Noisy air stone :-(

[Babel Fish]

Hi all,

Over the weekend I bought a 'Rena 100' air pump and an 'Interpet Aqua Air'
air stone. The pump describes itself on the box as being 'extremely quiet'.
The problem is, there is a tremendous racket coming from the air stone
itself rather than the pump. I have tried another pump on it and I get the
same pnematic drill sound result.

Can anyone advise as to whether air stones are rubbish and what, if anything
I could get to replace it which would be quiet? I have a Biorb and the air
pump/stone, etc on that is silent. I can't believe how loud the new set up
is - you can hear it all round my house! I can safely say it is not the
pump, as I've tried that on the other tank and it's as quiet as my existing
pump.

Any help thankfully received.

[John Duncan Yoyo]

On Mon, 8 Mar 2004 18:01:20 -0000, "Babel Fish"
> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Over the weekend I bought a 'Rena 100' air pump and an 'Interpet Aqua Air'
>air stone. The pump describes itself on the box as being 'extremely quiet'.
>The problem is, there is a tremendous racket coming from the air stone
>itself rather than the pump. I have tried another pump on it and I get the
>same pnematic drill sound result.
>
>Can anyone advise as to whether air stones are rubbish and what, if anything
>I could get to replace it which would be quiet? I have a Biorb and the air
>pump/stone, etc on that is silent. I can't believe how loud the new set up
>is - you can hear it all round my house! I can safely say it is not the
>pump, as I've tried that on the other tank and it's as quiet as my existing
>pump.
>
>Any help thankfully received.

You might have a bum air stone. What kind did you get? How loud are
you willing to accept?

I have a plastic air stone which is adjustable. It is a series of
plates that may be tightened or loosened to control the size of the
bubbles. It makes a very little hissing noise when it is set for very
tiny bubbles. Certainly as loud/quiet as the whisper filter on the
tank. ]

There are white plastic ones which make fine bubbles and are very
inexpensive.


--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Brought to you by the Binks for Senate campaign comittee.
Coruscant is far, far away from wesa on Naboo.

[Babel Fish]

"John Duncan Yoyo" > wrote in message
...

> You might have a bum air stone. What kind did you get? How loud are
> you willing to accept?
>
> I have a plastic air stone which is adjustable. It is a series of
> plates that may be tightened or loosened to control the size of the
> bubbles. It makes a very little hissing noise when it is set for very
> tiny bubbles. Certainly as loud/quiet as the whisper filter on the
> tank. ]
>
> There are white plastic ones which make fine bubbles and are very
> inexpensive.

It is an "Aqua Air" model by Interpet. It doesn't hiss - it hums, rather
loudly.
Thanks for your observations - I will look for something else tomorrow.

Many thanks.

[Velvet]

Babel Fish wrote:

> "John Duncan Yoyo" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>
>>You might have a bum air stone. What kind did you get? How loud are
>>you willing to accept?
>>
>>I have a plastic air stone which is adjustable. It is a series of
>>plates that may be tightened or loosened to control the size of the
>>bubbles. It makes a very little hissing noise when it is set for very
>>tiny bubbles. Certainly as loud/quiet as the whisper filter on the
>>tank. ]
>>
>>There are white plastic ones which make fine bubbles and are very
>>inexpensive.
>
>
> It is an "Aqua Air" model by Interpet. It doesn't hiss - it hums, rather
> loudly.
> Thanks for your observations - I will look for something else tomorrow.
>
> Many thanks.
>
>

You're saying the air stone is an aqua air? or are you talking about the
pump? Which one's the one making the humming that's loud? If the air
pump, make sure it's not resting against anything else, or on a surface
that could act like a resonance chamber (hollow underneath etc).

Also try putting a magazine underneath it to see if that quietens
things, as part of working out which bit of the air pump/stone is
generating the noise.

Velvet

[Velvet]

Babel Fish wrote:

> "John Duncan Yoyo" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>
>>You might have a bum air stone. What kind did you get? How loud are
>>you willing to accept?
>>
>>I have a plastic air stone which is adjustable. It is a series of
>>plates that may be tightened or loosened to control the size of the
>>bubbles. It makes a very little hissing noise when it is set for very
>>tiny bubbles. Certainly as loud/quiet as the whisper filter on the
>>tank. ]
>>
>>There are white plastic ones which make fine bubbles and are very
>>inexpensive.
>
>
> It is an "Aqua Air" model by Interpet. It doesn't hiss - it hums, rather
> loudly.
> Thanks for your observations - I will look for something else tomorrow.
>
> Many thanks.
>
>

Hmm, one day I'll learn to read properly before answering ;-)

Having looked at the aqua air airstone, the one I've found says it comes
with a sucker to attach to glass wall - is this how you've done it? Is
it vibrating against the glass at all and causing the noise?

The other thing I can think of is the size of the airstone vs what the
pump can put out. Looking at the rena pump, it's rated up to a 90l
tank. For comparison, the same size interpet (which would be the AP2)
pump is rated to run a 9" longstone, or 2-4 other air features.

I'd class a single short airstone as one other air features, so if you
have only one of those on that rena pump, it's quite likely it's trying
to push a lot of air through just that one stone, which could contribute
to the noise.

Where is the airstone in the tank? buried in gravel, next to a rock,
suction cupped to the glass?

Velvet

[Dan J. S.]

"Babel Fish" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> Over the weekend I bought a 'Rena 100' air pump and an 'Interpet Aqua Air'
> air stone. The pump describes itself on the box as being 'extremely
quiet'.
> The problem is, there is a tremendous racket coming from the air stone
> itself rather than the pump. I have tried another pump on it and I get
the
> same pnematic drill sound result.
>
> Can anyone advise as to whether air stones are rubbish and what, if
anything
> I could get to replace it which would be quiet? I have a Biorb and the
air
> pump/stone, etc on that is silent. I can't believe how loud the new set
up
> is - you can hear it all round my house! I can safely say it is not the
> pump, as I've tried that on the other tank and it's as quiet as my
existing
> pump.
>
> Any help thankfully received.
>
>
>

Rena air-pumps are far from being extremely quiet...

[E.Otter]

I've read in a couple places where problems with the air-line or not having
a back-flow preventer (not sure of what its actual name) in the line causes
the air hose itself to vibrate loudly.
Also, if the airstone is directly on the tank glass this might cause its
normal soundless vibration to rattle the glass and make a lot of noise. In
that case, leave it on top of any substrate (gravel, sand, whatever) that
you have in the tank.

Just a thought that it might not be the airstone itself.
E.Otter

[Babel Fish]

Today I purchased an air curtain which has suction cups on it to stick it to
the glass. I must say, what a difference! The air stone was the problem -
it was just resting on the gravel, although I had made one attempt at
burying it a bit, I didn't want to stir up the gravel too much. The air
curtain is now working tremendously and the noise just a slight fizz. I can
deal with that much better!

Thanks for your responses on this.

BabelFish.

[Graeme]

"Babel Fish" > wrote in message
...
> Today I purchased an air curtain which has suction cups on it to stick it
to
> the glass. I must say, what a difference! The air stone was the
problem -
> it was just resting on the gravel, although I had made one attempt at
> burying it a bit, I didn't want to stir up the gravel too much. The air
> curtain is now working tremendously and the noise just a slight fizz. I
can
> deal with that much better!

I have the same airpump and started with the Aqua Fizzzz stone (made by
Hagen), but as I don't have any gravel or sand at the bottom of my tank, it
created a vibration against the glass, so I turned to the Interpet Aqua Air
just because it had the suction cap (I couldn't find any others with this)
as this would keep it off any surface.

And yes, I have the same noise as you did, but it is better than with the
other stone. I may look at the air curtain as a replacement as you have,
what brand did you buy? Although I guess they are all the same, after all
it only seems to be a tube with holes in.

Graeme

[Babel Fish]

"Graeme" > wrote in message
. ..
> I have the same airpump and started with the Aqua Fizzzz stone (made by
> Hagen), but as I don't have any gravel or sand at the bottom of my tank,
it
> created a vibration against the glass, so I turned to the Interpet Aqua
Air
> just because it had the suction cap (I couldn't find any others with this)
> as this would keep it off any surface.
>
> And yes, I have the same noise as you did, but it is better than with the
> other stone. I may look at the air curtain as a replacement as you have,
> what brand did you buy? Although I guess they are all the same, after all
> it only seems to be a tube with holes in.
>
> Graeme

The Air Stone I originally bought didn't come with a suction cup, I just had
to rest it on the bottom of the tank.

I'm afraid I can't tell you which brand air curtain I bought as I've thrown
the wrapper away! I would agree with you though - they all look the same so
are probably much of a muchness.