I am wondering what other people's experiences are with the level of noise canister filters make. I keep 4 tanks in my bedroom (roommate is not too crazy about tanks in the living room), one of which - 55g - has a canister filter. I went through Fluval 404 and Rena Filstar XP3, both used, and find them a bit noisy for a bedroom. So I am almost convinced I should get a brand new canister filter hoping it'll be easy on my ears for the next little while. Question is which one I should go for. Any opinions? Advices? Things I should be watching for?
I got a brand new Rena XP1 for my 40G in my bedroom and I am happy with it. It is the quietest filter I have...it also happens to be the only brand new filter I have though so it could be quietest for that reason alone.
EHEIM Classic definitely.....I'm running two of them and have absolutely no problems with them. They're so quiet in fact, that most of the time I'm not even sure they're on. I usually have to touch them to know.
Eheim Classic. It is the most quiet one I've got.
Irene
My EHEIM and Rena are very quiet, the Fluvals, not as much.
Eheims are known for their quiet operation compared to their competitors. You have to NOT hear one to believe it.
I've got an Eheim Pro II on my 90 gallon in the living room and you can't hear it at all.
Jeff
I run three Fluvals 304 (one new, the other two used) and don't notice any noise. Maybe the impeller chamber, the impeller and the surrounding parts just need a good cleaning once, maybe the impeller runs unbalanced, maybe the MTS population in the filter is to big ... just ideas to look at to reduce the current noise level.
Thanks all for the reply. I definitely see an agreement on Eheim as a perfect candidate. Now, please excuse my ignorance, but when we say Eheim Classic, do we mean the 22-series? Suppose if I have a 55g that I'd like to over-filter, should I be looking into getting an Eheim 2217-ish?
Fischkopp - thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely look into those!
My Eheim 2213 is absolutely silent! and I'm picky when it comes to noise.
new impeller and impeller shaft will make a big difference
Eheim 2235 was the quietest of all my canisters.
Or, if you want to save urself some money, insulate the filter. Box w/ some fiber insulation, that's how I prevented myself from going insane when I lived in res.
eheim is definetely the best you can find, i've got 13 of them to proove it!
i've heard the fluval 05 series are really quiet
Eheim all the way. I owned several while into FW, and I don't know if anything could be made to be quieter.
Matt's absolutely right when he says he's got to touch them to see if they're running. I found myself doing the same thing many, many times.