Marine Fish Tank – What Are The Noise Levels I Can Expect?

[apatia77]

Hi
This is my first post even though I have read this forum for some time now.

I am planning on starting a marine fish tank (got only experience with tropical fish which I had over 15 years ago).

I want to start with Fluval Vicenza 180 litres tank+cabinet+filter+lighting that come with it. I have read on the internet that the filter that comes with the tank is rather quite.

I also know that I will need a Protein Skimmer as a must to go with the tank.

The only question that I have at the moment is how loud a setup like this can be as the only place I can have this fish tank is in my bedroom.

As far as I understand the main sources of noise are external filter and the protein skimmer which must be on 24/7. Do you think that the noise coming from these is on acceptable levels to have the tank in the bedroom? Any of you has got a fish tank in bedroom?

I can always get a good quality and quite skimmer if possible.

So before I go next weekend and spend £600+ on equipment I would like some input on noise levels.

Many thanks for all your help.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Most skimmers can be a bit loud. You can run without one and though it’s better to have one (and have it on 24/7) you could if you wanted have it turned off over night if its too noisy.

If you get some decent powerheads they should be pretty silent (I use korilla ones and while they started off very loud for the first couple of weeks once they bedded in they have been totally silent).

My marine tank is in my living room and is totally silent except for the stupid overflow which sounds like a water fall. This could be silenced though with the right plumbing and weir combination (just hard to do in a tank that is full).

 

[ben1987]

if you research the different overflow systems then a tank can be pretty quiet if all the equipment is hidden away in a decent sump

 

[chr15_8]

i ordered my first marine tank + sump which will hopefully be up and running soon. this tank is going to be in my bedroom too. i already have a 40 gallon cichlid tank in my bedroom as well as a 15 gallon tropical tank (getting replaced with the new marine tank)

will let you know if its not to late.

 

[SkiFletch]

Perhaps I can back the truck up here just a little

First, a question for the OP. Have you any idea what tpe of livestock you wish to keep in this tank? Fish? Corals? Inverts? Small Predators? Usually in the marine world, the hardware is designed around the livestock, not the other way around. Depending on the livestock you want, you may not even require a skimmer...

Also, how noisy something is can be a big subjective. I guess I must ask, how picky are you about noise? Some people are fine with small amounts of white noise. Others are really sensitive. Would you put yourself near either extreme, or somewhere in the middle?

 

[apatia77]

Thank you for all your help.

SkiFletch - I am not too picky about some level of noise, my desktop computer is like a small vacuum cleaner and that doesn't bother me at all but I have read on forums that some people have huge problems with skimmers that get very loud and that's why I am here.

I would like at least 2 x clownfish and the cleaning crew that is required, going to have plenty of live rock and then some coral that will be suitable for tank/fish (haven’t done any research there yet).
The tank that I picked is not the one that I need to buy and its too big for just 2 clownfish but I wanted to keep more fish, there are plenty of other ones to pick from, maybe I should go for a nano tank.

I haven't seen yet a setup that would work without a skimmer, maybe you can recommend something like tank size etc?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

If you have a tank with only a small fish load (ie not overstocked and without big messy eaters) then you can run fine without a skimmer. Just make sure you do regular (ideally weekly) water changes and it will be fine (a skimmer would be better but you can run without one).

You could run any tank without a skimmer but ideally the bigger the tank the better (more water=less rapid parameter changes=more stable). I run a 58l and a 150l without a skimmer for over a year and both did fine (though the 150l did have a bad case of cyano, livestock was very healthy though).

 

[apatia77]

To be honest the more information I read on various forums the more confused I get, but I have managed to find out that many people successfully managed to have run marine tank without sump or skimmer.

So maybe I should only go for setup like this:
Tank around 150 litres+ filter,
Some powerheads
Live rock – maximum amount allowed depending on tank size
Live sand – not sure how much needed
Very little fish (2 x clownfish to start with) and some inverts (shrimp, snails etc)
Forget about corals as it seems you need skimmer for that.

This should get me started I think. But I am going to do some more research.
Do you think that having a 125 litres tank would allow me to keep 2 clownish and some inverts (live rock+live sand) without a skimmer(I don’t think that I would like a tank smaller that 100litres)?
I could always buy a skimmer later on, maybe I should start my marine adventure as simple as it gets.

A am very patient so I can add livestock etc very slowly if needed.

And thanks for all your help.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I really like the way you are thinking about this. All to often we see people rushing into setting up a tank and ending up with overstocked or bad stocked tanks.

With regards to your plan, yeah that will be perfectly fine. You could add a couple more fish to it as well (nothing massive but smaller ones such as gobies, firefish, cardinals, chromis, etc would be fine)

Depending on what lights you have corals would be fine too. I have kept a lot of different soft corals in tanks without skimmers and have kept some LPS corals in these tanks too (such as torch and hammer corals). As long as you have good lighting, flow and keep on top of water changes they will be fine.

The only corals I would suggest you need a skimmer with would be SPS corals as these are a lot more sensitive and require prestine water conditions generally.

So I would take what you had planned, add some T5 lighting to it then you can add soft corals, some LPS corals and a couple more fish to the stocking list.

 

[apatia77]

Thank you xxBarneyxx for all your help.

I am going to visit few LFS this weekend to see what tanks and equipment they have in stock, then I should make my mind what I want.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

No problem at all that is what we are here for. When looking for tanks I would recommend looking for ones that have a more depth (front to back) and are taller (top to bottom) as these are easier to scape. The downside to this is that you dont have queit so much swim room for fish as you do longer/narrow tanks.

 

[SkiFletch]

Sound advice there by Barney . If I may just add a couple points to consider. If you do want corals, make sure you get some signifcant flow out of your powerheads as good flow is equally important to coral health as good light and good chemistry. You could go with soft corals only if you want to keep a skimmer-less tank, zoanthids, leather corals, ricordea, and plenty more. Even maybe a few of the really hardy hard corals like those of the Euphyllia genus. Soft corals and their filter-feeding and photosynthesizing will actually help your aquarium out in the long run without a skimmer.

And in addition to flow, you'll need decent lighting, although for softies-only you don't need to be able to get a good tan under the lamps . A few PC's, or a small T5 fixture would work well

 

[OscarWilde]

So maybe I should only go for setup like this:
Tank around 150 litres+ filter,
Some powerheads
Live rock – maximum amount allowed depending on tank size
Live sand – not sure how much needed
Very little fish (2 x clownfish to start with) and some inverts (shrimp, snails etc)
Forget about corals as it seems you need skimmer for that.

Hi there apatia. What a coincidence. I have almost exactly that setup and had the noise issue to content with (my tank is at the foot of my bed!).

You can see eveything about my tank here. I have Corals in mine and a Skimmer. The skimmer is too noisy to sleep with really but I get round this by timing it to switch off at about 23:00 and come on 6 hours later when I am sound asleep. That way Im getting 18:00 hours skimming and at least 6 hours sleep!

You will see from my thread that I started with a sump but decided against it based on noise though had I spent more time and money on it I think could have made it quiet.

 

[apatia77]

Hey,
I am still checking this thread regularly. Last weekend I visited few LFS and I have made my mind regarding the tank I am getting, however I still haven’t bought anything yet but I have been reading a lot on the internet, a lot of people seems to have this tank.

I am going for Nano Cube 24g, I think this is going to be a good tank to start with, also the size of the tank should keep the costs down when it comes to maintenance (I know that the bigger the tank the better but bigger tank means twice as much money to start with).

I have read a lot about the 3 filtration chambers and what to keep and what to remove and also about modifications that can be done.

I am most likely to get the tank this weekend or next weekend (in the meantime I am planning to order some items online to save some money and also the choice of items seems to be much better online), I am thinking of keeping the stock pump (even though I have seen many times to change it to Maxijet 1200 pump ) but I will add additional powerhead and this is where I have a question for you.

What size do you recon I should go for, I am going for Hydor Koralia powerhead as they have good reputation online, there are I think only 2 options for me, get Nano Water Pump (240 GPH) or Water Pump (400 GPH), I have read that you need the flow 10 times the size of the tank but then I have seen 20 times somewhere as well, I mustn’t forget about the stock pump as this will create some water movement as well (can’t find any specific about the stock pump).

I am planning to do an experiment, I am going to have the tank run with fresh water for couple of days with stock pump+powerhead and check noise levels in my bedroom, if I will not be happy then I am going to have the tank in the hall as agreed with my brother. I have seen people testing tanks with fresh water for leaks etc so this should be fine I think.

Also I cannot believe this but different LFS gave me different advice, one told me that I can’t keep any corals without a skimmer, that there isn’t such a thing as live sand that you can buy in bags, that I don’t need any test kits as I can bring water to their shop for testing (what I stupid idea) and most importantly to STAY AWAY FROM ONLINE FORUMS, I just smiled and moved to my next question, actually that was all in 1 shop where I am planning on getting my pre-mixed RO water and this is where my next question is.
What do you recon about buying pre-mixed RO water? This is not an expensive option and would be easier for water changes. I am aware that I would need just RO water for topping up the tank.

I think I am going to stop now as this is getting too much to read.

Thanks for all your help


EDIT: I've just found that the stock pump is 290gph, so I'm thinking of adding only 1 x Koralia Nano powerhead 240gph which should be enough.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

A 24g nano should be a nice starter tank.

With regards to the powerheads and water flow:

• For basic filtration (using liverock) you want around X10 the tank volume in water flow (so a nano would be fine).
• For most soft corals and some LPS you will need more like X15-20 times the tank volume in water flow (so X2 koralia nanos would be ideal).
• For most SPS corals you need more like X30 times the tank volume in water flow (but I wouldnt recommend these to start with.

With regards to Live sand:
Here the LFS is partially right. You can buy "live sand" which is supposed to be direct from the ocean and contain bacteria and micro organism, etc (so he was wrong that you cant get it). However in reality anything that is "live" in this sand is most likely going to be pretty dead by the time it sits in a warehouse for a few weeks, then sits in the LFS for a few more all in a sealed plastic bag. So just go for any cheap aragonite based sand.

With regards to testing the noise from the tank:
Good idea, just be away though that a lot of pumps can be loud for the first couple of weeks but then quieten down once they have bedded in. Both my korillia nano pumps took about a week and a half to shut up but once they did they have run silently ever since (they tend to get air bubbles trapped in them at the start, just turn them on and off a couple of times to remove the air if they are making a noise).

Pre-mixed salt water:
Personally I wouldn't. Firstly you cant guarantee they are going to mix it up to the same SG every time or that they will always use the same brand of salt or even that source RO water is ok. The other issue is that a lot of LFS tend to make salt water up to only 1.024SG, while this is ok personally I would prefer it to be a little high (like 1.026). Personally for me I just dont trust any LFS near me to be able to consistently make it up the same with a decent brand of salt and decent source RO water. If you trust your LFS to though then yes it is a cheaper option on a smaller tank.

I would still say a small RO unit and a bucket of salt is a better investment though

LFS VS Forums:
yeah most LFS tend to not like forums (mainly because a lot of LFS owners are still living in the dark ages and dont want to adopt modern methods unless it means more sells for them). I would say however that any information you get from a forum (or from anywhere really) you triple check it against other sources. There are areas of the hobby where there is no "perfect" way of doing things and everyone disagrees but there are also people that do just give completely useless information as well (and this can also be from books and magazines).

I always try and give the best information I can and if i'm not sure about something I either make sure I point that out or I dont post. However I (like pretty much everyone) can still get things wrong or there may be a better way then what I have written so even if you are getting information from a reliable source its still worth checking it out