Do I wish for too much?

[kmsr]

Is this a possibility?
Assuming the proper husbandry and maintenance is done.
I’d like to set up a 55/65G glass reef aquarium. My personal requirements are that there it has no odor, do not want to rely on my sense of smell becoming oblivious to smell, do not want company to have to endure graciously a tank odor.
And can the necessary lighting be provided without spill into living area.
also can it be silent?

 

[Jib]

I've had my tank up and running since August, and I can give you my expierince with my 14G. I doesn't have a noticable odor unless I stick my nose right on top of the mechanical filtration, even then its pretty minimal. When the light gets hot and the fan ramps up, there is some noise. If there was dead silence you'd notice it for sure. With general household noises I doubt you'd notice much. Pump is also pretty quiet, and should disappear into the other background noise along. Again, if it was dead silent and you put your head close you can hear it though.

 

[tripdad]

The light spill and noise can be solved pretty well. The smell is very much by the person kinda thing. When my tanks are going really well it smells just like the ocean in my fish room. I love it, my wife hates it. And let's not discuss what skimmate smells like,lol. If you can do a remote sump in another room I think you can achieve your goal.

 

[Futuretotm]

Depends, how much air flow to the spot where your tank is?

I had a 3 gallon betta bowl that I could detect an odor from (zero air flow in that area)
My 139 gallon SW has zero odor (wife is pregnanct = better than blood hound in terms of odor sensing) - however my SW tank is under my AC return

 

[Dbichler]

I don’t smell my tank at all and my wife hates the smell. That’s why my tank is in my basement. Plus the little noise that also bothers her is far enough away. It’s really not much noise either. Some people are more sensitive to things.

 

[PicassoClown04]

As said above, good airflow through the room will solve any smell problems. Turning on a ceiling fan, or just keeping some air going in that room will elimate any smell. Theres a lot of ways to block light, my favorite being a floating hood but canopies and completely encased tank stands will also do the job

 

[vetteguy53081]

With proper filtration and maintenance, you should get smell only from a skimmer during cleaning as well as filter socks during cleaning.
With proper ventilation- you won’t notice
I have 3 tanks with one over 600 gallons and you can’t tell

 

[PatW]

My tank is pretty much odorless. But it does not hurt to have the ceiling fan on. Filter socks have some odor but really only an issue when I clean them. And the skimmer cup can be ripe but only noticeable during cleaning.

 

[Crashnt24]

My 75 gallon is virtually odor free. If you run a bag of carbon, smell is easily eliminated.

Sound is a different story. If you run a overflow/ sump combo, you will hear water running. If you ran a canister filter or HOB, you could eliminate sounds, but those require more maintenance.

With today's equipment choices, you can build virtually anything you desire.

 

[piranhaman00]

I had odor coming from sump, I bought an air purifier with large carbon filter and it is amazing, for fish odor and cat and cat hair, dust ect.

 

[Dbichler]

Anyone saying it’s odorless hasn’t met my wife.

 

[tehmadreefer]

There will be a noticeable smell, yes. Especially during water changes and the skimmate is horrendously smelly.

Yes there will be some noise from the return pumps and power heads.

light spillage and be contained with a canopy.

 

[smacbride]

I prefer to have a closed canopy on my tanks. Keeps the water from evaporating too fast, keeps the fish in, keeps the cats out, and keeps the smell in.

 

[DeniseAndy]

The odor is minimal if you have a tight system. It will be very noticeable when you clean. Such as the algae scrubber or the skimmer or any socks or filters. If you keep any algae laying around after pulling from tank or any items not rinsed, they will smell. If you have the sump in a separate, less used area, very little odor around the main system. Mine is in the basement.
Sound, well, there are pumps, water flowing, powerheads, lights. These all make a noise. Depending on how you run them and your tolerance level. My husband has zero tolerance to noise. So, it is as quiet as it can be in evenings. During day, not so much. Set up this way via Apex and basement sump.
Light spillage can be solved by having a closed canopy. However, then some heat exchange has to happen (fan).
Good luck with everything. I hope you find something that will work for you.

My guess is a biocube type system is what you should look at. All contained.

 

[kmsr]

Thanks to all!
I like the idea of a remote sump. But due to distance ( head pressure & temperature concerns(cold)) I'll be "sumping" in cabinet.
My thoughts are to vent cabinet filtration odors and hood(heat from lights) through crawl space via drier duct and terminating fan to outside. Thanks again.

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Is this a possibility?
Assuming the proper husbandry and maintenance is done.
I’d like to set up a 55/65G glass reef aquarium. My personal requirements are that there it has no odor, do not want to rely on my sense of smell becoming oblivious to smell, do not want company to have to endure graciously a tank odor.
And can the necessary lighting be provided without spill into living area.
also can it be silent?

Do you think all our houses smell like a fish market or somethin? Lol

 

[Viking_Reefing]

There will always be light spill of some kind, even with a canopy. Since glass is translucent light will make it out in the room somehow. It’s just a matter of how much is acceptable.

Smells can be completely negated with the use of ozone and carbon in conjunction.

Define quiet.
If you go for all top of the line gear like abyzz return pumps and stuff it will be relatively quiet but there will always be some kind of sound present (water running down the overflow and stuff like that).

 

[PicassoClown04]

AIO without a skimmer is probably your best bet for near-complete silence. Mine is almost dead silent when I turn the skimmer off except for my return and water rippling from my powerhead pointed at the surface. If you were to use an abyzz return, it would be no louder than the quiet murmur of water rippling from surface agitation