New Fluval 205 noise

[Jarmitage]

HI guys,

long time lurker first time poster :lol: Im wondering if anyone else has experience with the fluval 205 external canister filter and could shed some light on some noise issue im having. I bought this filter after reading a million different reviews and the majority were all complementary about its noise level.

Ive got a constant loud hum, and I can hear the impeller spinning around , its not stopping or starting like, just constant noise. the pump is doing its job allright, its got a constant flow and I have played around with the filter to try and get all the air out of the canister. at what point do i call the people i bought it off? anyone had similar 205 issue? cheers guys.

Um what else, im running a small aquarium, a 10 gallon tank , a pair of neon blue gouramis, a pair of bristlenose, and my squadron of 5 sterbai corys. ( mad little fish ) , ive angled the output of the pump so its not blasting them all around to much, the corys seem to like playing in the flow. I upgraded from a fluval U1 which was totally silent, but i was disappointed in its poor filtration, i wanted to be able to run a few different medias and carbon etc.. plus i know ill get a bigger tank in the future.

Ill put some pics up later on a different post.

thanks for reading. 8)

[Ira]

They make some noise, but it's hard to get an objective measurement of noise level. Some people complain it's too noisy if they can put their head next to it and barely hear it, others as long as it's not obtrusive in another room it's not too noisy.

You also can't compare noise levels of internal and external filters, internals have a bunch of water damping the sound, externals don't. They're almost always totally inaudible unless they're touching the glass.

[Jennifer]

Is the flow normal? It should be quite fast.

You shouldn't be able to hear the impeller spinning but you will hear a hum. Sometimes if the hoses are not in a straight line to the tank from the canister they can make a lot of noise. You can always cut the hoses shorter if they are curving around too much (Fluval makes replacement hoses that you can buy if you ever need long ones again). Might also pay to open it up and have a look at the impeller and see if it is spinning around normally. Also, be sure that the lid on the media basket is securely fastened since this can lift and rattle against the lid and cause noise (as well as allowing media to rattle around and in some cases block the inlet.

[Jarmitage]

thanks for the tips, i don't mind the hum, just the impeller noise is a nuisance. ill cut my hoses shorter cos they are a bit long, although theres no noise coming from the pump hoses.

ill make sure hoses are right length and re check the canisters internals -cheers

oh yes flow rate is normal too.

[fishplants]

Hey Jarmitage,

I started up a new 205 earlier this year, and it certainly made more noise (kind of a ticking noise) than my 10yr old 204. Was a bit disappointed initially but it settled down after a few weeks and is now very quiet (apart from a low hum which I consider normal). The noise may have just been media moving or the impeller 'wearing in'.

[Jarmitage]

Oh thats good news fishplants, I re-aranged my pipes , and I wedged lots of filter floss in my media baskets to make sure it wasnt stuff 'jiggling' around. The impeller seems to be in good working order, same as the ceramic impeller guide thingy majig.

Hopefully it will settle down in a few weeks to a good ol' hum ! interestingly my sterbai's love surfing the current, photos to come