Need advice on quiet skimmer pump

[beez]

Hey all -

Need to get some advice from the equipment experts....I need a pump to drive a medium/large beckett skimmer, and the pump will be in the stand under the tank in my living room, so my main concern is quiet operation. I'd like to not spend toooo much $$$, but I'm willing to spend more to get a quiet one with good performance.

The skimmer manufacturer recommends an Iwaki 40RLT/55RLT or equivalent. Which would be quietest:

1. The Iwaki (also, is there a lot of noise difference between the 40 and 55?)
2. Pan World 100PX/150PS (same question)
3. Gen-X PCX40/PCX55HP (and again)
4. Little Giant 4-MDQ
5. Any other option???

Thanks in advance everyone:D

[beez]

Anybody? Has anyone used one of these pumps on a skimmer that could say whether or not its quiet enough for a living room?

[Hop]

I would say beckett and quiet are two terms that probably shouldn't go together:)

Having that in mind, I ran a Blueline(panworld) 55HD and found it to be the quietest over the gen-x and a coralife that I tried. But the noise from the beckett's air intake was where the bulk of the noise came from. You will likely have to experiment with building a muffler or piping the air intake outside the room somewhere.

[skwirl]

he could make a silencer like they use on the nw skimmers air intake.. just a larger one of those would silence a beckett intake.. also .. as far as pumps and quiet... the gen x is a no for your situation.. i had one on mine, and it was horrible for noise, but ran and still will run like a champ, but its in the garage.
if you can handle about a degree in temp increase, then get a velocity t4 to puch it.. thats what i ran on mine, and they are completely silent.. you will not know its running even with the doors to your stand open.. you have to either touch it, or look and see if your skimmer is running to know its on. i use a t3 for my return, and all i hear is my overflows, and barely that.. i have no pump noise at all. they dont have a fan. they are water cooled, thats where the heat comes from.

what size tank will it be on?

[Hop]

That's what I said :)
You will likely have to experiment with building a muffler or piping the air intake outside the room somewhere.

I'm not sure on the velocity pumps as they really are not pressure rated. Even the T4 is only 1080 @ 3' of head. If this is a double beckett skimmer, it's not enough to properly feed the dual becketts.

[beez]

Hop & Skwirl,

Thanks for your responses!!! To answer your question, the tank is a 360 gallon (96x36x24) which is going to be a soft coral reef with an average fish load. I was hoping to use the skimmer I have now (which used to be in a furnace room behind the tank along with its pump) but if necessary from a noise standpoint I may end up going with an ASM G5 or G6. Skwirl I can handle a degree or 2 of warming....you were happy with the Velocity T4 running your skimmer? The pressure rating does make me a bit nervous, but otherwise the pump seems to be exactly what I need. Actually, on the Premium Aquatics website the max. head pressures are listed for the T3 and T4, and they're 28 ft. and 18 ft. respectively. I wonder if the T3 (or even 2 T3's) would be a better move than the T4....thoughts? (It is a dual Beckett)

Thanks again guys!!! Josh