Noisy Aquaclear 50

[Timster]

Hi guys, I bought an Aquaclear 50 from petsmart a few weeks ago, and I really like it. However, it is pretty noisy compared to my old whisper filter. The fishtank is in my bedroom but I really only notice the noise at night when there is no backround noise. The noise isnt real loud but enough to annoy me. Today I took the impellar out and cleaned it in water but no sound difference...I'm guessing this is normal and I should return the filter?

Tim.

[Japola44]

My aquaclear 20 is virtually silent. Try putting more water in your tank so the distance from where the water falls between the filter in the tank is shorter. This gets rid ofthe waterfall noise. Also if it is making a vibrating noise against the glass put some folded paper between the filter and tank to dull it out. If that doesn't help then i would return it, but in general all filters make some noise

[degbowl]

I have two that are very quiet. I sleep right next to one of the tanks. Sometimes I will have to clean the impeller. Occasionaly I have to change it. Then it is silent again.

[Meredith]

My aquaclear is kinda loud too. I noticed that if I take the cover off, its not so loud. To keep dust and stuff from falling in, I put cling wrap over the top.

[Timster]

Originally Posted by degbowl

I have two that are very quiet. I sleep right next to one of the tanks. Sometimes I will have to clean the impeller. Occasionaly I have to change it. Then it is silent again.

may I ask what version yours is? like AQ30 or 50..

[BillD]

An AC filter should be quiet, as far as motor noise goes. Return it and exchange for a new one.

[ringfinger]

I recently bought 3 of AQ20 filters, so I have a bit of experience with this kinda thing. My first one was perfectly silent which is what made me want to get 2 more for other tanks. The other two were really noisy, and keeping the lid on made it worse.

After some experimenting I'm pretty sure that it has everything to do with getting all of the air out of the filter when it is first starting up. When I first put an AQ in my tank, I use a cup to scoop some water into the filter so that it doesn't run dry. Then I plug it in while set to maximum flow. It takes it a minute to suck the water up the tube, but you can speed it up by moving the lever back and forth from max to min. But it was this trick that seemed to cause it to be more noisy. Just leave it set to max while it slowly gets going, it might take longer but in my experience results in much more silent operation.

I'm really curious if anyone else has had a similar experience...?

[degbowl]

Originally Posted by Timster

may I ask what version yours is? like AQ30 or 50..

I have two AQ70's. One for a 46 gal discus tank and one for a 40 gal fancy goldfish tank. They both work great and are quiet. I leave mine at max and let it slowly fill up.

[Tolak]

Putting a rock on top of the lid will quiet any rattling from there.