Is complete silence possible?

[mxm]

I'm starting my journey in learning about marine tanks and want to create a 60-80 gallon tank. My main concern is noise. Is it possible to create a 100% silent reef tank?

I know that buying the right pumps and skimmers for silence is important, but I'm looking at the actual tank design/sump system to be 100% silent.

So far from my research I've found the following

Beananimal overflow with sump
Vortech with Quiet drive power head and pump

Provided I get the right skimmer (or only run it when wife is not home) will the above setup be basically near 0db levels silence?

My wife will not let me start this exciting journey unless I can guarantee silence or she will throw it out.

Let me know if my above plans will work.

 

[BuzzPion]

No. But then neither is your wife.

 

[davocean]

Ooh, complete silence or she will throw it out?
That does not sound like a good start.
I will say what you listed is extremely quiet, but 0db?
I can say that I have hearing issues that make it important for me to avoid background noise, but try as I may I'm not hitting 0, but my tank is pretty darn quiet.
Good luck man.
Where does she stand on scent?
You might want to discuss that w/ her too...or maybe afterwards, depends on how bad you want that tank I guess.

 

[mxm]

Ooh, complete silence or she will throw it out?
That does not sound like a good start.
I will say what you listed is extremely quiet, but 0db?
I can say that I have hearing issues that make it important for me to avoid background noise, but try as I may I'm not hitting 0, but my tank is pretty darn quiet.
Good luck man.

She is very supportive in everything else, no limit on spending etc, but noise is the one thing she will not stand. Do you have any idea how much noise a system like the above would generate.

Say I use heavy duty sound proofing in the cabinet, do you think I can achieve near silence?

 

[gone fishin]

0db not likely. We are using mechanical equipment and moving water there will always be some noise. Good luck

 

[Canadian Reefer]

if you can locate your sump in a room away from the DT, I think you can be pretty quiet. Maybe not 100% but damn quiet. Even a cabinet that was insulated to keep your sump and pumps in will really knock down the db's

 

[mxm]

Where does she stand on scent?
You might want to discuss that w/ her too...or maybe afterwards, depends on how bad you want that tank I guess.

Hm scent lol, that's news to me, there is scent? how bad is it and how far away can it be smelled. I don't think she will stand for scent either.

 

[mxm]

0db not likely. We are using mechanical equipment and moving water there will always be some noise. Good luck

OK maybe not 0db, but I'm looking around 20db. Is the beananimal system itself 100% silent. I know that the new ecotech pump with quiet drive is coming soon and with heavy duty soundproofing I imagine it would be near if not 100% silent?

 

[Toddrtrex]

OK maybe not 0db, but I'm looking around 20db. Is the beananimal system itself 100% silent. I know that the new ecotech pump with quiet drive is coming soon and with heavy duty soundproofing I imagine it would be near if not 100% silent?

20 dbs is just slightly louder than a pin drop.

If noise is really a concern I would suggest getting a sound pressure meter, and see how loud the room you are planning on setting tank up in actually is during a normal day/evening.

At that point, see if you can measure a fellow reefers tank and see how they compare.

 

[shifty51008]

If you can put your sump in a different room, run a closed loop for flow you can put all the noise away from the tank and then just use a bean style over flow it will be close to silent but not 100%.

My sump is in the basement so my return pump and skimmer is all down there which make up most of the noise. My tunze pumps are completly silent and can barely hear my overflow. With normal noise in the room i cant hear my tank at all and is still very quiet if the room is dead silent

 

[ssdawood]

My advice is to not go for the tank. Get another hobby.

Just the "She will throw it out" phrase explains that you will have trouble in future.

Between a little sound. Buckets for water change. Smell of skimmer. I can go on and on.

 

[michael.lemke]

Basement sump or the like is your only hope. Even the best equipment will make some noise. Maybe a really thick enclosed stand might work. It that would bring up all kinds of other issues. With my basement sump my tank is eerily quiet. Plus very little wiring junk in the family room and no spilling.

 

[mxm]

Unfortunately I don't have a basement, so I will have to make it work with an enclosed stand with sound proofing. By let's say the return pump, skimmer and powerheads are silent enough, would the other parts of the system (beananimal) outside the sump be silent enough?

How silent is a beananimal setup, because what else would be making any noises?

 

[mxm]

My advice is to not go for the tank. Get another hobby.

Just the "She will throw it out" phrase explains that you will have trouble in future.

Between a little sound. Buckets for water change. Smell of skimmer. I can go on and on.

I do have a freshwater aquarium and she is fine with that. It really does boil down to the sound - nothing else really. Unless there is some seriously bad smells coming out of the system I don't foresee any other problems.

 

[Canadian Reefer]

If you set up your Bean correctly it is quiet, when done right you will hear no slurping or other noises.

 

[lagatbezan]

I run a herbie drain and it's dead silent. The pumps on the other hand are a different story. In my opinion you can't completely soundproof the sump area bc you will need some sort of ventilation and air movement or else you will have lots of heat and humidity buildup in the sump.
To be honest, a nicely setup system would generate maybe as much noise as your fridge running. Also After a few days the noise becomes normal and you don't hear it anymore. But then again, she can always complain about it lol.

 

[mxm]

I run a herbie drain and it's dead silent. The pumps on the other hand are a different story. In my opinion you can't completely soundproof the sump area bc you will need some sort of ventilation and air movement or else you will have lots of heat and humidity buildup in the sump.
To be honest, a nicely setup system would generate maybe as much noise as your fridge running. Also After a few days the noise becomes normal and you don't hear it anymore. But then again, she can always complain about it lol.

I'm looking at getting the new Ecotech Vectra M1 pump with Quiet Drive. I'm confident this will silent enough especially behind closed doors and a bit of soundproofing.

 

[ca1ore]

I have been on a mission to make my tank as quiet as possible. Not because anyone really complains, but just to see how quiet I could get it. I do employ a basement sump system, so my efforts were aided by no sound contribution from anything that would be in the sump. I employ dual herbie drains which have reduced the sound to just the occasional trickle from water passing over the weir. All circulation pumps got the Quiet Drive treatment. At night, after the LED lights shut down, the tank reads 25 db on my, admittedly, rather basic radio shack SPL meter. During the day, it's at about 40 db. I could probably drop it to 35 or so by removing the LED cooling fans, or switching back to MH. Keep in mind that most adults cannot hear below 10 db and 20 is 'essentially' silent.

 

[lonbrat]

Hm scent lol, that's news to me, there is scent? how bad is it and how far away can it be smelled. I don't think she will stand for scent either.

Smells like the ocean sometimes... Sometimes like nothing XD or maybe a lil fishy on occasion.

The filter will almost always make noise :/ if it's HOB filter at least. And I guess that rules out pistol shrimp too XD

You could always make a "nano" with some sexy shrimp ;3 wife might get jealous lol--just buying a kit from Walmart for like 30$ and add salt, those are pretty quiet ^^

But I prefer huge loud tanks

 

[mxm]

I have been on a mission to make my tank as quiet as possible. Not because anyone really complains, but just to see how quiet I could get it. I do employ a basement sump system, so my efforts were aided by no sound contribution from anything that would be in the sump. I employ dual herbie drains which have reduced the sound to just the occasional trickle from water passing over the weir. All circulation pumps got the Quiet Drive treatment. At night, after the LED lights shut down, the tank reads 25 db on my, admittedly, rather basic radio shack SPL meter. During the day, it's at about 40 db. I could probably drop it to 35 or so by removing the LED cooling fans, or switching back to MH. Keep in mind that most adults cannot hear below 10 db and 20 is 'essentially' silent.

What else contributes to the sound in the day apart from the fans? If I get mine at 25 db that would be ideal but without the basement treatment.