How do you guys keep your air pumps quiet ?

[rdracer66]

Hi All thanks for your help on my wet dry system
works great now !!!!
however now that it's working well and very quiet
im  hearing my air pump, only reason i have one is because i have some bubble sticks that make some very nice bubbles on the back wall( looks very kewl ) but the air pump is so noisy
i've tried 3 different ones and there all noisy i've hung it up so its not touching the stand and i've wrapped a wet towlel around it  yet i still can hear t he damm thing
what do you guys do to get it to be quiet ??

Rd

 

[colesea]

Ignore them.  I've got three going in my room where I sleep, a TetraTec 150, TetraTec 80, and a profile 100.  The profile was the loudest, it operates my one gallon UGF, so I stuffed dry washcloths in the base of the tank and that has shut it up.

The other two pumps now are more subliminal noise than anything ese. If I think about them, then I hear them, and they get annoying. The acoustics in my room make the TetraTec 80 particularly loud at night, so I just simply unplug it when I go to bed, and plug it in in the morning.

One of the things I thought would work would be putting the pump in an "egg crate" foam lined shoebox with only the hoses and cord sticking out. The foam should absorb any vibrations and sound produced. I haven't tried it, they stopped annoying me.

But I truely have gotten so used to the background hum, I notice more when they're not humming, then I know something is wrong (like power out).
~~Colesea

 

[Pooky125]

I have mine set on a timer, so it goes out at 11 just before I go to sleep.. otherwise, like Colesea, I've gotten used to it to. I currently have a profile 100 connected to airstones in 2 of my tanks...

 

[rdracer66]

well it's in my basement so I'm fortunate that i dont sleep down here too often only when i get in  a fight with my girlfriend lol, but i do spend a lot of time down here on the pc's or watching tv there has to be a way of making it quieter like in a box with some sound proofing stuff or something ?

Rd

 

[dattack]

Since you've done all the necessary steps to quiet your pump, the only other suggestion and the best suggestion is to buy a brand of pump that is quiet.  I have a  Tetra tec Deep water pump and those things are fairly silent.

 

[aznpanther98]

i read somewhere on one of those diy sections to quiet an air pump here's the link http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/usefuldiytips/i nevertried it bc i only had a small air pump stuffed into a sock for my hospital tank until i put plants in it
this site also got some cool diy stuff too some might work with freshwater tanks

 

[JWright]

Well, the only true way to quiet an air-pump is to unplug it...

Since sound is made up of small movements of air, an air-pump by definition must make noise. No way arouind it.

Josh

 

[dattack]

Ear plugs will do!
*laughingcryingsmiley*

 

[colesea]

There are different types of pumps out there, I know the wheel-driven pumps (not diaphramatic pumps which are most of the pumps out there) are suppose to be really quiet, but I've never seen one, and from what I hear, they're pricey.

~~Colesea

 

[honeybee105]

I have the same problem. I've gotten used to it but sometimes its distracting when I'm studying or doing homework. i find that it makes the most noise when its vibrating against something. Sometimes shifting the pump slightly will quiet it down. Or like some other ppl said see if you can't find a quieter pump. Or wait awhile and you'll get used to it. Good luck

               ~*Katie*~

 

[rdracer66]

I t hink im going to either make a box or find one around the house and put fiberglass in it or some kind of sound absorber
i was looking on a msg board one day a few weeks back for noisy pc's with the loud fans that we have to have because mine's kinda loud but its in the basement now not my room so no worries there anymore but some guy used something for stereos on the sides of his case and he says its virtually silent !! can't hear any fans or anyting
so possibly something like that would work ?

Rd

 

[Dinocine]

you can be innovative trying ways to dampen the noise of the air pump, just not to reduce too much of its ventilation and cause it to overheat or it will be disastrous. you might be better off getting a better air pump, one that i heard which is quiet during operation is Rena. supposedly one with single outlet is quieter than 2 outlets, but you can always lower the air flow rate so that it doesn't make so much noise.