Noise in water and quiet filters

[herp17]

Still very new to the boards. I kept a good number of ranchus and other fancy goldfishes from Arthur in NJ. Decided to start back up. Currently setting up a 55 gallon and put up a tetra whisper 60 for the time being.

I also recently noticed some talk about keeping the noise down in the tank. What are everybody's opinion of that? Does it matter or not? If so, what's a good filter that would be able to accomplish this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Mikey V]

In water, sound travels easier than air so any noise is amplified. This is why fish don't need outer ears. Its also been shown that loud noises can kill fish by stressing them and weakening their immune system.
That said, with a tetra whisper filter i think you are fine in terms of noise. On my 90 gallon, I have two tetra 60s (in addition to a sponge and an under-gravel) and I haven't seen any negative effects, plus they've been great in terms of reliability.
You might want to increase the filtration though, or add other methods of filtration to assist the power filter. As a rule of thumb, for goldfish its best to have filtration strength 50% more than your tank size. Keeping your power filter and adding an air-pump driven sponge filter down the line would be a good idea

[herp17]

I also got a Fluval canister filter I'm planning to put in too. And the current whisper I have is just making a ton of noise. I think I need to fiddle with it to quiet it down or get a new one.

[bekko]

What is "noise" (versus sound) and at what point does sound become noise to a fish? I think a certain amount of constant background sound would dampen the startling effect of an abrupt noise. Overhead filters (aka trickle towers) have a good reputation in fish keeping, but there is nothing quiet about them.

-steve

[Mikey V]

I also got a Fluval canister filter I'm planning to put in too. And the current whisper I have is just making a ton of noise. I think I need to fiddle with it to quiet it down or get a new one.

the motor housing is really simple to get at, there might just be debris in the workings and it needs to be cleaned out

[WakinAZ]

My Tetra/Whisper 60 power filter is definitely much louder than either my AquaClear 110s or my Filstar canister filters, but it's just kind of a loud hum. Check the impeller to see if there is something broken or a foreign object in the impeller area.

Once I run out of pads for it, I'll probably mothball it again. It's an OK mechanical filter and moves some water, but has negligible bio filtration.

[suphi]

I use a canister filter (Eheim P3e) in my show tank, point the spray bar against the back wall and the noise is really minimal.

In my TVR tank, I only have one large sponge filter...virtually no noise.

[nygold]

Noise is actually unwanted sound.
But how are we to know fish don't want it?

[Mikey V]

Noise is actually unwanted sound.

very true.

A goldfish's swim-bladder is directly connected to its inner ear resulting in very sensitive hearing, and are referred to by biologists as "hearing specialists". They can and do exhibit physiological stress responses and suffer hearing loss. Perhaps it is best to err on the side of caution, but just in case, my school has done a study on the subject =].

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/207/3/427

[bekko]

Noise exposure did not produce long-term physiological stress responses in goldfish, but a transient spike in plasma cortisol did occur within 10 min of the noise onset. Goldfish had significant threshold shifts in hearing after only 10 min of noise exposure, and these shifts increased linearly up to approximately 28 dB after 24 h of noise exposure. The paper is saying that the stress occurs when the noise starts, but that they quickly get used to it and adapt. The adaptation includes behavioral and morphological changes. Ear damage seems to be repaired over time (weeks).

I think that the noise we need to worry about are abrupt noises like tapping on the tank or dropping the hood, not the constant drone of the filter and air line.

-steve

[herp17]

When I get more time, I'll try to do a better pubmed search of the topic. But I was always under the impression that most lakes and ponds are quiet if you're not including some waterfall or rapid water movement. Again, that's isolated water bodies. I don't know, maybe it's all just a bad idea.

Again, just wanted some suggestions of filters that are quiet. I fiddled with the whisper last nite, still noise as hell. I think some parts are from other whisper models since I have like 4 of them with random broken parts. I pretty much frankensteined all of them into one working one. In the process of getting a giant fluval system going soon.