Protein skimmer is too loud!

[hobbs]

I just bought a CPR Back Pak 2 protein skimmer from a friend for my 40gal fish only saltwater tank. It's in my tv room and I can't handle the noise it makes. It seems to be working fine and my friend said it's normal for that type of skimmer to make noise. Can I do anything to make it more quiet? Most of the noise seems to be coming from the Rio pump this skimmer came with. Could I maybe buy a different pump that makes less noise that would be compatible with this skimmer?

 

[snapcrackler]

Rios can get pretty loud, this I can attest to! They are kinda cheep.

What model Rio is on it? You should be able to get another comparable GPH powerhead no problem. Heck I think they sell Penguins at WalMart.

Good luck I will watch this post and see what you end up doing... I do not like loud obnoxious continuous noises either.. I always wonder how it affects the fish too..

 

[hobbs]

I belive it's a Rio 600 RVT

 

[reefrunner69]

You can use a maxijet 900 or 1200 with a venturi kit. What kind of sound is it? is it a hissing sound...or a clicking sound like a rattling impeller?

 

[hobbs]

It's a constant loud hum.

 

[reefrunner69]

Sounds like the pump or skimmer body is vibrating against the tank. If it's not a vibration, you will do much better upgrading the pump.

 

[hobbs]

It's not vibrating, I can hold the skimmer with my hand to make sure and it doesn't change the noise. I'm starting to think maybe skimmers are just loud. Before I got the skimmer my tank was almost silent, all you could hear was the water trickling from my Aquaclear filter. The noise has tripled eversince I got the skimmer. All you can hear is the skimmer.

 

[reefrunner69]

Until this past week, I had a CPR bak pak 2R skimmer and all you could hear from it was a slight hissing of air being sucked into the venturi. The remora skimmer I replaced it with is twice as loud and I still consider it fairly quiet. Even the slight noise from the skimmer will eventually be tuned out as background noise once you get used to it, although yours sounds to be a different noise and can possibly be quieted some. The addition of the maxijet will definitely improve skimmer preformance and might also quiet it down, I would definitely consider it