Noisy Outlet (constantly Needing To Pee!!)

Hello,

My first post on the forum so please be kind

I have revived my Juwel 60 Rekord when a friend asked if we could help her as she was overstocked with guppy's!  It now contains guppys, neons and a few amano shrimp for housekeeping.  I used to keep this tank in an office or dining room and so never really noticed the noise of the outlet.  But now we have downsized the house and the tank is directly behind where I sit each night I am accutely aware of the constant noise of running water coming from the outlet.  I have considered using the diffuser that Juwel sell but I don't think it would make any difference. 

Can anyone suggest any way of quieting down the outlet.  Clearly if it could be ran just under the water surface, enough to agitate but not sound like a tap filling a bath, it would solve the problem.  But other than a 'heath robinson' affair with gaffer tape and plastic tube I can't see a way forward.

Hope someone can help.

thanks

Hello Sue, thanks for replying.

I think my tank is a little on the old side!  I have had it from new quite a few years back and only recently had to replace the pump as it conked after many years continuous service.

My set up has a pipe running from the pump, up to a grill where the outlet pipe pumps water through and back out into the tank.  I have included a few picture links to try and help.  To make things clearer I have raised the outlet pipe from the casing.



Ordinarily it sits just about water level pumping water through the grill.



Hope the links work.

I used to have a Rio too and had the same arrangement you described.  It seems that Juwel like having outflows that break the surface tension - good for oxygen but does tend to send you somewhat bonkers!   I replaced it with a Fluval set up.  Rather not have to spend more on this setup though.

I too had a filter like that but it sounds more more Sue's, the outer casing had/has a hole part way down from the top and the outlet comes out of there so it is underwater, and as sue says mine too came with an angle piece that I could/can direct the flow.

I still have it but it isn't in use at the moment.

Is there any way of attaching a tube to the top outlet to send it underwater?

I've just looked on Juwel's website at that powerhead, I've not come across it before. It looks like a right fiddle to clean it if you have to take out all the media and the separation wall!

It mentions a water tube and the diagrams show a narrow tube with a right angle bend at the top, which by the looks of it fits inside the casing when the powerhead is pushed right down. It also says 'if you use it', refering to the tube. That's the tube pouring water out in your first pic? What happens if you don't use it? Does the water flow properly? Since the on-line manual for the pump says it's optional it should work without the tube, maybe that wouldn't be as noisy?

Just how wide is this tube? Would it be possible to use something else, something shorter and bendy so you can stick the end out of the hole at the side of the filter box? Depending on the thickness, anyhting from airline tubing to the tubing you get with a siphon tube, or even a siphon tube from a wine making kit (see Wilkinsons) which would be thinner than a fish tank siphon tube.

You realise I'm clutching at straws here 

How to find it:

www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk

hover over 'service' and click on 'download centre'

You'll now get a series of boxes, the next one only appears when you've made a selction in the first.
choose your language, choose 'filtration', choose 'pumps', choose 'pumps' again. Finally you get the download called 'manual pump 280'

or go straight here
http://www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk/out/media/en/Pumpe_280.pdf


I dislike these new websites. The old Juwel one, and the old Eheim one, were much easier to find your way around. And not only did they tell you about the current tanks, filters etc, they used to have a section for obsolete parts.




My rio had a pump that sat at the top of the filter. That's why I was having trouble working out your problem  Maybe they've dedided there were too many problems with that style pump and they've designed this new one to overcome them. Perhaps I wasn't the only one with a loud hum, and they got fed up of complaints 

I must confess to being a bit confused about your pump. The filters on Juwel's website all show the kind of pump I used to have. Look at this
http://admin.juwel-aquarium.de/out/media/Pumpen_bioflow.pdf
I've got my old filter out of the cupboard. The pump says Pump 600 GB on it. My pump housing looks like the right hand side of the flow chart on page 1 (the side labelled Typ 400 etc). Scroll down to page 4 of the link, and that's what mine looks like. As you can see, the pump fit at the top of the filter. The divider has a tube running down one side of it, and the pump clipped onto the top of the tube.
I got my tank in 2006. The tube attached to the divider runs the entire length as shown on page 4 of the link. The newer design came in shortly after I got mine, and the tube starts a few inches down the divider - see page 3 of the link.

The divider in the manual for the pump you have does not have a tube attached. There is a holder in the bottom of the filter than the divider slots into, and the pump slots into the holder as well.

Can I ask, does your divider have a tube attached to it? I can't see the top of a tube in your pics, but it could be that you have the newer type than mine with the tube starting a couple of inches down (like page 3 of the link)




In other words, I'm asking if you bought the correct replacement pump?

In that case, I'm totally out of ideas I'm afraid.



Though....
You say it sounds like a waterfall, so is the end of the tube above the water level? I notice from your pics that the water is below the red line on the side of the tank - and it also looks like there is a bigger gap at the front, meaning the tank is on a tilt. It could just be perspective on the photo 
If the water level is below the red line, filling it up to the line might help.