I have a 55-gallon, and have been on a mission from the gods to 1) reduce energy usage, and 2) make my tank as silent as possible.
I read and re-read threads here on RC from people searching for similar, but it was clear early on that what people considered "dead silent" usually wasn't. It's not just the noise, either -- vibrations can be just as annoying to me. I tried what everyone suggested -- mousepads, styrofoam, noise deadening rubber, you name it. I worked to make sure that as little tubing and chords touched the sides of the sump, to keep those vibrations from amplifying. I tried several return pumps people claimed were silent, such as the Eheims and Sicce Syncra "Silent" (ha ha!). The Poseidon/Velocity/Laing models got great reviews in older threads (especially by James77, who appears to be as noise sensitive as I am), but they weren't around anymore. Red Dragon pumps are crazy expensive.
I was set to try the Laguna Max-Flo (also great reviews), despite higher power usage for my needs when I began seeing the odd mention of the Waveline DC-5000. That one generated too much flow for my 55, and at 40w sucked more energy than my Sicce 3.0 (~32 watts). But then I found that Waveline had a smaller pump out, the DC-3000, at 25 watts per specs, and supposedly dead silent. And at $140, I wouldn't break the bank trying it out.
So I just installed it, and it's PERFECTION. More flow than my Sicce, and it's so quiet I literally spent five minutes trying to figure out why it wasn't working. It was, it just made zero noise AND no vibrations. And the energy consumption at full power came in at 24 watts, a tad below spec. You can dial it down. At setting 3 of 5, the pump was drawing 17 watts. Too bad I can't measure GPHs so I couldn't say objectively how much flow was lost at that setting. I'm keeping mine at full power.
It even has a great cone-shaped adapter for the return line, which simply slid in until it was on snug. On my Sicce, I had to cut a notch on the side of the return line and heat it up to make it pliable enough to (after much sweating and cursing crouched under the tank) slide it on.
If only my skimmer was as silent, I'd be in heaven!
p.s. Any manufacturer that claims their gear is "silent" should be required to include dB info in the specs.
I read and re-read threads here on RC from people searching for similar, but it was clear early on that what people considered "dead silent" usually wasn't. It's not just the noise, either -- vibrations can be just as annoying to me. I tried what everyone suggested -- mousepads, styrofoam, noise deadening rubber, you name it. I worked to make sure that as little tubing and chords touched the sides of the sump, to keep those vibrations from amplifying. I tried several return pumps people claimed were silent, such as the Eheims and Sicce Syncra "Silent" (ha ha!). The Poseidon/Velocity/Laing models got great reviews in older threads (especially by James77, who appears to be as noise sensitive as I am), but they weren't around anymore. Red Dragon pumps are crazy expensive.
I was set to try the Laguna Max-Flo (also great reviews), despite higher power usage for my needs when I began seeing the odd mention of the Waveline DC-5000. That one generated too much flow for my 55, and at 40w sucked more energy than my Sicce 3.0 (~32 watts). But then I found that Waveline had a smaller pump out, the DC-3000, at 25 watts per specs, and supposedly dead silent. And at $140, I wouldn't break the bank trying it out.
So I just installed it, and it's PERFECTION. More flow than my Sicce, and it's so quiet I literally spent five minutes trying to figure out why it wasn't working. It was, it just made zero noise AND no vibrations. And the energy consumption at full power came in at 24 watts, a tad below spec. You can dial it down. At setting 3 of 5, the pump was drawing 17 watts. Too bad I can't measure GPHs so I couldn't say objectively how much flow was lost at that setting. I'm keeping mine at full power.
It even has a great cone-shaped adapter for the return line, which simply slid in until it was on snug. On my Sicce, I had to cut a notch on the side of the return line and heat it up to make it pliable enough to (after much sweating and cursing crouched under the tank) slide it on.
If only my skimmer was as silent, I'd be in heaven!
p.s. Any manufacturer that claims their gear is "silent" should be required to include dB info in the specs.
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