Hello all!

I've been a goldfish keeper for a little over 3 months now and have really appreciated some of the advice I've seen here. My husband has been pretty patient about my growing addiction. The only complaint I've had from him is comments regarding the noise the filters make (doesn't help that I have 2 and 3 on each tank ). Is there a quiet filter I can purchase without sacrificing any of the benefits to my fish? I have mostly Aquaclears now. I have a whisper on my little betta tank and it reallly is quiet. Are the larger Whisper filters as quiet as the little one inside my betta tank? Is there another brand anyone can recommend? My husband has been a good sport, so it doesn't seem like too much to ask to cut down on the noise, but not if it isn't good for my fish!

Oh and some stats since I am posting for the first time: I have a 10 gallon with some african dwarf frogs and tropical fish, a 29 gallon housing my african clawed frogs, a 2.5 gallon with a betta, 2-55 gallon with 5 goldfish each, a 29 gallon with 3 golfish, and a 10 gallon with one goldfish. The 55 gallon goldfish tanks are the ones that seem to be the most annoying (even when I had just one filter on each).

Thanks in advance for your help and for not thinking I'm insane for collecting 7 fish tanks!
Christine

The Whisper filters aren't silent unless you buy the internal ones. The power filters are whisper quiet. You will just have to get one to see if you think it is quiet. I personally like the Whisper filters, but my absoloute fave is the Imagine Biosystem filter with OXY Surface Skimmer. It is quiet and is the best filter I have ever used.

Daniel

Eh, they're not super quiet but they're not bad either. I love my Penguin Bio-Wheels but sometimes they get pretty loud, theres something about the two part top that causes an annoying vibration sometimes. I've used whisper filters for more than 10 years and haven't had much to complain about though

I personally, have not really liked the wispers. I have a wisper 60 and it is so ungodly loud. My old 30 was also a bit on the noisy side too. I'll sometimes get up in the middle of the night and unplug the W. 60 because i cant sleep. On my other tank, i have an aqua clear that i cant even hear unless i stick my head behind the tank...

I use biowheels, which are quiet as long as I keep the water level in the tank up above the lip of the filter. My mom's whisper filter is about the same way--the noise comes from the water falling from the filter back into the tank, the filter itself is fairly quiet.

I have a Whisper and an AquaClear both on my 30 gallon, and they are so much quieter than my old filter that I had to put my ear against them to make sure they were running, lol!

I also have a Whisper on my tropical tank and it is very quiet. I can't complain about either one.

And welcome!

I agree - depending on how you set your filter and fill the filter, it may be more or less quiet. Having the water level up to the lip of the overflow will prevent that splashing noise - if that is what you object to. Keep in mind that that "splash" is a fairly wonderful thing - for it introduces nice oxygen into the water. I tend to compromise with a "little splash".

Cannisters can be made to be the biological workhorses of a tank. A well run cannister is very quiet. It is always useful to have an additional HOB filter in a tank, though, for the HOB tend to be better at mechinical filtration. If you were to cut down to just one HOB per tank with a cannister to make up the rest of the gph and biological platform, you could cut the noise.

I am a fan of the Emperor's - because I like the way they support a lot of media. I also am a fan of the various Eheim cannisters - they are designed very well and work splendidly.