Quiet Air Pump

[Jeremiah Robinson]

I'm looking for a quiet air pump that can supply enough air for 500 gallons of water with 75 trout.  

My current 45 L/min air pump works great but it sounds like chihuahua with a jackhammer in my peaceful greenhouse.

[Glenn]

For reliability and quiet, I like Hagen Fluval Air Pumps. For the highest reliability one pump shouldn't be considered without looking into the very expensive medical/hospital grade pumps.

There are several HOW TO tips online that can be helpful in quieting down some of the noisiest of air pumps. If you want, I can suggest a few.

[Jeremiah Robinson]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'd love some tips on how to quiet a loud pump.

Thanks!

[Glenn]

 

Here's a video of what might be accomplished with this type of problem with a few minutes with a hot glue gun and a couple bits of cotton.

And here's another easy fix to a common problem.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBmtnvvAKuY

[Jeremiah Robinson]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks so much for your help!

Unfortunately, I think those videos are not really applicable to my pump.  Mine is more like a Coralife Luft pump and the way they're made they don't rattle like the one in the first video, and aren't old or worn out like the one in the 2nd.  It was loud from day 1, just like other pumps I've seen of that type.  

I looked at the Fluval pumps, and they're a little small for me.  I could use three of them together (they're pretty affordable) but I'd be worried about them not being able to supply water to the bottoms of my 3' deep tanks.  Have you had success at that depth?

Thanks again!

Jer...

[Glenn]

My Q2 has no problem at 36 inch depth. 28 inches of water column is roughly one psi. But if you're using yours to lift water and want to lift it high then by all means, to fill the lift tube for a tight lift, you probably want a high pressure pump 7+ psi  or even perhaps a compressor.

[Jeremiah Robinson]

No, I'm not lifting water.  I don't know why it's called a luft pump.  I'll try ordering one of the Fluval pumps to try it out.  Thanks for the tip!

[Averan]

Lol! 'luft' means 'air' I'm German. ;)

[Averan]

In German. Dang autocorrect.

[Alex Veidel]

Hakko air pumps are pretty quiet. I hardly noticing mine running.

[Jack Dunbar]

Hi Jeremiah. Did you end up buying a Fluval pump? Do you like it? Is it Quiet? Give us the specs, price and where you got it if you don't mind. I have (2) pumps;  (1) Fluval q5 and (1) Azoo non-stop air pump. I just experienced a 2 day power outage and my fish were fine as my Azoo pump is a battery backup that if it is set on low, will last up to 20 hours as on low, it runs intermittently. With the noise of my flood and drain, you don't hear either pump running. They've both been up and running just over a year with no problems. 

[Clark E. Fullwood]

I suggest a Regenerative Air Blower. I had the large size Air Pump from a Hydroponic store. Problem with it was it was so loud, I could hear it in my house from my system a 100 foot away. I watched a video about aquaponics about a dome greenhouse and the guy was talking about a Regenerative Air Blower. I looked it up and went on eBay and found one for 200 bux. It was a 21 cfm blower and I bought it. I was concerned at first that it would not be enough volume. However, I hooked it up and found that it will supply more than enough air for 3 fish tanks, 5 grow beds and sump and all my DWC and towers and actually had to put valves to slow down the volume as was boiling the water out of fish tanks. Besides that it just has a very low hum as it is on very smooth bearings and cannot hear it from outside shop where it is mounted.  Also it is very smooth and does not vibrate.