I recently purchased a second hand complete 6x2x2 setup with weir and 4' sump, the return pump is a 130 watt Resun King-5 6000lph.
I've set it up and everything works fine but I have 2 issues with it.
I know many of you like to overfilter your tanks, but the pump is too powerful and moves too much water for my purposes. It's currently returned through a ~1.75" PVC pipe. I know I could manage the current by attaching a spraybar, but it would still be producing, in my opinion, too great a turnover rate.
Which leads to the second problem, which is that it is too noisy. The pump itself hums loudly and I can feel the vibrations through the wooden floor from a couple metres away. I've fiddled with the weir to try and make it a bit quieter by stuffing it with media and inserting a piece of hose in the standpipe to reduce the roaring gurgle, but it is still far too loud. Here's a video of it in operation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaMaOaXP0hw
The setup is in my living room and I would like to make it as quiet as the other aquariums in here, which are pretty quiet. Loudest components are in order of loudness: the hum of the twin 4' T8s in the hood of my 4' display tank, the hum of a 3 watt Elite air pump, and the trickling of water from the top-filters on my two 2' tanks.
There is a 1200lph AquaOne canister in the cabinet of my 4' display tank, sitting on a block of foam. I can't hear it in operation unless I open the cabinet doors and stick my head inside.
My ideas on silencing the sump were:
Replace the pump with a 4500lph Laguna, construct a Durso standpipe for the weir, extend the pipe from the weir further below the water level in the sump, add more filter media to the sump to reduce the level the water falls from one baffle into the next chamber.
Anything else I could do?
The question is, with what I've got to work with here, do you think I can silence the setup, or should I get an FX5 and run that instead? And, how quiet is an FX5?
Costs:
Silence sump: Laguna pump, PVC for Durso standpipe and extension into sump and probably a spray bar, extra media for sump, total ~$300, plus labour to acquire components and assemble. Could then sell the sump, media and pump for $200-300.
FX5: $439 delivered, brand new. I know that's an absurd price, I live in Australia. If you know where I can get it cheaper within Australia, let me know.
The most important consideration is which option will be quieter.
Please tell me what you think, and thanks in advance.
I've set it up and everything works fine but I have 2 issues with it.
I know many of you like to overfilter your tanks, but the pump is too powerful and moves too much water for my purposes. It's currently returned through a ~1.75" PVC pipe. I know I could manage the current by attaching a spraybar, but it would still be producing, in my opinion, too great a turnover rate.
Which leads to the second problem, which is that it is too noisy. The pump itself hums loudly and I can feel the vibrations through the wooden floor from a couple metres away. I've fiddled with the weir to try and make it a bit quieter by stuffing it with media and inserting a piece of hose in the standpipe to reduce the roaring gurgle, but it is still far too loud. Here's a video of it in operation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaMaOaXP0hw
The setup is in my living room and I would like to make it as quiet as the other aquariums in here, which are pretty quiet. Loudest components are in order of loudness: the hum of the twin 4' T8s in the hood of my 4' display tank, the hum of a 3 watt Elite air pump, and the trickling of water from the top-filters on my two 2' tanks.
There is a 1200lph AquaOne canister in the cabinet of my 4' display tank, sitting on a block of foam. I can't hear it in operation unless I open the cabinet doors and stick my head inside.
My ideas on silencing the sump were:
Replace the pump with a 4500lph Laguna, construct a Durso standpipe for the weir, extend the pipe from the weir further below the water level in the sump, add more filter media to the sump to reduce the level the water falls from one baffle into the next chamber.
Anything else I could do?
The question is, with what I've got to work with here, do you think I can silence the setup, or should I get an FX5 and run that instead? And, how quiet is an FX5?
Costs:
Silence sump: Laguna pump, PVC for Durso standpipe and extension into sump and probably a spray bar, extra media for sump, total ~$300, plus labour to acquire components and assemble. Could then sell the sump, media and pump for $200-300.
FX5: $439 delivered, brand new. I know that's an absurd price, I live in Australia. If you know where I can get it cheaper within Australia, let me know.
The most important consideration is which option will be quieter.
Please tell me what you think, and thanks in advance.
