soundproofing tank/cabinet?

[transistor]

Hi everyone

i am about to buy a 6x2x2 tank with mini reef. its going to be in my room and i was wondering in what ways i can minimise the noise that the filter and pump and oerflow will make? i have been told you can stuff a sponge in the overflow... does this work??? also what about carpetting the inside of the cabinet???

what are your thoughts???

any help appreciated

thanks guys

chris

[Matthew]

G'day

To make the standpipe a LOT quieter see

This link

For the noise when the water returns into the tank, simply put the return below the surface. There should be heaps of oxygen already in the returning water due to the trickle filter.

The noise of the pump. Buy an expensive pump. ?Grundfos..??? or something like that. I am sure others can assist you on the availability of quiet and reliable pumps.

Best of luck

[BaZ]

I've struggled with a noisy trickle filter for a few yrs now. My standpipe is nice and quiet thanks to a durso modification (see Matthew's link) and most of my noise seems to come from water cascading down through various layers of filter media.

In the next few days I will be setting up a new filter in a hope to gain some quietness. I've had a tank made, and have siliconed in some partitions to force the water over then under then over etc. Each compartment will contain a variety of filter media, and the water will enter the sump below the surface and will leave via a pump. This should quieten things down a lot and when you think about it, it will be just like an oversized cannister filter.

I'll be trying out a new pump as well, a Laguna. It cost me a lot but I am assured they are silent. The pump has a 3 yr warranty so hopefully things will stay quiet and trouble-free for a while now.

[shark biscuit]

I had a weir and mini reef in my bedroom last last. These were the 2 major noise makers in my tank. It was set up on a stand.

The weir was noisy until I used some foam bought from Clark Rubber(aquarium grade foam). With the mini reef(which was homemade), the noise came from the water trickling out of the pipe and onto the bioballs and then into the sump water below. This was very much like rain.

To quieten that, I put a thin layer of foam over the bioballs, and foam in the sump to quieten it's fall.

There was still some noise after this but, when you watch fish swim, and listen to what seems like rainfall, you go to sleep pretty easily.

As for the pump, I used a SP6000 submersible pump from aquarium products(a SCP sponsor). It was pretty quiet and ran very well. I have since dismantled the mini reef and don't currently use the pump.

I hope some of this helps out. The best way to know is to check out what other people have. If you are a really light sleeper then you will have problems with any tank and filter. If you are a fairly normal sleeper, you shouldn't have anything but beautiful sleep.

Good luck

Rob