Euroreef too noisy. What alternatives?

[Yam]

Unfortunately, I have had to shut down my 8-1 because of noise issues. I live in a second floor condo, and my neighbor below is complaining about a constant humming sound. I haven't been down there, but I'd like to comply. She is a recovering cancer patient, so I will abide by her wishes and try to keep the noise down. She doesn't know I have a 150G of water above her. Here's what I have now:

120G Oceanic RR
Velocity T3
Eheim 1250 for Calcium Reactor
MJ 900 for Nilsen Reactor
2 above tank Top Power heads- 750GPH each
2x400W HQI PFO ballast that hums slightly.
4 5" fans turned down to half RPM (quieter then 2 at full speed)

I'm looking for a quiet skimmer, relative to silence, not with the other pumps, etc. With the skimmer off, The only noise is from the 4 fans. I also bought a dolphin 3 star air pump and 2 limewood stones yesterday, but the air pump is too noisy, and no skimming to boot.

I have had and used a AM3K, MAK4, Mag 7, Mag 5, Sen700, and Sen 900 in the past. I think the AM3k was okay, no vibrations. The Mak 4 was a definite no no. I can't remember how loud the Mags and Sen were, but I think they had a constant humming similiar to the euroreef. Any ideas?

I'm in desperate need, hair algea is growing all over.

I'm thinking of using my existing T3 to drive a venturi skimmer (have a mazzei in my posession), get a new return pump in conjunction with the oceans motions wavemaker and eliminate the above tank powerheads? Please help.

thanks,
-Yam

[grim]

Get a large piece of good quality closed cell foam or neoprene the size of your sump, put the neoprene under the sump, you can even put a piece of plywood over the neoprene to distribute weight better (although it shouldn't be an issue). Also, put a piece of neoprene under the base of the skimmer within the sump. Make sure the pump or other parts of the skimmer do not touch the walls of the sump or any part of the stand. You want to decouple the skimmer from the sump, and the sump from the floor. You want to isolate the vibration so it doesn't carry through. You'll have this problem with any pump so you might as well keep the skimmer you have and try to fix the issue..

jb

[pbs911]

I agree with addressing the vibration issue, not buying another skimmer. I built a stand out of egg crate and PVC pipe to set my ER 8-2 on. This eliminated any noticeable vibration from the skimmer.

[Dakan]

Put a mouse pad under the pump. It will make a big dif.

[Yam]

First thing tonight, I'll drain my sump, and place some foam underneath the sump. I have an acrylic sump, so the weight will be distributed evenly. I'll also try and weigh down the walls of my stand.

However, even if I hold the skimmer off the bottom of the sump, I can still feel the floor and tank stand vibrating because of the skimmer. There's no way I can isolate the stand wrt to the floor now. I'm thinking the needle wheel impellor is not balanced.

I used to have a DAS EX-1 skimmer, and I don't think it was this bad. The air noise whistling noise is okay, cuz it gets filtered by the floor, but this low frequency... I'm leaning towards putting the mazzei onto the 8-1 body, with an eheim 1262 for a pump.

Btw: I had the airpump suspended in mid air, and could feel the floor vibrating.

[Yam]

I finished putting the neoprene underneath the sump, and skimmer... Still too noisy. If I put my finger over the air intake, the things improve. I think that the fact that so much air is being pulled in through the impellor is causing the excessive vibration.

I'm still going to use the 8-1 body (temporarily) and collection cup but hook up a venturi instead. I have an eheim 1262 on order, so it should match well with the venturi...

The saga for a silent tank continues.

-Yam

[crab0000]

I have to say ER is the quietest skimmer i hvae ever used, so good luck finding a quieter one.

[CCG]

It may be me but if you’re holding the skimmer off of the bottom of the sump and you’re still feeling a vibration in the floor then it may be something else vibrating. I have to agree that a euro-reef is a very quiet skimmer. I have a 6-2+ and it makes very little noise.

Colin

[dattack]

Run an airstone skimmer.

[sherm71tank]

Well . . . My Aqua C EV -180 is so quiet that I dont even know its running unless I put my ear right next to it. I run the DP-800 pump.

[Yam]

I tried the airstone. The airpump (Dolphin 3 Star) is noisier then the skimmer. Two airstones don't produce nearly as much as air as the sedra.

If I turn off the skimmer, there is no vibration whatsoever.

My tank is almost silent if I turn off the fans in the hood. Just a slight gurgling from the overflow.

If I wasn't clear above, I think all of the noise is coming from air passing through the impellor. A pump running a venturi should be almost silent as the air is generated after the pump. I hope I'm correct.

-Yam

[sherm71tank]

Have you looked at the impellor? Sometimes they can wear and make lots of noise. It has happened to me lots of times. I have noticed it where the shaft goes into the impellor it wears in an eccentric pattern and the impellor vibrates because of it.

[Yam]

I have checked the impellor. The skimmer is also only 2 months old. Thanks.

-Yam

[sherm71tank]

Damn, sorry. That would have been an easy fix for you. Sounds like you've got a bugger of a problem. Tried different pumps, suspend the pump in the air. And still vibration? Beats me.

[Yam]

I received and hooked up the Eheim 1262 today. Again, its using the Mazzei 684 venturi. This is very quiet now. If I run the airline back into the collection cup, you can't hear a thing.

Performance wise, I think its about 70 - 75% of the sedra with needle wheel impellor. I say this because with the standpipe in the same location, the water/air level in the neck of the second riser tube is higher with the sedra pump... indicating to me that it is injecting more air.

Overall, it was very worthwhile, as my only other option was to shut the skimmer down completely.

-Yam

[moonpod]

IF you are using the mazzei in an aspiration mode and you want a needle wheel, see if you can get one from www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com. Deltecs use Eheims and needlewheels.

[Yam]

My problem was that all the noise was due to air passing through the impellor. I can't say I've seen/heard the eheim with needle wheel, but I imagine it still faces the same problems and would be just as noisy. Four years ago, I had a DAS EX-1 recirculating needle wheel skimmer, and I believe there was still a huming to it.

I have the venturi after the intake, and my whole goal was to eliminate any air from passing through the impellor.

Again, the noise is all relative, compared to other skimmers, the Euroreef is quiet, just didn't work in my application. With the new pump, the only noise is coming from the overflow, and the fans when the lights are on.

-Yam

[David P]

did you try taking the venturi off of the front of the sedra and attatch it to the outlet?

[in2deep]

I had a CS8-2 and CS6-2 Euroreef and it was not possible to quiet them down using all the tricks mentioned plus lining my stand and everything else. It would always make a very low hum that resonated even into the next room and seemed to be the kind of vibration that would travel thru the walls like a sub-woofer . The owner of ER said that if you have an acrylic sump about the same thickness as the skimmer it can do this. It's not a loud noise but more like a vibration/hum kinda like the refrigerator motor- white noise. Try a Euroreef model with an external pump and it shoud stop the resonance since the pump is outside your sump and maybe they could even retro fit yours. Many reefers have the same hum as reported on these boards but most say that theirs are silent so i think it has to do with the actual sump/stand/room combination. Either that or there are alot of deaf Euroreef owners.

[Yam]

That's exactly what the problem was! Low hum that you could hear from far, far away. I've since sold it and purchased a Schuran Jetskim 120 (Aquabee pump, venturi style). Very silent to say the least. I think most can't hear the vibration over all the other racket going on in the tank. Its all relative, but when the lights are on, the fans are the noisiest, followed by the overflow, then the pump on the calcium reactor, and then the skimmer pump.
-Yam

[sublimaze41]

My AquaC is dead silent FWIW. If you need to buy another skimmer you might try and audition one. I suspect you will have NO trouble selling your Euroreef, it will help to finance a new skimmer.

[PCIALF]

Originally posted by JMDAKAN
Put a mouse pad under the pump. It will make a big dif.
That is a very good suggestion Mouse Pads are made out of closed cell

[Yam]

I had a AquaC. IMO, it wasn't silent. The Schuran is much quieter. And, yes, I've already sold the Euroreef. My skimmer collection has consisted of:
AquaC
DAS EX-1
Euroreef 8-1
Seaclone
and various airstone skimmers.

I have used in the past, or currently using:

Mak 4
Ampmaster 2100
Ampmaster 3000
Sen 700
Sen 900
Rio 2100
Velocity T3, T4
Iwaki 40
Eheim 1260
Eheim 1262
Mag 5
Mag 7
Mag 9
aquabee 2000/l
All maxi-jet pumps
Tunze 6000
and probably a few I have forgetten.

I have a pretty good idea which ones were noisy, and energy efficient as that was my main criteria.