# need a quiet filter



## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

I have a penguin bio wheel 200 that is noisy as ****. Its not the motor or the magnet, its the sound of the water. If i take the wheel off its a little better, but wondering if any HOB filters are actually silent or near silent or if the whisper filters are actually whisper quiet. The water level is as high as it can go, its just the way the water is shot back into the tank. Thanks!


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## walzon1 (Jun 17, 2013)

the most quiet i have found HOB is the EHEIM Liberty series, although its not a very good mechanical filter its really quiet. no waterfall sound at all! just the hum from the motor which you can barely hear a couple of feet away from the unit. Aquaclear are probably next in line behind that but depending on your water level the waterfall can get loud and the motor can sometimes rattle if not maintained. I havent used a whisper in years but from reviews I have read they are far from quiet, aqueon are extremely loud, after messing with the filter for a couple months addjusting the water leval and wet/dry plastic part in the waterfall it is at tolerable trickle noise, but a hassle. The C2 C3 C4 Fluval are really quiet ass well but they have a spout wet/dry feature that makes a trickle noise constantly, though its not that loud its definetely audible. These are the only HOB i have experience with so hope it helped.


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## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

I'll look into the eheim brand. If i remove the biowheel itself it quiets down quite a bit, would it be bad to leave out the wheel as long as i still have the blue filters in it?


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

My AquaClear 20 is silent! You will get a little trickling sound when the water level in your tank goes down, but that's just to remind you is time to add water to the tank. 

You can remove the the bio wheels, but you will still need some sort of biological filtration. Adding AquaClear biomax could work. I use it in all my filters no matter the brand and it fits just fine. It is ceramic rings in a small nylon bag that you place somewhere in the filter. This is the best solution I've found for biological filtration in HOB filters.


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## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

so the bio wheel itself is the only thing creating the biological filtration? (am i understanding your comment correctly?) I realize that by changing the square filters i'm removing good bacteria and such, but if I were to remove the bio wheel, i would just run two of the filters, on in front of the other, and then take out the dirty one, and move the clean one up to the front, and insert a new one behind that, thus keeping good bacteria in the filter... is this what you're explaining the rings do? Just something to keep the bacteria on it?

And i just read a little up on the biomax, and some people said rinse it when it gets dirty.... if I put it AFTER the regular filter, would the biomax stay cleaner and STILL do what it is supposed to?


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## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

well actually if i remove the biowheel and put two cartridges in, the bio max would HAVE to go before the cartridge...


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## walzon1 (Jun 17, 2013)

anywhere with good flow there will be biological filtration the key is not to remove too much at any given time. removing the biowheel from your filter could cause a spike in ammonia, because we don't have hi powered microscopes there is no way to know how much beneficial bio organism you are removing. Introducing a new place for bio organism to colonize for 3 weeks to a month before removing biowheel will be your best bet. Either bio max another sponge whatever you decide but the more surface area for colonization the better since again you have no idea how much surface area/bio-organisms you are losing by removing the biowheel


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

walzon1 said:


> anywhere with good flow there will be biological filtration the key is not to remove too much at any given time. removing the biowheel from your filter could cause a spike in ammonia, because we don't have hi powered microscopes there is no way to know how much beneficial bio organism you are removing. Introducing a new place for bio organism to colonize for 3 weeks to a month before removing biowheel will be your best bet. Either bio max another sponge whatever you decide but the more surface area for colonization the better since again you have no idea how much surface area/bio-organisms you are losing by removing the biowheel


Yes, you would want to leave it on for awhile while so that the biomax can develope a bacteria colony.

Many of the surfaces in your aquarium will grow beneficial bacteria including the filter pads. However, due to its course nature leading to a lot of surface area, the biomax (and bio wheel) will grow the most. I use filter pads and biomax in all my HOB filters. I never use the filter inserts that go with them because they almost always include carbon and its not needed most of the time. I do use the filter sponge that came with my AquaClear because its just a sponge.


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## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

Its weird that a lot of you guys don't use carbon. From what I've been reading tonight it helps clear the water and keep odors down. Either way, if I were to try it without carbon (to save on buying new cartridges) what would be the best sponge/pad to put in my Penguin 200? And would i just cut it to the size of the original blue cartridges and just stand them up in there?


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I use Poret foam as a substitute for all cartridge media in my HOB's. I cut it to the size of the cartridge and replace it. Just do a search on Poret, you will find it. It works great and doesn't need to be replaced. Simple squeezed out/rinsed in tank water at filter cleaning time (some rinse in tap water..up to you).


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

bobbo268 said:


> Its weird that a lot of you guys don't use carbon. From what I've been reading tonight it helps clear the water and keep odors down. Either way, if I were to try it without carbon (to save on buying new cartridges) what would be the best sponge/pad to put in my Penguin 200? And would i just cut it to the size of the original blue cartridges and just stand them up in there?


Carbon's effectiveness only lasts about a month so it can become very expensive to keep replacing it. Like I said, i just use the biomax and filter pads in my HOBsn and my water is crystal clear and fairly oder free.

I get the blue bonded filter pads from kensfish. I think its made by marineland, there are several choices out there. Its easy to cut and maintain.


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## Bowfront (Jun 3, 2013)

The bio-wheel is the most important part of the hang-on back filter designs. If you want a silent HOB get a hot magnum with the bio-wheel. I had one for 7 years and it was silent. You just had to make sure the tank water didn't drop more than 2 inches.
.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Bowfront said:


> The bio-wheel is the most important part of the hang-on back filter designs. If you want a silent HOB get a hot magnum with the bio-wheel. I had one for 7 years and it was silent. You just had to make sure the tank water didn't drop more than 2 inches.
> .


There are other good ways of providing biological filtration. If you do, however, remember them you will need to add some other form of biological media.


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## bobbo268 (Jul 5, 2013)

I ordered biomax to throw in the filter, and added another filter cartridge. Once the tank is established i'll give it a week and then remove the wheel. Its the water splashing off the moving wheel thats making the noise. My wife had to shut the bedroom door because it was so loud... I did look at the hotmagnum and if I ever get a bigger tank i'll look into that, it has quite the price tag though.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

I don't think the HOT Magnum is a much better filter than the biowheel. It might have a slightly bigger filter area and a couple more media options, but its not really worth the price if you ask me. I've also heard that after a little while they get pretty noisy too.

I didn't like my biowheel that much either tho. I really like the AquaClear 20 I have on my 10G tank. It's a super quiet, super efficient filter. I had a penguin 350 and the noise drove me nuts!


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

bobbo268 said:


> I have a penguin bio wheel 200 that is noisy as #%$&. Its not the motor or the magnet, its the sound of the water. If i take the wheel off its a little better, but wondering if any HOB filters are actually silent or near silent or if the whisper filters are actually whisper quiet. The water level is as high as it can go, its just the way the water is shot back into the tank. Thanks!


You can try the soda bottle trick.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... 1241519074



bobbo268 said:


> Its weird that a lot of you guys don't use carbon. From what I've been reading tonight it helps clear the water and keep odors down. Either way, if I were to try it without carbon (to save on buying new cartridges) what would be the best sponge/pad to put in my Penguin 200? And would i just cut it to the size of the original blue cartridges and just stand them up in there?


Carbon is **** to be honest. Unless your removing meds or have stinky well water it really isnt needed, and its true effectiveness is less then a week. I think your 200 is the same as my old penguin 170's. I just use the shell of the old carbon cartridge, rip off the padding, and use it as a retaining wall per say, and stuff media behind it. You can cut a sheet of mechanical padding any size you want.



Bowfront said:


> The bio-wheel is the most important part of the hang-on back filter designs. If you want a silent HOB get a hot magnum with the bio-wheel. I had one for 7 years and it was silent. You just had to make sure the tank water didn't drop more than 2 inches.
> .


Contrary to belief the bio-wheel does very little 
http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/20 ... -work.html



clhinds78 said:


> I don't think the HOT Magnum is a much better filter than the biowheel. It might have a slightly bigger filter area and a couple more media options, but its not really worth the price if you ask me. I've also heard that after a little while they get pretty noisy too.
> 
> I didn't like my biowheel that much either tho. I really like the AquaClear 20 I have on my 10G tank. It's a super quiet, super efficient filter. I had a penguin 350 and the noise drove me nuts!


I've had mine for about 10 years with the same impeller, and its as silent as the day i got it. I also stuff my media basket for it with matrix, and use the blue filter pad on the exterior. Been a great bio-filter for me. I see a lot of used ones for $30- in my area, you can get them pretty cheap via forums or craiglist at least in my area.

I agree with the 350, but depends what year you bought it. There was a couple years where the company providing the magnets for them, and the 400's wernt to proper size. I found using other marineland/penguin impellers made it more silent or using a little vaseline on the magnet itself worked some.


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