Need some 911 help

[FastUno]

My neighbors are complaining about humming noise below me & it looks like I may have to take apart my 90g tank & use a smaller tank without sump.

Right now I use 1/2 padding under the tank & another 1/2 under 30g sump & to much avail. I also try & use the quieter pumps, such as an Eheim that is suspended in mid air in the sump, & the Deltec pumps on the skimmer. Yet it still makes vibration noises below. These noises are more annoying below than in my own Livingroom.

I need to search out a 55-75g type tank that has an additional compartment for me to run my osmolator, heater...etc. Any suggestions? or any ways to make my sys even quieter?

 

[bad coffee]

what pump do you currently have? Are you sure it's the tank? if you unplug it, does the noise go away downstairs? Do you have other circulation in your tank? If you downgrade to a smaller return pump, will you still ahve good enough flow in the tank?

BC

 

[jhale]

this is a tough one.
the pumps are sending out low frequencies which are the hardest to block, and they are using the house itself to magnify the sound waves.
You must have the thinest floors ever made because I've never heard of this problem before.

Ideally you would isolate the source of the noise, keep it off the floor, but since this is a fish tank it's hard to do that. the vibrations from the pumps will be transferred to the floor no matter what.

you might try building a box to isolate the sump and contain some of the low frequencies. these need to be absorbed and diffused at the source, once they get to your floor they will expand and bother your neighbors.

your sump will need to be moved from under the tank. this could be a good thing
you will be able to achieve the easy to clean sump. ideally you can place the sump on a table or stand on top of thick rubber feet which are on top of a thick rubber matt to absorb and diffuse the sound waves. then make an enclosure for the sump, which should also be resting on a thick rubber matt. this should stop the sound waves from reaching the floor and bothering those beneath it. you can find all the rubber you need at a store on canal street, I believe it's called industrial rubber.

if you like this plan go tell your neighbor what your going to do, and ask them for a little more time to get it done. hopefully they will be cool and understand.

 

[inline6]

I've heard that dense cork board blocks noise frequencies pretty well.
Not sure where you would get it from, maybe Home depot has that special flooring with cork for added sound insulation.

Good Luck!

 

[gforce6]

Isn't that your tank has running for more than year now? Why couldn't they complain from the beginning? Did you change anything lately or you have such a good patient neighbors? I hope you solve the problem.

 

[FastUno]

Yea, tank has been running for a while now. They said they were being patient with me & even assumed it was the AC. They say it's getting louder & I do hear a buzzing sound that is louder now. Sounds like it's the Aquabee from the Deltec skimmer. I will have to do some test to find out tonight.

They slipped me 2 letters under the door last night & say they cant even sleep now. Sound is coming into the bedroom. Hard to believe man, our living rms are adjacent to the bedroom. Can't come from the bedroom. You want to hear a funny thing? I had a 1/2 cup full of coke & spilled it one time. I got a knock on the door of complaint of a leak. I went down & sure enough dark coke was dripping down. I guess that's how bad the floors are.

My return pump is suspended in the middle of the tank by a u-hook & is not touching anything in the sump. I have play matts on the bottom of tank & bottom of sump. This is the most I can do really.

 

[pmui]

hmmm....try isolation pads for speakers....under your sump, thats a thought.

http://www.warhogsaudioshop.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=129

 

[House of Laughter]

Move the tank to your bedreoom of kitchen - sucks cause the LR is nice, but better to have it somewhere else than to break it down.

Sucks to have downstairs neighbors.

House

 

[jhale]

wow, there is nothing between your floors. it sounds like they laid flooring on top of the joists with no subfloor? is that possible? how else could half a cup of liquid make it past a floor if there was subflooring under it. how old is the building?

 

[FastUno]

Building was build in the 1920's. The original tiles in the bathroom were 3/4", so I would imagine the floors to be better. Seems it's not the case.

 

[jhale]

the floors could be just one layer of planks over the joists.
I think that could be the case. I've never heard of pumps making enough noise to get through a floor before. and you not even using really large pumps at that.

is the tank right over the neighbors bedroom?

 

[joseney21]

that's really sucky flooring.i've never tried it, but i've had spills and from experience i think i can dump quite a few gallons on the floor before it makes it downstairs.

 

[samksy]

Sorrie to hear that, but i thought u are moving very soon, NOV/DEC? If the noise is from the skimmer? Turn off the skimmer at night, just run it during daytime and mininize feeding, until you move to your new location? No need to tear it apart.

Jh, i believe the tank should be right above his neightbor's livingroom if it's the same location he had during my last visit to his place.

 

[alrha]

how about HANGING the pump so that it is not on the floor?

 

[FastUno]

Our apartments are duplicates of each other. So living rm over liv rm.

I was suppose to move, but my purchase did not go through, so now I am not too sure.

My return pump is suspended on a hook & does not touch the sump. Problem might be the aquabee pump on skimmer. It seems to be the loudest.

 

[gforce6]

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.

 

[jhale]

just a thought, did you ever shut all the pumps off to make sure they are the problem? what if it's something else in the building? the way it's built it could be possible.

 

[alrha]

why not just buy a quieter pump rather than tearing down the tank.

are the red dragons quiet?

 

[DRZL]

or kill the neighbors..

My cousin vinny...you knowww..hes into these things

 

[triggerboy]

I actually had the exact same issue when I lived in Hoboken.... so I guess alot depends on the floors, amout of pumps and the senstitivty of the people below....

I found that most of the issue was with my return pump (Mag 7) and skimmer in the sump.... I did a few things... First I put a nice foam pad under the entire sump... I cut a piece of medium density open cell foam (one which won't squish completely once loaded back up) just bigger than my sump, then a piece of board (plywood) over it (agian just bigger than the sump, then placed the sump on top of that... this will help alot, and you can try different foams and thicknesses to get the most damping as possible.

Second, I got a square piece of acrylic just bigger than the foot print of the Mag pump and drilled a hole in each corner, I then took 4 suction cups used to hold the heaters in place,then glued/siliconed the suction cups in place in each corner.... after that I straped down my Mag pump ontop of it with a nylon zip tie and put it back in the tank.... the suction cups help with the vibration alot.... (Don't squish/stick them down, just set them in the tank, you want the rubber to flex as much as possible helping to deaden the vibrations. (BTW I found that the cups from a Visatherm heater work pretty well, more rubber and a bit bigger than the cheapo brands)

Anyway.. hope this helps...

J.