Are a huge number of "silent" return pumps not silent at all?

[Muffin87]

I might just be the unluckiest person in the world, but of all the return pumps I bought after reading reviews describing them as "dead silent", 50% were really loud. As in "can hear across the apartment" loud.

AC:

1. Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 - loud
2. Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 - Pretty silent after break-in period
3. Hydor Seltz D12000 - loud, even at the lowest setting

DC:

• Blau Reef Motion DC 1.5 - silent
• Blau Reef Motion DC 4 - pretty silent
• Maxspect Turbine Duo - Loud

The pumps reviewers receive are silent. So these pumps CAN be silent.
Is it a problem with manufacturing control?
In a world where so many aquarium brands purport to produce dead silent pumps, why do so many customers complain they received a loud one?

 

[KrisReef]

When my tank is silent I know the power if off.

 

[Radman73]

Silent is relative. I run a Sicce 5 on my tank and I consider it to be silent. However, as @KrisReef has alluded to, when it stops I'll know it. Years ago I bought into the hype of "silent" DC pumps and bought one. It was louder than the AC Eheim 1262 it replaced and also died after a year or so while the Eheim is still with me, in my fish bin anyway, 8 years later.

Some people think Vortech's are loud, I consider them quite quiet. The loudest things on my tank are my skimmer and gyre.

Sound isolation matters. I place a silicon heating mat beneath the return and the skimmer. Even if I still have all of the feet for them lol! It helps significantly.

 

[icedgxe]

I don’t have experience with those particular pumps but the mighty jet return pumps on my sr-80 are silent. I love a quiet tank. You can be in the same room as my tank and not know it’s running unless you look over and see the water movement.

 

[rtparty]

My Sicce SDC 6.0 is all but silent. Can't hear it over my skimmer and my skimmer is super quiet.

DC pumps are far quieter than AC.

 

[Dburr1014]

This is my sicce 9.0 sdc.
Braided hose return and 12" flex hose feed.
Sound is all relative. What do you consider quite?

 

[WVNed]

Almost nothing doing work is silent.

 

[fishface NJ]

I have the Sicce SDC 6.0 and it is silent.

 

[blaxsun]

Yea, but it's mainly from picking up vibrations in the plumbing (at least insofar as I've found). Right now my dehumidifier is louder, so I can't even hear the pumps...

 

[fishface NJ]

When you connect you return pump to your plumping, is the pipe from the pump hard pvc?

 

[JaaxReef]

I might just be the unluckiest person in the world, but of all the return pumps I bought after reading reviews describing them as "dead silent", 50% were really loud. As in "can hear across the apartment" loud.

AC:

1. Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 - loud
2. Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 - Pretty silent after break-in period
3. Hydor Seltz D12000 - loud, even at the lowest setting

DC:

• Blau Reef Motion DC 1.5 - silent
• Blau Reef Motion DC 4 - pretty silent
• Maxspect Turbine Duo - Loud

The pumps reviewers receive are silent. So these pumps CAN be silent.
Is it a problem with manufacturing control?
In a world where so many aquarium brands purport to produce dead silent pumps, why do so many customers complain they received a loud one?

Do you use soft silicone return plumbing to connect to your return line? Or hard plumbing? Huge difference in sound when you use soft silicone tubing to connect your return (just have to be careful that it doesn’t have the ability to bend easily).

 

[t5Nitro]

I've got a Varios 4 return pump sitting on a silicone pad, and a short section of soft silicone tubing is the outflow before I connect it to PVC return lines. You can't hear it run at all.

 

[Sarlindescent]

I primarily use varios pumps and jebao dcp atm. I oversize them and run them under 50% speed for quite performance. But as others have stated, silence it relative. If you have an entertainment center running, you won't hear much of anything from the tank. If you have it near the kitchen, a fridge may mas some of the quieter gear, but not all. If you have it in an office with ultra low noise PC fans, you will hear whichever piece of gear is loudest. Unless your room is louder than your tank, you will always hear the loudest piece of gear, even if that gear is 25db. And for the super ultra fun part if you are a silence junkie...when you turn your gear off for maintenance or feeding, you will identify that piece and notice it forever until you replace it...Then you will hear something else.

Another factor is frequency. Some people a more prone to hearing high pitch whines vs a low bassy rumble. That alone impact one persons perception over another for the same product.

For pumps, I run an OXO drying mat or mattenfilter foam under them. I also run hard plumbing 90% of the way to the pump and use silicone tubing for the last foot (vinyl can be used in a pinch, but not as effective). I am susceptible to T5 whine, so as long as my gear is lower than that, its the best I can achieve.