Wanted: Quiet, affordable, 10 gal (or more) filter.

[sugarloves]

Ok so Ive had it with my stupid aquaclear 150; the damn thing is way too noisey. I had a petcetera 10 gal started kit that came with an extremely quiet filter but I moved that to my 3 gal hex and put my 30 gal filter on my 10 gallon tank. Its so loud that I need to go out and buy I new one.
I live in Canada in a small town so all we have are the mom and pop lfs. Ive seen the aquaclears there but i dont want one of those. What is a good filter that I can put on my 10 gallon that I WONT be able to hear and that isnt too expensive; Im a student after all I wouldnt mind going a bit higher than a 10 gallon filter because it cant hurt to have more filtration and Im always picking up larger tanks at garage sales.

 

[Toirtis]

Something was not right with your AC150......I have 6 ACs, all 200s and 300s, running in my bedroom, and they make almost no perceptable noise.....neither do the other 20 ACs I have in my house, ranging from minis to 500s.

 

[hashbaz]

You might try internal filters. They are completely underwater and should be almost silent. Expect about $15 to $30. I've never tried them, but they should work fine.

Here are some examples of what I'm thinking:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/category.xml?pcid1=2885;category_id=1717

 

[Toirtis]

Here are some examples of what I'm thinking:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/category.xml?pcid1=2885;category_id=1717

Unfortunately, prices on those are quite different here:
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/category.xml?pcid1=2885;category_id=1717

 

[sugarloves]

Well I bought the aquaclear at a garage sale in a box of tons and tons of aquarium crap that I paid 3 dollars for so i guess I cant really complain that its too loud. It seems to have a sort of vibration noise to it...as if the lid was rattling. Its not the lid (cuz ive taken it off) , and its not the cartridge holder....I just dont know. Ive taken all the components out and reinstalled them and its still really loud. So are you telling me that if I did buy anohter aquaclear it should be really quiet?

 

[Toirtis]

So are you telling me that if I did buy anohter aquaclear it should be really quiet?

Yes. I suspect that the one you have needs a new impeller-shaft and/or impeller....the shaft runs about $2 at shops that carry Hagen Filter parts (Petlands, PJs, etc), so replace that first and see how it does. Whereabouts in Canada are you?

 

[Cafe Jeff]

My AC150 is dead silent too (as compared to my Emperor 400s).
A new impeller is certainly worth a try. Failing that, a powered intenal I think would be very quiet. Jeff

 

[cginflorida]

My AquaClears are silent, too. Once in a while the one on my 10 gal will get a little rattle (not often), but it's just a matter of shifting the filter a little bit where it's hanging. That always works.

 

[FishLover14]

Get a Penguin Mini Filter they are whipser quiet and a great filter for up to 20gal.

Dan

 

[SwerveDriver]

I have an Aquaclear 150 and it's quiet. The only noise I hear is from the rattle of the lid on occasion. Even the water ouput stream is very quiet depending on your tanks water level, especially compared to my Penguin Emperor 280.

You probably just have a defective one which you should replace.

 

[sugarloves]

So i went to the lfs to buy a new filter and the lady there showed me how to take the propeller out and clean everything on my filter. It didnt work. They have whisper filters at wallmart for 20 bucks for a 10-15 gal tank. Im thinking of getting one of these (if a new propeller doesnt do the trick). Also, I saw that they have internal aquatech filters for 17 dollars for a 2-5 gallon tank. These could fit in a betta tank quite nicely.......and then I can go out and get that pretty yellow betta ive been eyeing. Hahah, man Im an addict.

Anyways, is the whisper a good filter or is cheap and crappy?

 

[BASSNMAN]

I like the Marineland 125 with biowheel for my tanks in the 10 to 20 gal range. You can get them from bigalsonline for around $20

 

[Toirtis]

So i went to the lfs to buy a new filter and the lady there showed me how to take the propeller out and clean everything on my filter. It didnt work. They have whisper filters at wallmart for 20 bucks for a 10-15 gal tank. Im thinking of getting one of these (if a new propeller doesnt do the trick).

What you probably need is not a new impeller, but the metal shaft that it goes on.

 

[verucaproduce]

They have whisper filters at wallmart for 20 bucks for a 10-15 gal tank. Im thinking of getting one of these

I have a hob whisper that I have had running in my 10 gallon for about 5 years. It is very quiet and I haven't had any trouble with it. *knock on wood*