Quietest canister filter for a pico? Preferably adjustable.

[Tired]

I worry about the noise and vibrations from the aquarium pump bothering my fish. I know fish seemingly do fine in every other tank with a pump. And I know I'm not bothered by the highway outside or my loud air conditioner because I'm used to them, which probably applies at least to some extent to fish. But the power's gone out a few times lately, and while I've been sitting here in the relative silence, listening to the pump running (thanks to a battery backup), all I can think about is if it bothers the fish. They can't exactly get away from it, in a pico tank. And it's not like it would hurt any to have the pump isolated from the tank, even if the vibrations aren't a problem. 

 

So I started thinking about how I could fix that. This is the quietest pump I could find. I thought about a sump, but I don't want to deal with plumbing, priming, and potential overflow. I started thinking about if there's some way to make a small, sealed sump (so it can't spill water everywhere if the pump fails), and then I realized. That's just a canister filter. 

 

I want to get a canister filter for this tank. I know they can be nitrate factories, so it would be mostly empty. I might add some activated carbon if that was more convenient than putting the carbon in the AIO filter compartments. If it collects detritus, hey- that just means I have a convenient place to baste the detritus out of during water changes. This would just be a way to isolate the pump from the tank. If it's only connected to the tank by soft hoses, and there's cushioning in any spots where the filter touches the tank or stand, that should cut any vibrations down to basically nothing. Plus, a little extra water volume never hurt a pico. The goal would be to replace the current pump with the canister filter, to provide flow. 

 

I'm looking for a very quiet canister filter. I'd prefer it to be relatively small, and I'd really prefer it to have a pump I can adjust the speed of. The outlet for the filter is two 1/4" hose bits (that fit through the divider between the filter compartments and the display tank), so it's gonna have to be something with a relatively limited outflow in the first place, otherwise it's gonna turn the filter outlets into pressure jets. It needs to have a simple way to prime it if it loses its prime during water changes. The volume is the most important thing, followed by adjustability. Finally, it needs to be set up so that the tank doesn't require drilling. I can't drill this tank, it's in use. I know there are hang-on-back canister filters, so I'm looking at how those are attached. It should probably be attached via soft lines, so it can't transmit any vibrations over. 

 

TL;DR, any recommendations on a relatively small, quiet, preferably adjustable canister filter? Anyone with experience in using a canister filter as the tank's only flow? This tank is little and the only SPS I have are a couple of encrusting montis that seem fine in a very low-flow area right now, so the flow doesn't need to be too strong. 

[DevilDuck]

I've used this one for years: 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Finnex-PX-360-Compact-Canister-Aquarium/dp/B002VFF8U4/ref=asc_df_B002VFF8U4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241886436424&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9053890202778264545&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060266&hvtargid=pla-412804957150&psc=1

 

Also used this, but I feel the Finnex is better built:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-External-Canister-Gallons/dp/B005DGHRU2/ref=asc_df_B005DGHRU2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167149786275&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9053890202778264545&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060266&hvtargid=pla-307954091999&psc=1

 

Both are nearly silent. Neither is adjustable but you can get a small inline ball valve for that.

[Tired]

Alright, I went with the Finnex. I can't find any small canister filters other than those two that have anything like good reviews, and I found a bunch of good reviews for the Finnex. It won't be here for a week due to all the ice, but I'm not exactly going to demand that everybody involved in the shipping process go and work in ice to deliver me a non-essential product. I'll try to remember to update this thread with how it works. 

 

I'll probably place it on the table the tank and stand are on. Must remember to make sure there's no way it can fall or get pushed awry, as the hoses can apparently come loose if that happens. Also, must remember to mount the intake hose so that it's deep in the filter compartment, evaporation tends to make the filter compartment go shallower. 

[mcarroll]

I used to run all my tanks with Magnum 350 canisters in just about the way you're proposing.  I loved it until someone stole a box of my crap during a move and I lost all of my Mag 350's internal plumbing parts...  On my old 75 gallon I set one up with wadding as a bio filter, and the other as a micron filter (with the micron filter module).  Almost zero maintenance on the bio filter.  I had two spare micron cartridges so on the other canister I could always swap in a clean one when needed.

 

I think the compactness of the siphon drain might be the only real advantage of this vs a sump setup.  The gravity drain is a marvel of reliability, but it's also bulky.  Trade off for siphon/priming issues with some canisters.  (Not sure about yours...hopefully it's easy and minimally messy.)

[Tired]

I'm favoring this over a sump because it seems a bit simpler, and because I can just put this in a bucket and not have to worry about leaks. Harder to do that with a sump. 

 

This one claims to have an easy way to fill it with water to prime it. We'll see. It has a lot of good reviews, and it seems like the only problems are that it occasionally stops working after a bit (which any product can. Also I wonder if the pumps in those might sometimes do the thing mine just did, where they stop unless you spin the impeller), and that, if you let it get knocked askew, the hoses can come loose. That second bit is worrying, but it seems like it just has to not be knocked askew, and then it's fine. 

[jbb]

Silicone tubing might help reduce vibration transfer, you just have to make sure routing of the tubing is appropriate to prevent kinks.  

[Tired]

Well, the instructions on this kinda sucked, but I like it. 

The filter holds half a gallon of water, which is an increase in volume that I'll welcome. The tubes are almost comically large, but I don't mind. I didn't have any real trouble setting it up, aside from forgetting to check which was the inlet and which was the outlet (and therefore having to swap which attachment was on which tube), despite the instructions not being good. Simple enough device. 

It's quiet. I put it on a sponge in that container to help keep it quieter. The container is in case it drips any. 

There isn't really a way to prime the tubes. There's a plug in the top of the filter that lets it be filled with water easily, and will also make it very easy for me to turkey baste detritus out, but the tubes are just as they are. Which is fine by me- the air bubbles in them actually cut the flow down to a good level. The previous pump was pretty gentle. I may try to remove the air bubbles (I think temporarily holding the filter lower will get them out) after a bit, but for now I'm letting the corals adjust to the slight increase in flow. 

 

I'm happy with it. It's not too obtrusive compared to other canisters, though is a bit comically large for the tank. I can probably fiddle with getting it into the stand if I really want to, but will most likely leave it out, and just adjust things to hide it behind the tank instead. And, most importantly, it's quiet! A bit louder to the ear than the prior pump, but still very quiet. And the tubes mean there's no vibrations whatsoever making it to the tank. Some go up the tubes, but don't make it all the way. So now I don't have to worry about if the fish are upset by the vibrations.

[DevilDuck]

15 hours ago, Tired said:

Well, the instructions on this kinda sucked, but I like it. 

The filter holds half a gallon of water, which is an increase in volume that I'll welcome. The tubes are almost comically large, but I don't mind. I didn't have any real trouble setting it up, aside from forgetting to check which was the inlet and which was the outlet (and therefore having to swap which attachment was on which tube), despite the instructions not being good. Simple enough device. 

It's quiet. I put it on a sponge in that container to help keep it quieter. The container is in case it drips any. 

There isn't really a way to prime the tubes. There's a plug in the top of the filter that lets it be filled with water easily, and will also make it very easy for me to turkey baste detritus out, but the tubes are just as they are. Which is fine by me- the air bubbles in them actually cut the flow down to a good level. The previous pump was pretty gentle. I may try to remove the air bubbles (I think temporarily holding the filter lower will get them out) after a bit, but for now I'm letting the corals adjust to the slight increase in flow. 

 

I'm happy with it. It's not too obtrusive compared to other canisters, though is a bit comically large for the tank. I can probably fiddle with getting it into the stand if I really want to, but will most likely leave it out, and just adjust things to hide it behind the tank instead. And, most importantly, it's quiet! A bit louder to the ear than the prior pump, but still very quiet. And the tubes mean there's no vibrations whatsoever making it to the tank. Some go up the tubes, but don't make it all the way. So now I don't have to worry about if the fish are upset by the vibrations.

Glad its working out! I hung my on the back of the tank. A couple of right angle tubing connectors will help clean up the look.

[Tired]

I didn't hang mine because I didn't want any vibrations to get through. I might play with connectors and whatnot later, but for now I'm just going to fiddle with it as-is, since this is the simplest setup. It's got an intake cover on one tube, and then the other tube is attached to the original filter outlets via two adapters due to the outlets being airline tubing.