# Recommend a silent air pump!



## longhornxtreme (Feb 20, 2007)

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a tetra air pump at the LFS to run an airstone at night to cut down on my surface sludge and to aerate the water. Unfortunately, the tank is in my bedroom and it's just too loud for me to sleep through. 

Is there a more silent brand? Money is not an issue for the pump, but I really don't want to mess with a skimmer.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

I too have a tank in my room and it needs a airpump for the sponge filter. I'm just gonna move it out of my room, lol.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Ill see what air pump I have sitting at home doing nothing (yet still plugged in).

My quiet may be your yelling though as I have multiple servers running in the same room I sleep in.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I've tried a couple of different air pumps and the most consistently quiet is the Whisper with the funny domed shape ending in four feet. I have gotten a bum Whisper air pump once that was noisy, but most are very quiet - just make sure that it's not touching anything. Mine will cause a buzzing noise if it's near/touching another powercord (I guess it's vibrating into the other cord). I've been using them for almost a year now and they are still running quiet.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I'm very happy with my Dolphin air pump. I got mine from www.kensfish.com.


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## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

Yeah, I got a aquatech one rated for 10 gallons, but it's as noisy as my 5 star dolphin xD


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## longhornxtreme (Feb 20, 2007)

My tetra pump is the whisper 20, tetra owns all the whipser stuff now. The thing literally sounds like a personal vibrator is going off on my floor. 

When people say quiet... do they mean silent? Or do they mean PC fan quiet? Or do they mean cell phone vibrating quiet?


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## imeridian (Jan 17, 2007)

Judging by what some folks rate as silent they must believe the space shuttle launch is quiet. Noise, quietness, silence, they're all so very relative.

I've used one of those blue Whisper air pumps and while they're not too noisy, I still wouldn't rate it as quiet. I don't think there's any consumer air pump available that would be quiet enough to be in a bedroom, at least from my point of view. 

I think in this situation a small powerhead, like an AquaClear 20, would be better. If necessary one could even use its venturi attachment to add bubbles, but simply agitating the surface should be enough. While they'll take some 'break in' time in terms of noise, they're infinitely less noisy than air pumps with vibrating diaphragms.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

Someone, please.... BRING BACK THE SILENT GIANT!!!


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I have a 5 gal in the bedroom with a sponge filter. The whisper pump was too loud for me. I switched to a Rena. It's not silent, but it's quiet enough that it doesn't bother me. I think I notice the noise from the bubbles more than the pump noise.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

pawslover said:


> I have a 5 gal in the bedroom with a sponge filter. The whisper pump was too loud for me. I switched to a Rena. It's not silent, but it's quiet enough that it doesn't bother me. I think I notice the noise from the bubbles more than the pump noise.


That's funny because I switched from the Rena to the Whisper because of noise. I had gone through several Rena air pumps and they all had an annoying buzz that drove me crazy. Nothing I did could stop it. In my bedroom I only hear the air bubbles from the sponge filter, not the Whisper air pump.

For noise, the Drinkwell fountain for my cats has absolutely the noisiest pump around. Makes all my aquarium stuff sound fabulously quiet.


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## Dr. Tankenstein (Oct 28, 2006)

longhornxtreme,
I HATE the noise of air pumps too. So, I run two AquaClear 201 powerheads at night on my 90G to aerate and to break down the 'sludge', any small powerhead will work. I sanded the blue logo off for more of a stealth look. Granted, the deeper you place the unit, the less air it can pull in, but hey it's SILENT and they're UBER-CHEAP!
http://cgi.ebay.com/HAGEN-10-AQUACLEAR-1000-AQUARIUM-POWERHEAD-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ350021461087QQihZ022QQcategoryZ46312QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## longhornxtreme (Feb 20, 2007)

You know, I've had an aquarium for quite some time, and I've never used any sort of power head. Maybe I'll have to go grab one and test it. How does it clear up the sludge? Just by shooting water at the surface?

One of the appeals of the airstone is that it's just a clear tube in my tank and not another piece of equipment.


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

cs_gardener said:


> I've tried a couple of different air pumps and the most consistently quiet is the Whisper with the funny domed shape ending in four feet. I have gotten a bum Whisper air pump once that was noisy, but most are very quiet - just make sure that it's not touching anything. Mine will cause a buzzing noise if it's near/touching another powercord (I guess it's vibrating into the other cord). I've been using them for almost a year now and they are still running quiet.


If I know what one you are talking about (blue dome) I went through 2 of them in a couple of months. Don't know what my deal is.


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## Rabbithntr86219 (Feb 17, 2008)

Rena air pumps are extremely quiet!


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## rwong2k (Jan 13, 2005)

Rabbithntr86219 said:


> Rena air pumps are extremely quiet!


I found the Rena pumps are really quiet compared to the Tetra whispers, but mine broke down after 6 months and had to buy a repair kit. This past boxing day I purchased a Tetra whisper and, got fooled by the whisper in it's title. Tried it for a few weeks but it's significantly louder than the rena. I've unplugged it for now and purchased a Rena instead

Raymond


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## lEddyl (Apr 8, 2006)

try HiBlow too
extremely silent and powerful


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