Need some 911 help

[Barnacle_Blenny]

One word dynamat.....simply the best we use it to quite down our PC's

 

[John]

I can't belive noone except Drlz suggested just making the neighbors dissapeer. They sound like they nag you about everything. Coke, Reef tank sounds, etc. I say you either take care of them or for christmas buy them ear plugs and tell them they are forced to wear them if they do not want to hear the noise.

 

[jhale]

ear plugs do not work with low frequencies, they go right through you.

i had this great experience with a club that opened in my building, they did not last long TG. it made me insane.

 

[John]

Okay well than I suggest buying them out and making there apt a large fish room. You can plumb your tank through the floor into there apt into a large sump and also setup a frag tank etc.

 

[alrha]

i had this great experience with a club that opened in my building, they did not last long

i see you obviously know vinny too then?

let me guess, they are now swimming with the fishies in their new pair of cement block shoes?

 

[pmui]

or make a lot of noise constantly, so when you stop..the sound of the tank won't be noticed.

 

[jhale]

i see you obviously know vinny too then?

let me guess, they are now swimming with the fishies in their new pair of cement block shoes?

it was close to that, I was :grumpy: all the time.

fortunately they sucked and did not pay their rent so the landlord was able to evict them. i have to say after that experience the city laws SUCK for noise enforcement. it was ridiculous what they were able to get away with.

I called 311 every night and every night the police came and did not do much, they would turn the music down while the police were there, then turn it back up when they left. they did get a few big tickets but that was after months of complaints. even that did not make a difference to them.

 

[FastUno]

Is your skimmer insump or external? I saw some people connected skimmer body between pump with vinyl hose to prevent vibration to skimmer body. Or try to tight skimmer and pump very well. I think, the key is either you tight it up with skimmer body very well or let the vinyl hose observe the vibration. By the way, did you clean your pump? did you check the impeller? If there is any broken part, you know it will make noise.

I have the Deltec AP600 & it's in sump, with some 200gph rio pump feeding it. I cleaned my whole skimmer last week, but will give it another cleaning with a heavier concentration of vinegar. Will muriatic (sp) acid work better? Where to obtain this? I don't think there are any broken parts.

It's not anything else, beside noise from my sump. Today I did some more testing & I can say with a high % confidence that it's that damn aquabee skimmer & then even some noise from this crappy Rio 200gph pump. More noise from that pump than my Eheim 1262GPH 80W pump!!!! Has to do with the way the noise/vibrations are transmitted to the skimmer body & then to the rest of tank. I tried to suspend the skimmer with my hands & feel out the vibrations of the tank & it seems like there is still some major vibration & noise. It vibrates the whole water column in the sump i guess?
My return is SUPER quiet. Last time (months ago) I added some rubber tubing around the hook that was suspending it in the sump & it dampened it even further. Today around the tubing I added some teflon tape & then a rubber band & this thing is SO FREAKIN SILENT THAT I CAN"T BELIEVE IT! If anyone has this trouble please look into this return pump, it's SUPER & I will never get another one again, not even the Dragon (not worth the cost IMO).

Triggerboy, great idea. Maybe I can add some 1/2 tubing coiled up under my skimmer. Then a piece of rubber flat something (need help with this one) & then put suction cups on the bottom of my skimmer platform. Maybe that will do the trick? This is my skimmer Deltec AP600 http://www.deltecusa.us/proteinskimmers/apf600.php

For the rest of you'se FOGGETABOUTIT, Vinnie got caught smuggling corals from Fiji & is in the slammer doing hard time. Plus my neighbor is one is us, you know what I mean?

 

[FastUno]

I am also considering doing away with this Rio that feeds the skimmer & split my return into sump into 2. One to a pantyhose filter & other to a gatevalve to control the flow into the skimmer. What do you think about this.
Is it a bad thing to send dirty water that may have larger particles directly into the skimmer? I bet I will have to clean the darn skimmer out more often?

Any comments on this would sway me one way or the other. Actually come to think of it my skimmer is not running very efficiently now. There are no partitions in my sump now & all the good & bad water gets mixed up all together.

 

[herman]

Uno, I have three aquabee 2000/1 feeding my skimmer and its barely audible. It was a bit lound in the beginning becayse of trapped air but a couple of shakes solved that.

Take the endcap off the aquabee and check the pins and to see if there is anything else stuck in there. If the pump still creates alot of noise give Doug a call and ask him to send you a new one. That really sucks that you have to go through this man. I hope it works out somehow.

 

[gforce6]

I am also considering doing away with this Rio that feeds the skimmer & split my return into sump into 2. One to a pantyhose filter & other to a gatevalve to control the flow into the skimmer. What do you think about this.
Is it a bad thing to send dirty water that may have larger particles directly into the skimmer? I bet I will have to clean the darn skimmer out more often?

That will be my next project, direct feeding from the overflow. In order to bring out best result, your water level of skimmer has to constant. If your water level and water is move too much, the bubble will break easily. That is also relate with your tank surface water movement. You have to make your surface water clam, so overflow will drain your tank water pretty much same amount.
You can also put filter socks to skimmer drain so you can keep your sump clean. There will be some chunk water waste on your skimmer neck since it is feeding without any filter, I guess you can brush it with toothbrush.

Let me know, how it is working out.

 

[FastUno]

Well, it's relatively quiet. But it makes a lot of vibration & is the loudest thing on my tank. Sometimes it sounds louder than others. If you pay attention to it, it will really bother you & you can almost feel it through your body.

Will this dynamat stuff aborbe vibrations? I already have the playmat that I bought at HomeDepot under my tank & under my sump. Should I replace it with dynamat or styrofoam?

 

[FastUno]

I did some more testing today & I am assured that it's definitely the aquabee. When I unplug the skimmer, the vibrations on the 30g sump, & tank stand are unbelievably low. Just about non audible.

Then I did the ultimate test & went to the neighbors & asked someone to unplug the skimmer above & sure enough it is the skimmer.

The eheim return (a 1262GPH, 80W gobbler) did not make any audible noise downstairs & barely any vibrations on the 30g sump or stand.

Now the skimmer that I really love is unplugged & not in use. I told them that I will modify the skimmer this weekend & make another attempt at silencing it & if not then I will have to replace it. Now it's time for some serious tweeking.

Here is what I have now:
-tank stand reinforced with 2x4's & plywood on top & bottom.
-1/2" playmat from HD under the whole tank.
-1/2" playmat from HD under the 30g sump
-skimmer sits on 1/2 aragalive playsand in the sump.

Will change this weekend:
-will try to replace 1/2" playmat with 1" styrofoam
-will chuck the Rio pump & plumb my return directly into skimmer via vinyl tubing.
-will remove sand from sump, coil up some vinyl tubing & place cutting board on top of that. Then try & attach some rubber feet (need help in choosing non toxic rubber feet) to the skimmer & layting flat on the cutting board.

Any other suggestions or ideas? If this does not work I will have to look for another skimmer. How is the MCE600 in terms of noise levels? I would imagine the same, since it has the same type of pump. Any other recomendations of skimmers rated for 120g or so that are reliable & quiet?

 

[herman]

Uno, which deltec are you using? I may have a solution. I will also ask Doug from deltec to chime in.

 

[FastUno]

The AP600
This one http://www.deltecusa.us/proteinskimmers/ap600.php

TIA

How about any other good/quiet skimmers out there? Or any ones that can use the Eheim pump?

 

[herman]

i just saw that one.

 

[bad coffee]

Have you invited your neighbors upstairs to look at your reef? Show them how cool it actually is, and explain to them all the hard work you put into it.

Also tell them that you're willing to work with them, but under no circumstances will you tear it down and get rid of it because of a little noise. (You're not breaking any laws, you're just running your tank.) Tell them that you're changing a few things around, and hope it helps.

Now, I'd isolate that pump from everything. I'd use vinyl tubing to plumb it to the skimmer (to the pump and out of the pump to the skimmer) I'd put a layer of neoprene (old mouse pad) or even roll two of them into a tube and put them under the pump. Also with the skimmer. Get something between it and the floor of the sump. Vinyl tubing would work. SIlicone would work even better. Go to a medical supply house (or your local crack house. wait, that's my neighborhood) and get some big 1/2" thick walled tubing. Make a coil and put it under the skimmer. See if that helps.

BC

 

[kimoyo]

Uno, I have three aquabee 2000/1 feeding my skimmer and its barely audible.

Then there is a problem with my aquabee also because I can hear it well. I thought it was how the ap600's sounded.

 

[FastUno]

The Aqua-Bee 2000/1 acts as the recirc pump on the Deltec skimmer & is pretty much close to the body of the skimmer. I would imagine that if you plumb in vinyl or any other way, that would mean a compromise in the performance. This is the pump that produces all that rich bubbles. The water feed pump is another story & the main requirment for this is consistancy in flow & for the flow to be set to 200GPH for max performance.

I really love this skimmer & would love to continue using it. But isn't it odd that the Eheim produces less noise & is more powerful? Would be awesome if Deltec can make use of the Eheim!

Bad Coffee, I invited them upstairs & they told me they know how much it means to me. They are very nice people.


Kimoyo, do you hear like a hummmmming/buzzing sound emitting from the skimmer? Almost that you can feel it through your body, right?

 

[kimoyo]

I'm not sure if its humming or buzzing thru the skimmer or the pump itself. I know its vibrating the skimmer body pretty well though. Its pretty noticeable. I mentioned it in a my 'AP600 woes' thread early last month but I was more worried about just getting it to skim at the time. But I had read your early thread on RC and did all the steps they told you to do but I had all my grommets and I still get the noise.