise was an issue.

Keep working at it, you'll get it dialed in.

And, gotta ask, who is Jeff?

 

Jeff is the guy behind lifereef!!!

 

Overflow noise is (a) a major source of noise, and (b) one that has a ton of discussion and a variety of solutions.

1. Try a small foam pad under the ehiem before you resort to the under sump pad. Second, but a valve on the outflow of the eheim so you have a way to dial in the overflow. I'm not an expert on external overflows so somone may have to correct me on this.

 

I have a pretty silent reef. it is quieter than my refrigerator which is a newer Samsung one. the #1 noisemaker is usually the overflow. I have a durso in my reef ready tank. you can also look into the hofer gurgle buster. those work well and I used in the past. while your eheim is good. it will still vibrate. put a pad under it and make sure you have a length of flexible hose between the hard pipes if you have it hard plumbed. this will go a long way to reduce reverberations. My tank is about 3 feet from my easy chair in the living room. we have no issue hearing the TV. I have a Jebao DC return pump, SCA skimmer and LED lights which the fans barely come on. the only time I hear a trickle noise is when I feed for some odd reason.