Someone help please

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platybreeder26

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jun 23, 2015
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57
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Platytownn
Okay I just got a new 20 gallon tank. Everything as fine. It has a hob filter, which is super quiet. Except for the splashy sounds. They drive me nuts. You cant hear the motor, only the splashy sounds. I cant sleep at night cause its in my bedroom, and that stresses me out. My body does not take stress well becasue of my anxiety disorder... When I raise the water level, the splashy sounds go away, but I am afraid this might not let the fish get enough oxygen cause not alot of bubbles come out. When I lower it, I get a ton of surface agitarion and lots of bubbles, but cant sleep at night and get stressed out. Help, will raising the water give my fish enough oxygen? Or am I gonna have to buy an air pump? Huumming sounds dont bother me, I sleep witha rattly air conditioner on the main road, but I cant stand water sounds....:( :facepalm::banghead::banghead:
 
Sleep first!! The fish will be fine.. many tanks have minimal surface agitation and the fish are fine. Seeing as it's responsibly stocked of course.
On a side note.. I am a very light sleeper and this has literally changed my life; ) I have a cat fountain thing er that splashes when it's filled to high and I used to wake up in a panic thinking a tank was leaking, or have stress dreams about leaky tanks or have to pee 12 times a night... bad news bears man..
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-DOHM-DS-Natural-actual-Machine/dp/B000KUHFGM

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Raise the water level. The bubbles aren't necessary. If the water is moving on top(surface agitation) then it will have plenty of gas exchange for your fish.
 
If it still splashes just a bit when you raise the level, put a panty hose over the output to cause the flow to dissipate to the sides

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Surface ripples means gas exchange. Salt water holds much less Oxygen then freshwater and we just use power heads pointed at the surface to make the ripples. There are no problems with low oxygen. In freshwater your power filter is doing a great job adding oxygen. Do not worry.
 
Agreed about raising the water level. If you're not comfortable with the surface agitation, invest in a $10 air pump and a bubble wand.

Like Brookster, I'm a very light sleeper as well and also recommend a white noise device. Earplugs can also work wonders.
 
I have used a bulk filter chunk tucked into the out flow cut narrow to fit the correct width of the filter pad and tuck just a few inches into the hob, then I cut it similar to a fan shape - wider at the edges of the hob and it kind of sits on the water.

Drives me nuts too. I have one tank in the bedroom and just more than one night of not adding water for evaporation and the sound makes me crazy.

I keep a large size personal Fiji water bottle (like the square shape) below of treated water so I add just a little any time it seems low and at bedtime for a restful nights sleep. :)
 
Get rid of the hang on back filter and get yourself an Internal top fin 40 for your 20g tank, you will never have to worry about noise ever again... trust me lol i have 3 fish tanks in my bedroom.. My 92g my 27g and my 10g and all 3 use top fin internal 1x20 and 2x40's and a canister.. and i hear nothing but complete silence at night.

The internal top fin is a petsmart only brand.. they are cheap too, only $29 for the 40 version. I recomend the 40 for your 20g tank. With an internal filter the motor is submerged and the water dapens the noise so i garuntee you its even more silent then your "silent hang on back" and you also do not need to worry about the water level getting to low from evaportation and causing noise.. It has flow adjustment as well and acts like the a powerhead.


I strongly strongly recomend you try the top fin internal, you will not regret it
 
Oh you guys would hate me then ?

I have 5 filters going within 8 feet from my bed. The sound puts me to sleep! I sometimes lower the water level about an inch to get more splashes, if i cant hear it over my fan, because it helps me sleep! Guess i might be an oddball... My family doesn't like the noise :/

But i pay for the tanks, i get to hear the music!!


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No your not wierd..


You dont wanna know how many women ive dated who need the t.v on full blast to fall asleep.. It drove me absolutetly nuts and was one reason why i dont date them anymore
 
Was it one reason or the only reason?

Just kidding.

And yeah i know lots of people like noise but at night i have the 5 filters, 3 of them are big filter that splash a lot, a radio playing, a ceiling fan, a tower fan, and i listen to music on my headphones to go to sleep sometimes. And for some reason the loudest noise doesn't drown the others out, they just add on to each other and i have basically a small bomb made of of noises which explodes if you open the door.


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Another question, soooooo today I installed an air pump,,, its pretty quiet. But loud enough that my anxious ears pick it up while I sleep. Its only been one night and I would like to give it a shot, but I dont think I will be able to sleep with it on. If I unplug it for tonight and possibly tomorrow night but run it in the day, will my guppies be okay?
 
You could run it during the day if you want, but if you are running the HOB filter, then you should not need to air pump at all (in most cases).


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Well, the noise from the pump is it vibrating, so wrap in in a towel or something...

And just fill the tank up higher to help with filter noise, if you havent already.

The fish will be ok.


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My vote for raising the water level as well. My fish tanks are in my man cave/office and drives me nuts to hear the splash so I always top it off.


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I cant have air pumps in my bedroom like you i hear the noise even if its the quiestest one and the bubbles on the surface poping i can hear too..
 
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