I have recently added a 240 gallon freshwater tank in my listening room and it looks incredible. However it is very noisy and has taken away alot of the musical enjoyment. Is there anyone out there that is running a fish tank in their listening room? Is it quiet? What equipment are you using? Any feedback would to helpful!
I have worked for some of the largest fish stores in the world in the last 30 years and have 1000 gallons of fish tanks in my basement now. I'm something of a cichlidophile.
For that size tank don't buy eheim or fluval look into Ocean Clear canisters they will handle the largest of aquariums. I've had mine for over 15 years. Available at That Fish Place or Drs. Foster and Smith. You select he size pump for your tank. They are super quiet and never break.
Compact floursecent lights, Eheim canister filter. Use a spray bar near the top of your tank to handle surface water agitation without all the noise...
The most important question is what type of fish you keep. If you have a fresh water plant tank or a general low bio load, I recommend a quality canister filter like Eheim or RENA. Fluvals leak.....period. If you have Cichlids, well that's a different story.
hi. i run a 6 foot by 3 foot tank in my listening room. the tank is tropical set up and has three power filters keeping the water clean. the power pumps are housed in cabinets below the tank. they are fluval pumps so by no means top of the range, but work very well. the pumps do generate some noise. to reduce the output noise from the cabinet i have lined the inside of the cabinets with polystyrene sheets and this has helped to keep the noise very low. i also check for air in the filters which increse noise levels. in any case the noise is not that much, but it is noticeable when the room is quiet. it is good to avoid air stones and such as theire pumps are cheap and very noisy, unless you get a wheel type pump which are very expensive.
I used to run a 160 gal saltwater tank. But I had all of my power filters in the garage about 20 feet away. I was able to run the plumbing thru the wall (unusual floor plan) but you could run it under the house if you have a raised foundation w/wood floor. I also used multiple in line canister type filters. The only noise from the tank was nominal and was from a small airflow I put into the tank to help with water circulation. The water from the garage flowed into the tank on the bottom into an under the sand filter to keep the sand aerobic. The best part of this system was it was really easy to make water changes in the garage. A bit of a fussy set up but once done it was quite easy if operating a salt water tank could ever be easy - :-). But I was able to keep several varieties of fish as well as crustaceans.
Sort of like setting up and maintaining a high end audio system. You've got to love it to do it. And its expensive too.
If you can't do something elaborate, I think about the best way to do it is to get some of the canister filters under the tank and send their outflow to the underground filter. That way you do not need to have the airflow coming up thru the tubes on the ends of the filters which IMHO makes all of the noise which you can't otherwise avoid. The bursting bubbles are noisy even if you manage to get the motor noise damped down.
You might google up some info on how to set up a filter system and get some other ideas. I believe there are books on this subject as well.
Buconero, a well-meaning suggestion; but completely wrong I am afraid. A filter not only oxygenates water, but is also the home of beneficial bacteria which convert ammonia into nitrate; a process that is essential. The bacteria take many days to colonize the filter, and only minutes to start dying after the filter is turned off and are denied oxygen. Not a good idea.
I'm sure that the fish are very pretty, but I have to wonder if besides pump noise, is putting such large sheets of reflective glass the best idea for an audio room?
You might call the guys at Eminent Technology in Florida. Their air-bearing tonearm uses (IIRC) an air pump and they have done some work around this specific issue.
It is rather obvious, just turn off the filters when you are listening to music. Assuming you listen less then eight hours a day, the fish will still be fine.
Don't forget to use an appropriate audiophile grade power cord. The pump will have a vanishingly low noise floor. Inner detail and micro and macro dynamics will be out of this world.
The biggest canister filter that you find is the FLUVAL FX5. It's rated for up to 400 gallon fish tank. I don't know how quiet it is. You can search an aquarium forums.
What kind of fish are you keeping? I was going to build my aquariums into my stereo room but was afraid of the noise and left them outside the entrance in a kind of fish lobby room.
Bob, I have a 72 gallon freshwater bowfront between my speakers and it is very quiet. It is also beautiful and I'll bet your 240 is magnificent. The other posters recommending Eheim canister filters are on the right track. Those can be quiet and are also a boon to fish health so you have nothing to lose. I happen to use a different brand-Fluval-but either one is great. A 240 might take two of them "in parallel" (like two Eheim 2075's @ $300.00 ea) plus I would add a hang-on-back Marineland filter with a Bio-Wheel. A quiet way to gain valuable surface-breaking aeration for your pets. Expect to tweak vibrating plastic parts and add self-adhesive dots in strategic locations to control other 60Hz vibrations. A quiet tank is achievable although it might take a bit of work to get there. Totally worth it. I've had a big tank between my speakers since the mid seventies.
I only have a 75 gallon tank in my listening room, but it's dead quiet with the Eheim canister filter I use. Not sure if Eheim makes canister filters large enough for a tank as large as yours, but maybe Johnsonwu can speak to that.
Agreed, a canister type of filter like Eheim can be very quiet if maintained. Also under gravel filters depending on how the tube feed is supplied. I didn't see any mention of what you're using. Fresh or saltwater? My big salt water tank was dead quiet. And went on for years and years til I moved... Good luck... Easy to sort.
I had a 200 gal Saltwater tank. I made an overflow that had about 2-3 1" tubing that drained to my to my basement. From the basement I did all the filteration, areation, heating, bifiltering, skimming etc. The water from the upstairs tank drained into 2 PVC tubs that held about 30 gallons each. Each tub was plumbed to each other. From there I ran the tank water over Bio media with air pumping through the bio media. I had a huge Protein skimmer that cleaned the water in the tubs and submersible heaters. From there I had I think it was, a little giant saltwater tank that pumped about 800 gallons per hour. The return went into the upstairs tank via a 1" tubing and with a 90 degree elbow spliiled into the tank. the tank was fitting with a fairly tight glass with just one end open for the overflow, tubing etc. It was quite quiet. A freshwater tank would be even easier to set up.
Yes, I've had a tank for ages, although it's only a 40 gallon; it has an air pump and filter. I place these plastic bags from the grocery store with a little air in them under the pump to absorb vibration and the filter is a "Whisper filter". After some experimentation you'll work it out.
There is nothing better than an aquarium and beautiful music.
Its been a long time since I had an aquarium. You can start by asking the fish to be quiet when music is playing ;-) Seriously, you could get rid of the pump noise by running an air line from another room but you might need a more powerful pump to make up for "line losses". Also, the lift tube that brings the water up from the bottom of the tanks may need to be adjusted so that there is no splashing. There are certain kinds of filtration that are more electronic in nature rather than mechanical, and are less likely to be noisy. Finally, for shorter listening sessions, you can just turn the pump and filter system off.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
