Really loud Mag 2400 - need recommendations

[ardenen]

So I recently moved my 50g reef into our bedroom. My wife kicked it out of the living room. Much to her dismay the only other place in the house we could put it was the bedroom. It's an AGA with built in overflow that had two holes drilled in the bottom of the glass for the lines. At the time of the move I had my Mag 1800 plumbed into the tank with PVC. This plumbing setup caused some tank-wide vibration and the noise was a little annoying, especially since it was in the bedroom. I don't mind a little white/water noise but the tank vibrations and general operating noise of the pump were not welcome.

We had some winter power outages and unfortunately during the move I forgot to hook my pump back up to a UPS. I had had the Mag 1800 for two or three years and it decided to not fire back up after one of the power outages. Unfortunately this happened on a weekend and I lost half my tank as I didn't have a backup pump. I read a little bit on reefcentral - but was admittedly in a hurry - so from what I read the Mag 2400 wasn't any louder than the 1800 and I could reduce the noise by using rubber tubing to connect the pump to the PVC. I overnighted a 2400 and ran down to a local hardware store to get the appropriate tubing and fittings (which they gave me stainless steal clamps - I'm not sure if those should be used in a sump?).

The Mag 1800 came with a neoprene pad to put under it... the Mag 2400 did not. I reused the pad from the 1800 on the 2400, plumbed with soft plastic to my PVC and fired the thing up.

The 2400 is REALLY LOUD! I think it may also have a different pitch to the general operating noise - one that gets on both my wife and I nerves. There is a lot of vibrations noise even with the flexible tubing between the pump and the PVC. I've also tried stuffing padding around the pump just to make sure it's not vibrating on the sump.

Is there a way to make this pump quite? If not is there a recommendation for a pump that would provide at least 1800GPH and be EXTREMELY quite?

 

[boxfishpooalot]

where is the noise coming from? Fwiw I dont see much option besides not having a sump.All pumps are not extremly quiet. Maybee build a box around it to tamper noise. I use stainless steel clamps in my tank although i see no problems I would prefer not to use them.

 

[ardenen]

The noise is coming from the pump in the sump. There's still some vibration resonating out through the sump - I don't know if there's some sort of vibration dampening material I could either put around the pump or around the sump?

The Mag 2400 itself produces a lot of noise though.

 

[RichConley]

what the hell are you using a mag24 on a 50g for?


If its a return, you're crazy. If its a closed loop, buy an external.


THe larger mags are about the worst pumps on the market, IMO.

 

[eckrynock]

Rich always gets to the point fast.

My q exactly. Is this pump submersed or external? If external, get an Iwaki or Sequence. If this is your sump return, look into an Eheim 1260 or Mag 5 or 7.

 

[TitansFan]

Agree on the no need for such a large return pump. You don't want that much flow through a sump. Does the inside of your sump look like rapids? It should be more of a slow river type motion not niarga falls. Tank circulation should be done with a closed loop or powerheads.

 

[ardenen]

It is a submerged pump in the sump.

I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and have the sump return be the flow for the tank - it's really less of a sump and more of a space to add water and more live rock to the tank.

 

[ardenen]

Would a Quiet One pump be any better than an Eheim? The adds claim 45db or less... I don't believe anything adds say...

 

[TitansFan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9190653#post9190653 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ardenen
It is a submerged pump in the sump.

I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and have the sump return be the flow for the tank - it's really less of a sump and more of a space to add water and more live rock to the tank.

Totally understand the want to do that. Doing it this way i don't think you can achieve your main goal which is quietness. If you want it quiet get an Eheim return pump (or less expensive quiet one pump) and 2 seio powerheads. The pump is why you have/had vibrating plumbing. I can only imagine how much heat it is adding as well. Also if you are using an in-sump skimmer that kind of flow has to cut its abilities drastically. Do you not get alot of micro bubbles?

I can't think of any other submerged pump that will put out that kind of flow and be any quieter. If you still want just one pump only suggestion I can think has been said.. an external pump. This will most likly require drilling of your sump though.

 

[rustybucket145]

You shouldn't! Ok, here's a cheap solution to your problem. Buy a Mag 5 or 7 ($60 on Marinedepot.com) and put it where the 18 & 24 were. Then... go to melevsreef.com and check out his HOB closed loop system. This is a great way of doing a closed loop without having to drill the tank.

Now with the hob closed loop you can actually plumb the pump (mag 24) into another room or inside a noise insulated box or something like that.

That should take care of the noise.

 

[ardenen]

thanks for the suggestions - I think I'll order up a smaller pump for the sump and plumb the 24 in as a closed loop.

With the AGA can you drill more holes in the bottom? or back of the tank? I thought it was tempered?

Also - what kind of flow rate should I get for the return? >1000gph?

 

[rustybucket145]

nooooo 1000gph is waaaayyyyy tooooo muuuucccchhhhhh.....

You should be looking for about half that to the tank as a MAX. So consider your head loss and you should be getting around 500 gph to the tank. So just off the top of my head a Mag 7 fits that perfectly.

Many people on here will tell you to do less flow than that through the sump, but I always edge on the higher side!


On the drilling... The bottom of that tank is most likely tempered. But the backs and sides should not be. It would be best to contact the manufacturer or visit their website for more information.

 

[RichConley]

Also, that mag24 is pulling 250 watts. Thats 250 watts of heat, and a huge chunk of your electric bill. Something like a sequence snapper would probably pay for itself in under a year.