Hey guys and gals... I went and bought a pegnuin 350 last night . Its rated for 350gph and I also have an established aquaclear 50 rated for 200gph. Thats 550 gph combined. When I do the math in turns the tank over 18.3 times an hour. I like the concept of the Penguin since goldfish create so much ammonia. It also has slots for 4 cartriges so I planned on changing one cartridge a week and still not disrupt the good bugs. I was concerned about too much current but it seems to barely move the plants. The problem I have with it is NOISE!!!!! The gurgling sound is enough to wake the dead and the downtube is unsightly to say the least although I like the idea of 2 level inlets. Is there a way to quiet this thing before I throw it out onto the NJ turnpike for a tractor trailer to take care of? I want to keep the aqua clear up and running until the penguin gets established and possibly keep it on there for nothing more tham a mechanical filter that I can clean out regularly. Im sitting here typing now and the sound of the penguin is driving me CRAZY!!!

I just took out the biowheel which is defeating my purpose and it made it a little better. I guess between the two filters I ill have a substantial amount of all three types of filtration. Now to find a plant large enough to cover up the down tube. would thos fancy plant background plants work to cover it up? The type that suctioncup to the back glass?

Hi, I have two Penguin 350's running and really have no problem with the noise. However, when I first set them up the noise was horrible.

So I unplugged the filter, took it to the sink, and took it all apart. I gave it a good rinse, and pit it back together, and made sure everything was properly in place. Once I did this there was no noise.

Give this a try! Hope it works for you!

My penguin was really loud too untill I moved the bubblewand from under the intake. Just a suggestion.

The only sound I get from my Penguin is the sound of the water going over the biowheel. If I take it out its fine but thats my only filter in the tank so I dont wanna mess with it and I didn't pay $30 for it to only have to take the thing out that makes it what it is. So I just deal with the sound, it did get somewhat quieter after it was running for a while though.

Its gotten better since I took out the wheels. The wheels are an excellent concept but the noise factor is unacceptable. Its now only a humming from the motor and a small gurgling sound. My whisper air pump is also noisy. I will have to find a replacement for that too. Its the new design that looks like a blue UFO. Any suggestions on a new airpump.

My air pump (cheapie from wally world) was really nosiy too but I put a fluffy hand towel folded up underneath it and it really helped a lot with the noise. I would try that before getting a new one.

Hi there,

I've got a P200 bio-wheel on my 10g and an Emporer 400 on my 40g with 2 biowheels.

It makes a racket getting it restarted after cleaning, but if I keep my water level with the outflow, or even above, that makes a real difference.

You can also elevate your air pump, putting it on rubber coasters and that can help wiht noise. Mine has rubber feet and I have it elevated on a cardboard box in the aquarium stand cabinet.

My friend does what Maceo does (towel) and that does the trick for him.

Hope this helps

S~

I have the tank level about 3/4 inch above the bottom of the outlet. As for the pump, I have tried insulating it and even went as far as making feet for it out of a gel type material designed especially for insulating vibration. I think it could just be me folks. I am a very light sleeper and I wake up with the slightest noise. My mistake for setting up the tank in my bedroom.

I've got the same noise problem with my emperor 280- I tried all different water levels and adjusted the spray bar to get the biowheel moving as slowly as possible. Still a lot of that "gurgle" sound. Funny thing is, the motor is pretty quiet.

Sorry I couldn't offer any suggestions for fixing the noise, but I thought I'd let you know that at least you're not alone.