please, help me find a filter!

[nino]

i'm going off to college in a couple of months, and will be living in the dorms. i plan on bringing my 10-gallon fish tank but the undergravel filter/pump is just too noisy. what's the quiestest and cheapest (very important factor) filter? thanks everybody, so far this forum has been great so hopefully it can help me out this time as well!

 

[robbrouse]

I have always used OTB filters. I have the Whisper in my 10 gallon tank now. As long as the water level is about the flow it very quite. I paid like $10 for it at wall mart.

 

[yhbae]

How about Aqua Clear Mini? As robbrouse mentioned, these power filters are pretty quiet if the water level in the tank is near at the top...

 

[digital_run]

Go with a Bio-wheel....they are the best filter by far in my opinion....and they are about the same price of other filter's lik an aquaclear.

 

[cat.fish]

on my 10 i have a penguin 125 and all the noise that you hear is the water moving. i only paid $35 usd for it. i got it at petSmart.

 

[Black_Tetra]

Penguin...they are the absolute best!(in my opinion)

 

[yhbae]

Penguin...they are the absolute best!(in my opinion)

But more expensive than low-end AquaClear!

At Big Al's US site, Penguin 125 is $15, Aqua Clear Mini is $12... If you can afford another $3, I'd get Penguin, or at $14.5, Aqua Clear 150.

 

[big_fresh]

I've heard that the penguin's are quite noisy...with the biowheel being the culprit for all the noise

re: Aquaclear filters, I've got a mini too and as the water evaporates, it gets noisier and noisier....but keeping the water level the same height as the filter outflow will reduce the noise greatly.

if you have room, how a bout an internal filter?

 

[Dragonslair]

Nino, I bet you are now more confused than you wre when you started.
This is why I don't usually answer questions like: what do you think is the best...... or what type of fish should I have, etc. etc.
You will have a multitude of answers and everyone will feel that hey have the best of..........(whatever)
You need to set down some rules before asking a question that will inevitably give you a multitude of answers. Like a search engine you need to narrow your parameters to: What you want it for including size of tank, how much you are prepared to pay for it, the type you want,ie internal or external and the amount of time and the space you can afford the unit and what job youwant it to do.(that's usually the hardest question)
This gives the reader something to work with.

 

[IBFrog]

Another opinion heard from. I like undergravel filters, but the airpump can be noisy. I recently bought an aquarium with a bio-wheel filter in the kit. I had to check several times to see if it was working as I did not hear it until I was very very near the aquarium. I also like that it provides a "complete" filtration system. It is no more expensive than other filters at my LPS, but it saves in maintanance as the wheel never needs changing and the pads seldome if rinsed properly. Just remember, when cleaning to not use tap water thus destroying the benificial bacteria. There are several models out there, so you would need to check what is avaliable to you.

 

[Liliano]

I have a ten gallon, and I use the fluval 2plus, its quiet, efficient and easy to clean.
My aquarium set up came with the fluval 1, but I wanted to go for the next model up as you have 2 filter pads so you can change one at a time without having to lose that wonderful bacteria.

 

[tstenback]

for my dollar the cheapest, quietest, bestest filter on the market are the aquaclears. I have these and various biowheels and have found that the biowheels really start to get noisy once they start to accumulate the algae/moss that tends to grow on and around the wheel. Its the type of noise that would have a roomie who is a light sleeper want to put you in your tank and throw the two of you out the window. I know cause my wife is a very light sleeper and the biowheel i HAD on the tank in the bedroom is now an aquaclear and no death threats lately

 

[BRS]

The aqua clear mini is quite. and its efficint too