Looking for quiet setup, feeling defeated

[ScubaNemo]

I have the Reefer 350 and could not be happier. My reefer friend was checking out my set up and literally said: "your tank is just too quiet" :-)
You can see the equipment I have in my signature.

[Guy W]

Thanks for all the replies everyone I appreciate it.

One of my big issues is I am NOT at all a handy person. Having something that's easy to setup is important, easy meaning something with clear instructions. Obviously being quiet is of a large importance to me as well.

It seems like an all in one type system is probably going to be the way to go. Aside from the Red Sea Reefer system is there anything else out there I should look at that would meet my criteria of:

1.) Quiet, no water flushing/surging/or gurgling noise
2.) Easy to setup and get running
3.) Be 36" long and around 40-60 gallons
4.) Looks very nice in the livingroom and will allow for a mixed reef with great water quality

Thanks again everyone.

[Brieninsac]

I have a Red Sea Reefer 350 and it is deadly silent once you get it dialed in. The only thing I hear is the subtle hum of the wave maker.

[ScubaNemo]

Originally Posted by Guy W

Thanks for all the replies everyone I appreciate it.

One of my big issues is I am NOT at all a handy person. Having something that's easy to setup is important, easy meaning something with clear instructions. Obviously being quiet is of a large importance to me as well.

It seems like an all in one type system is probably going to be the way to go. Aside from the Red Sea Reefer system is there anything else out there I should look at that would meet my criteria of:

1.) Quiet, no water flushing/surging/or gurgling noise
2.) Easy to setup and get running
3.) Be 36" long and around 40-60 gallons
4.) Looks very nice in the livingroom and will allow for a mixed reef with great water quality

Thanks again everyone.

Here you have it, you literally just described the Red Sea reefer set up :-)
I wouldn't go to the all in one tanks. Better to get the reefer and install your own "quiet" equipment.

[ScubaNemo]

Originally Posted by brieninsac

i have a red sea reefer 350 and it is deadly silent once you get it dialed in. The only thing i hear is the subtle hum of the wave maker.

+1 👍🏼

[StrangeDejavu]

My Beananimal 40 breeder was so silent, the only thing I ever heard was the hum of the pump on my skimmer. If drilling glass and plumbing it sounds intimidating to you then I would agree that an AIO system would be your best bet.

[Guy W]

Originally Posted by StrangeDejavu

If drilling glass and plumbing it sounds intimidating to you then I would agree that an AIO system would be your best bet.

Ironically, when I tried the glass holes overflow kit, drilling out the 40g breeder I bought was not a big deal. That's because there was a very good video online explaining how to do it exactly, step by step.

Plumbing the thing to the sump and then the return plumbing on the other hand was very aggravating and I'm sure I didn't do it right, hence why it was unbearably loud. Same with the 65g Aqueon with built in Megaflow.

I couldn't really find good detailed instructions on how to plumb the tank online. There's lots of basic tips and ideas out there, but I really need clear step by step stuff.

I don't want to wing it and try to figure it out again. I've tried that twice now and I've been very disappointed with the results and probably wasted close to $1000 now.

[Guy W]

For you guys that have the Red Sea reefer, specially I'd be looking at the 250 model, what return pump is recommended? I've read people use the EHeim Compact 3000+. If that's the best choice do you run that wide open or do you need a throtle the flow back to get the tank quiet?

[Guy W]

Originally Posted by Guy W

For you guys that have the Red Sea reefer, specially I'd be looking at the 250 model, what return pump is recommended? I've read people use the EHeim Compact 3000+. If that's the best choice do you run that wide open or do you need a throtle the flow back to get the tank quiet?

bump

[Bent]

Here's how quiet mine is:

https://youtu.be/4Xfn6hfjKXw

[DopeCantWin]

I'm a big quiet fan as well. I've tried pumps where people call them silent, and I'd completely disagree. With a sump on the bottom I have a hard time believing you can ever cancel the noise out. Yes you can make the overflow dead silent, a simple herbie would do it. The problem is the pump going back up. I'd recommend doing a JBJ 30 or 45. I have the 30 gallon. For now I only have the pumps from the back chambers doing the circulation, no powerheads in the main tank. Once my SPS starts taking off, I'll need to up the flow. After around the first week, the pumps are dead silent. I'm using AI Sols for lighting, but will probably upgrade when something nice becomes available.

[Bent]

The only way your going to get the pump completely silent is to put it away from the tank.

[DopeCantWin]

Originally Posted by Bent

The only way your going to get the pump completely silent is to put it away from the tank.

Exactly. The only time I've ever seen a tank be truly quiet with a sump, the sump was located on a different floor.

[Bent]

Originally Posted by DopeCantWin

Exactly. The only time I've ever seen a tank be truly quiet with a sump, the sump was located on a different floor.

Mine in the video, the sump is in the basement.

[GimpyFin]

I use the eheim compact 3000+ on mine and it's pretty quiet. It's larger than what you'd really need for a reefer 250. The compact 2000+ would be fine if that's the route you are looking at.

[joshbrookkate]

Originally Posted by JammyBirch

if i read this correctly you have a single drain line and it's loud, aka flushing sound. The reason is because the pipe is filling up with water and the water weight builds up to a point where it is released and it flushes out. It's a cycle, that will keep happening.

I run the return pump that you have wide open with a single drain line also. It's dead quiet...i have a valve on my drain line to restrict the drain flow, that means the pipe is always full of water.

This is not recommended by anyone, but it can be done safely if your return pump chamber is small enough that if your drain were to plug your display tank would hold that water without overflowing and secondly you have sometype of smart ATO with overfill protection.

If you don't have this or cant have that capability, then you should consider drilling the tank and adding an emergency drain.

This was my situation, too - A loud flushing noise.
Fixed it by doing the following:
Drilled a couple extra small air holes into the top of return pipe,
Extended the return pipe so it ended under the water in the sump, instead of splashing water into the sump,
Added a filter sock to the return pipe,
Turned down the flow from the return pump so it matched what my return plumbing could handle quietly.
Now it's absolutely quiet. A good thing because the tank is in my husband's TV room.

[Aquaman]

Only took me 20 years and more then 10 tank designs to understand how to make them quiet

[Tisbe]

I had a Durso setup converted to a Herbie and it went silent. Greybeard did a nice write-up.

[Pmj]

Having a valve on the drain pipe and adjusting it helped me a lot. With it wide open i was getting a lot of big air bubbles. Now it only has a small amount of small air bubbles that make almost no noise. System is durso with emergency (so pretty much herbie).

It's a ball valve and I was just at another reefer's house and he had a full siphon drain (also an emergency) with a gate valve that was dead silent. He said the gate valves are much easier to adjust.

Also, I have a Jebao DC return pump that I got with the setup and it doesn't make much noise at all, it's running a little over half speed.

[Janetsplanet]

Originally Posted by GimpyFin

I use the eheim compact 3000+ on mine and it's pretty quiet. It's larger than what you'd really need for a reefer 250. The compact 2000+ would be fine if that's the route you are looking at.

I know I'm a little late on this thread, but my .02...

I can't confirm, but I've read/heard that the Eheim compact version is nosier than the 'normal' Eheim's? Can anyone who's owned both debunk or confirm this?

I use the Eheim 1260 with my Reefer 250. It BARELY fits in the return chamber with just mm's to spare on each side. It's not silent, there is a hum that comes from the pump. A partial wrap of filter floss (which is what I did) or silicon potholder will help a lot with the noise reduction, as the majority of the noise is vibration against the glass.

Having said that I'm pleasantly surprised by the lack of noise from the drain lines on the reefer (though it does take time to get dialed in, especially when breaking in a new pump).

I do get splashing noise from the overflow teeth into the box, and i'm not quite sure how to solve it yet.

Hope this helps!

I'm actually in the market for a quieter pump for my soon to be acquired Reefer 425 XL. Go big, or go home... right?

[ScubaNemo]

Originally Posted by Janetsplanet

I know I'm a little late on this thread, but my .02...

I can't confirm, but I've read/heard that the Eheim compact version is nosier than the 'normal' Eheim's? Can anyone who's owned both debunk or confirm this?

I use the Eheim 1260 with my Reefer 250. It BARELY fits in the return chamber with just mm's to spare on each side. It's not silent, there is a hum that comes from the pump. A partial wrap of filter floss (which is what I did) or silicon potholder will help a lot with the noise reduction, as the majority of the noise is vibration against the glass.

Having said that I'm pleasantly surprised by the lack of noise from the drain lines on the reefer (though it does take time to get dialed in, especially when breaking in a new pump).

I do get splashing noise from the overflow teeth into the box, and i'm not quite sure how to solve it yet.

Hope this helps!

I'm actually in the market for a quieter pump for my soon to be acquired Reefer 425 XL. Go big, or go home... right?

If you are getting splashing noise in the overflow box, probably your water level in the overflow box is low. I usually keep mine about half inch from the top of the grey tube and it is completely silent. Hope this helps.

[incloud]

Originally Posted by re76

How did you have the overflow plumbed? It sounds like your main drain was taking in both air and water which is going to cause the loud gurgling sound you mentioned.

In most popular overflow setups like herbie and bean your main drain should be under the water line and not be taking in any air. Typically your emergency drain will be handling a very small amount of water that is trickling in but if you have your set-up dialed in this can be an extremely small amount and shouldn't be making much noise at all.

I just got a Red Sea Reefer and am not entirely sure whether it is a full siphon system or not? Can you please confirm, Thanks!

[slyseekr]

I'm a bit late to this thread, I'd suggest looking into an XAqua In/Out. It's another sit DIY still option, but beyond simple.

I've been running mine for a year on my Nuvo 30 and it's dead silent with 500 gph turnover, and, pretty confident that it would stay silent handling far more flow. My Gyres (230 model) running at 40% generate more noise.