Fluval 13.5 - a quiet pump is finally found

[BurgerFish]

So, I tried:
Eheim compact 1000, noisy and heat the tank to 30C.
MJ 900, noisy.
Sicce Syncra 1.0, noisy.
Stock pump, less noisy, weak and easily clogged.

Every AC pump that touch the chamber walls creating vibration noise.

Now I found the one and only silent pump: Jebao DCA1200. And no, it wont fit the Fluval 13.5 by default. You need to trim the plastic the the saw, 2 min job:


At the max power the pump is noisy, but after reducing its power via included controller - its a absolutely silent pump. Even at minimum its a pretty powerful pump.

Now I can sleep near the tank without turning the pump off.

 

[blaxsun]

Now you only have to worry about the pump failing!

 

[BurgerFish]

Jebao DC must be pretty reliable.

 

[frostie18]

So, I tried:
Eheim compact 1000, noisy and heat the tank to 30C.
MJ 900, noisy.
Sicce Syncra 1.0, noisy.
Stock pump, less noisy, weak and easily clogged.

Every AC pump that touch the chamber walls creating vibration noise.

Now I found the one and only silent pump: Jebao DCA1200. And no, it wont fit the Fluval 13.5 by default. You need to trim the plastic the the saw, 2 min job:


At the max power the pump is noisy, but after reducing its power via included controller - its a absolutely silent pump. Even at minimum its a pretty powerful pump.

Now I can sleep near the tank without turning the pump off.

Thanks for your input on this pump, was really helpful. My local shop has swapped my noisy pump for one of these for free ! Just waiting for it to arrive. They pointed out that it was too long, so I told them I’d cut it down thanks to you !
Thank again

 

[Reef.]

So, I tried:
Eheim compact 1000, noisy and heat the tank to 30C.
MJ 900, noisy.
Sicce Syncra 1.0, noisy.
Stock pump, less noisy, weak and easily clogged.

Every AC pump that touch the chamber walls creating vibration noise.

Now I found the one and only silent pump: Jebao DCA1200. And no, it wont fit the Fluval 13.5 by default. You need to trim the plastic the the saw, 2 min job:


At the max power the pump is noisy, but after reducing its power via included controller - its a absolutely silent pump. Even at minimum its a pretty powerful pump.

Now I can sleep near the tank without turning the pump off.

Exactly my experience too, tried both the Eheim and Sicce, ended up with the same pump as you. Mines in a Nuvo 14.

 

[Dave1993]

tmc compact 500 makes no noise what so ever

 

[frostie18]

tmc compact 500 makes no noise what so ever

I will keep this in mind. Thanks for that. Much appreciated

 

[Dave Clark]

tmc compact 500 makes no noise what so ever

I couldn’t find it for sale with reasonable shipping as I’m in the USA. But I did find this pump, which is very similar. So far so good … very quiet.

 

[frostie18]

I couldn’t find it for sale with reasonable shipping as I’m in the USA. But I did find this pump, which is very similar. So far so good … very quiet.

Thanks for that, I will make a note of that incase this one goes!
I managed to get mine swapped and this one is very quiet, now to wait till I can put more fish and corals in. Nitrites are a bit too high at the moment but not horrendous.

 

[Dave Clark]

Thanks for that, I will make a note of that incase this one goes!
I managed to get mine swapped and this one is very quiet, now to wait till I can put more fish and corals in. Nitrites are a bit too high at the moment but not horrendous.

My tank is new and I'm also waiting for nitrites to drop. Hopefully they'll be good when I test today. I got a gorgonian coral hitchhiker on my live rock and it seems to be doing OK, other than some exposed skeleton which I think was due to being smacked around during shipping.

 

[Dave Clark]

ZKSJ pump (ignore that it says "pool"): https://www.zksj.com/product/White_And_Blue.html

 

[bennybaubles]

So, I tried:
Eheim compact 1000, noisy and heat the tank to 30C.
MJ 900, noisy.
Sicce Syncra 1.0, noisy.
Stock pump, less noisy, weak and easily clogged.

Every AC pump that touch the chamber walls creating vibration noise.

Now I found the one and only silent pump: Jebao DCA1200. And no, it wont fit the Fluval 13.5 by default. You need to trim the plastic the the saw, 2 min job:


At the max power the pump is noisy, but after reducing its power via included controller - its a absolutely silent pump. Even at minimum its a pretty powerful pump.

Now I can sleep near the tank without turning the pump off.

I can find the dca 1200 anywhere. Do you know if it’s labelled differently? I’ve found the dcs 1200 but not sure if it’s suitable

 

[Reef.]

I can find the dca 1200 anywhere. Do you know if it’s labelled differently? I’ve found the dcs 1200 but not sure if it’s suitable

I use the jecod DCS-1200 it’s a lot quieter than the Sicce and Eheim for me, I believe it could be the same pump as the Jebao?

​

 

[frostie18]

My tank is new and I'm also waiting for nitrites to drop. Hopefully they'll be good when I test today. I got a gorgonian coral hitchhiker on my live rock and it seems to be doing OK, other than some exposed skeleton which I think was due to being smacked around during shipping.

Hi,
How's your tank going?
Pump is doing a great job in mine and the tank is flourishing! I managed to get some pretty fish too and some small bits of coral. Only problem is, the fish I got, as pretty as they are, I never see them as they hide all day.
I got a hitchhiker too with my bubble coral, but it was a snail, so that was OK.
As long as they are happy!
Have a great day.

 

[frostie18]

So, I tried:
Eheim compact 1000, noisy and heat the tank to 30C.
MJ 900, noisy.
Sicce Syncra 1.0, noisy.
Stock pump, less noisy, weak and easily clogged.

Every AC pump that touch the chamber walls creating vibration noise.

Now I found the one and only silent pump: Jebao DCA1200. And no, it wont fit the Fluval 13.5 by default. You need to trim the plastic the the saw, 2 min job:


At the max power the pump is noisy, but after reducing its power via included controller - its a absolutely silent pump. Even at minimum its a pretty powerful pump.

Now I can sleep near the tank without turning the pump off.

Hi,
Thank you for your advice on your pump. I too got the same one as you now and cut it back, works an absolute treat! Quiet as a mouse now.
Thank you for that.
Have a great day!

 

[gbroadbridge]

My tank is new and I'm also waiting for nitrites to drop. Hopefully they'll be good when I test today. I got a gorgonian coral hitchhiker on my live rock and it seems to be doing OK, other than some exposed skeleton which I think was due to being smacked around during shipping.

You don't need to worry about Nitrite - it's harmless to Marine animals.

 

[Dave Clark]

Hi,
How's your tank going?
Pump is doing a great job in mine and the tank is flourishing! I managed to get some pretty fish too and some small bits of coral. Only problem is, the fish I got, as pretty as they are, I never see them as they hide all day.
I got a hitchhiker too with my bubble coral, but it was a snail, so that was OK.
As long as they are happy!
Have a great day.

My tank is doing really well. I added two hermit crabs and two turbo snails, all doing fine. I also added a GSP and recently discovered that it is on top of a sea cucumber! Water parameters are steady. Hitchhiker gorgonian coral recovered from shipping well. I discovered two hitchhiker clams. I'll probably be getting some fish this week.

 

[Dave Clark]

You don't need to worry about Nitrite - it's harmless to Marine animals.

Yes, I've read that ... I guess I've been made a purist from my freshwater days

 

[Subliminal]

I use the Sicce .5 and its pretty quiet as long as it isn't resting on the side of the tank.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I use the Sicce .5 and its pretty quiet as long as it isn't resting on the side of the tank.

I use that too, and as you say it is very quiet.

The PS2 skimmer on the other hand....