Soundproofing an Aquarium Stand

MLCT · 02/28/2006, 08:20 AM

Has anyone had any luck with soundproofing an aquarium stand/cabinet with foam or insulation or even sheets of the foam baffles seen in studios to lessen noise from pumps,skimmers, etc. I have seen some stuff on the internet that would work well but it is over $100.00/4x4 sheet. Any other ideas.
Thanks

KevinM · 02/28/2006, 09:17 AM

The acoustic foam will work wonderfully, but you're right, it's a little on the expensive side. Alternatively, you could try some plain foam sheet without the 'egg carton' dimples. You should be able to find some at a craft store, or maybe even Wal Mart.

usagolf · 02/28/2006, 09:25 AM

Nuprene works good for sound deadening. A lot of car sound shops use it. I know you can get it on e-bay pretty cheap.

badpacket · 02/28/2006, 11:05 PM

Darn, saw a review recently relating to silent pc's. Someone compared some of the expensive foams against some more standard foam with a decent db rating, and the cheaper stuff worked out pretty fair, and a heck of a lot cheaper.

This might be useful reading, though not strictly applicable to our lower levels of sound since we are not recording studios....
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...rclo=&saprchi=

Fast Fred · 03/01/2006, 08:55 AM

Wal-mart sells egg crate foam for use as a matress pad. You could try that.

raskal311 · 03/01/2006, 12:04 PM

If the stand holds in sound it will also hold in a lot of heat. Aside from that I would use great stuff to insolate the stand. Instead of pieces you spray it on so you get a better seal.

fishnut321 · 03/01/2006, 09:31 PM

go buy alot of soft drinks at mc donalds. The little carboard trays are poor man sound proofing, though they would probably not hold up well with the humidity. I would go with closed cell foam mattress called a z-rest. Google it, there cheap and they will work well. You dont want to use matress since its probably porous and will cause mold etc to take hold.

just my 2 cents

philipm · 03/01/2006, 11:17 PM

If you go to home depot/lowes they have packs of 3/4" thick sheets of styrofoam. Cut to fit and use a hot glue gun to affix them into place. I did this and my stand was completely silent. The down side of insulating your stand is that it holds in heat. I had a chiller so this was not an issue. Most likely venting it with a fan would work.

Chrismo · 03/01/2006, 11:28 PM

In general, hard surfaces like wood or metal reflect the sound back into the stand, whereas porous things like fabric will absorb the sound.

What you really want to do first is make sure there are no gaps in your stand around the doors for sound to get out. (weatherstip it). And also, since hard things conduct the sound out of the stand, You could try to put rubber hockey pucks under your stands legs to keep vibrations from transferring to the floor.

The heavier something is, the more it will stop and absorb sound too. They often use "mass loaded" vinyl to coverwalls in a sound studio. Basicaly thats Vinyl with crushed stones embedded into it. It weighs about a pound a square foot or more.

Sandbags block sound pretty good too, so you could cover the bottom of your sump in sandbags, and put your pumps etc on top of them.

But the main thing is to make sure there are no gaps for the sound to get directly out.

soundgeek · 03/02/2006, 09:02 AM

The way to fix it is to isolate whatever is making the noise, for example a pump. If you have a pump vibrating and it causes the stand to vibrate the stand it self will resonate and make its own noise. The best fix would be to use that roll on truck liner on the inside of you stand to help with its resonate frequency and isolate the pumps that would be causing vibration, i have heard that using a mouse pad under pumps works real well. As far as water movement making noise you are not goint to be able to make the stand quiet, but the water. If you want to get creative place a microphone and speaker in the stand and record the sound coming in and delay it so it is 180degrees out of phase and you would have a noise cancelling stand.

Chrismo · 03/02/2006, 09:06 AM

Quote:

If you want to get creative place a microphone and speaker in the stand and record the sound coming in and delay it so it is 180degrees out of phase and you would have a noise cancelling stand.

Cool! Does that really work? Have you tried it? I've got a computer in there anyway, it might as well make some anti-noise.

DHyslop · 03/02/2006, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chrismo
Cool! Does that really work? Have you tried it? I've got a computer in there anyway, it might as well make some anti-noise.

I'm really curious to find out, too. I have used a first-generation noise-cancelling aviation headset for a few years and consider it to be the best thing since sliced bread.

I've heard that you can have cabin-wide noise-cancelling speakers installed in corporate turboprops so passengers can have a comparatively quiet trip without having to use headsets.

What sort of electronics skill would someone need to put together an apparatus like this under the stand? Is this something you could do on a circuit board in a beginners realm?

Dan

Chrismo · 03/02/2006, 10:03 AM

I dont know much about it, but I am thinking that if it's a constant noise, then you might be able to just play it back in reverse phase and not have to have a mic sampling the ambiant (bad) sound constantly.

That would be convienient anyway.

DHyslop · 03/02/2006, 10:21 AM

That would make sense. My headset is analogue: it just cancels out the frequencies most associated with general aviation motors. The newer ones, on the other hand, are truly adaptive and much more effective (perhaps too effective if they prevent you from hearing subtle changes in engine sounds).

I've been fighting with my Mag 7 for the last few weeks trying to quiet it. I'm starting to feel ready for a band-aid solution!

Dan

MLCT · 03/02/2006, 12:39 PM

Thanks for all the replies.
The stand isn't that loud, but being in the common area of the house, I want it as quiet as possible. The pump is fairly quiet but it resonates throughout the stand and the sump. And I have already isolated them with double layers of anti-fatigue matting. The Euro-reef skimmer also puts out its own bit of noise with the air intakes.
Oh well, just something else to screw around with.

luibove · 03/02/2006, 12:58 PM

Why not try the expanding foam, this is relatively cheap, & should dampen any resonance?

Chrismo · 03/02/2006, 01:35 PM

For the air intake, attatch a wooden airstone to the air intake. Get one as big as you can find, so it lets in a lot of air without too much restriction. Thats what I did with My H&S 1260. It make a huge difference on the sound.

My goal was total silence too, since it is in my living room.

soundgeek · 03/02/2006, 06:29 PM

It is exactly how bose noise cancelling headphones work. 180 degrees out of phase is the same as reversing the signal. So for instances if you have two speakers one hooked up correctly with red to red and black to black and the other speaker red to black and black to red, pick a listening point anywhere in the middle and you won't be able to hear anything because the signal is 180 degrees out of phase causing cancelation. With a microphone and one speaker you can't just reverse the wires but you would need a effects processor that will allow you to delay the time so it is out of phase to cancell out the sound. To succesfully make this work in a home enviorment would be difficult.

db138 · 03/03/2006, 01:31 AM

You might want to try Dynamat. It's main use is car stereo intallations. It's a thin sheet (1/4") that is sticky on one side. I have used this hundreds of times and is super easy to install. You can get a 2'X6' roll at Best Buy or other car stereo stores. Here is their homepage:

http://www.dynamat.com/

Hope this helps

02/28/2006, 08:20 AM	#1
MLCT Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 52	Soundproofing an Aquarium Stand Has anyone had any luck with soundproofing an aquarium stand/cabinet with foam or insulation or even sheets of the foam baffles seen in studios to lessen noise from pumps,skimmers, etc. I have seen some stuff on the internet that would work well but it is over $100.00/4x4 sheet. Any other ideas. Thanks

02/28/2006, 09:17 AM	#2
KevinM Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Dallas Posts: 752	The acoustic foam will work wonderfully, but you're right, it's a little on the expensive side. Alternatively, you could try some plain foam sheet without the 'egg carton' dimples. You should be able to find some at a craft store, or maybe even Wal Mart. __________________ "To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence." Sun Tzu - The Art of War Current Tank Info: Custom 120g acrylic coming soon.

03/01/2006, 08:55 AM	#5
Fast Fred Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Northfield, NJ 08225 Posts: 1,170	Wal-mart sells egg crate foam for use as a matress pad. You could try that. __________________ Ya know, for a clown fish, you're not very funny! Member of the New Jersey Reefers Club Current Tank Info: 125g Reef Ready AGA /55g Top Fin Tank for a sump/refugium/ LifeReef Skimmer/ Changing over to SPS only

03/01/2006, 11:28 PM	#9
Chrismo Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 416	In general, hard surfaces like wood or metal reflect the sound back into the stand, whereas porous things like fabric will absorb the sound. What you really want to do first is make sure there are no gaps in your stand around the doors for sound to get out. (weatherstip it). And also, since hard things conduct the sound out of the stand, You could try to put rubber hockey pucks under your stands legs to keep vibrations from transferring to the floor. The heavier something is, the more it will stop and absorb sound too. They often use "mass loaded" vinyl to coverwalls in a sound studio. Basicaly thats Vinyl with crushed stones embedded into it. It weighs about a pound a square foot or more. Sandbags block sound pretty good too, so you could cover the bottom of your sump in sandbags, and put your pumps etc on top of them. But the main thing is to make sure there are no gaps for the sound to get directly out. __________________ Just mind your water and your fish will mind themselves. Current Tank Info: 157g

03/02/2006, 09:02 AM	#10
soundgeek Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 129	The way to fix it is to isolate whatever is making the noise, for example a pump. If you have a pump vibrating and it causes the stand to vibrate the stand it self will resonate and make its own noise. The best fix would be to use that roll on truck liner on the inside of you stand to help with its resonate frequency and isolate the pumps that would be causing vibration, i have heard that using a mouse pad under pumps works real well. As far as water movement making noise you are not goint to be able to make the stand quiet, but the water. If you want to get creative place a microphone and speaker in the stand and record the sound coming in and delay it so it is 180degrees out of phase and you would have a noise cancelling stand. __________________ GEAUX TIGERS!!! Current Tank Info: 75gal

02/28/2006, 09:25 AM	#3
usagolf Moved On Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: MI Posts: 113	Nuprene works good for sound deadening. A lot of car sound shops use it. I know you can get it on e-bay pretty cheap.

02/28/2006, 11:05 PM	#4
badpacket Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Western NY Posts: 1,459	Darn, saw a review recently relating to silent pc's. Someone compared some of the expensive foams against some more standard foam with a decent db rating, and the cheaper stuff worked out pretty fair, and a heck of a lot cheaper. This might be useful reading, though not strictly applicable to our lower levels of sound since we are not recording studios.... http://search.ebay.com/search/search...rclo=&saprchi=

03/01/2006, 12:04 PM	#6
raskal311 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Orange County Posts: 5,274	If the stand holds in sound it will also hold in a lot of heat. Aside from that I would use great stuff to insolate the stand. Instead of pieces you spray it on so you get a better seal.

03/01/2006, 09:31 PM	#7
fishnut321 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Warrensburg, Mo Posts: 763	go buy alot of soft drinks at mc donalds. The little carboard trays are poor man sound proofing, though they would probably not hold up well with the humidity. I would go with closed cell foam mattress called a z-rest. Google it, there cheap and they will work well. You dont want to use matress since its probably porous and will cause mold etc to take hold. just my 2 cents

03/01/2006, 11:17 PM	#8
philipm Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pensacola, FL. Posts: 161	If you go to home depot/lowes they have packs of 3/4" thick sheets of styrofoam. Cut to fit and use a hot glue gun to affix them into place. I did this and my stand was completely silent. The down side of insulating your stand is that it holds in heat. I had a chiller so this was not an issue. Most likely venting it with a fan would work.

03/02/2006, 10:03 AM	#13
Chrismo Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 416	I dont know much about it, but I am thinking that if it's a constant noise, then you might be able to just play it back in reverse phase and not have to have a mic sampling the ambiant (bad) sound constantly. That would be convienient anyway. __________________ Just mind your water and your fish will mind themselves. Current Tank Info: 157g Last edited by Chrismo; 03/02/2006 at 10:34 AM.

03/02/2006, 10:21 AM	#14
DHyslop Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: RI Posts: 1,085	That would make sense. My headset is analogue: it just cancels out the frequencies most associated with general aviation motors. The newer ones, on the other hand, are truly adaptive and much more effective (perhaps too effective if they prevent you from hearing subtle changes in engine sounds). I've been fighting with my Mag 7 for the last few weeks trying to quiet it. I'm starting to feel ready for a band-aid solution! Dan

03/02/2006, 12:39 PM	#15
MLCT Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 52	Thanks for all the replies. The stand isn't that loud, but being in the common area of the house, I want it as quiet as possible. The pump is fairly quiet but it resonates throughout the stand and the sump. And I have already isolated them with double layers of anti-fatigue matting. The Euro-reef skimmer also puts out its own bit of noise with the air intakes. Oh well, just something else to screw around with.

03/02/2006, 12:58 PM	#16
luibove Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Maple, Ontario Posts: 60	Why not try the expanding foam, this is relatively cheap, & should dampen any resonance?

03/02/2006, 01:35 PM	#17
Chrismo Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 416	For the air intake, attatch a wooden airstone to the air intake. Get one as big as you can find, so it lets in a lot of air without too much restriction. Thats what I did with My H&S 1260. It make a huge difference on the sound. My goal was total silence too, since it is in my living room. __________________ Just mind your water and your fish will mind themselves. Current Tank Info: 157g

03/02/2006, 06:29 PM	#18
soundgeek Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 129	It is exactly how bose noise cancelling headphones work. 180 degrees out of phase is the same as reversing the signal. So for instances if you have two speakers one hooked up correctly with red to red and black to black and the other speaker red to black and black to red, pick a listening point anywhere in the middle and you won't be able to hear anything because the signal is 180 degrees out of phase causing cancelation. With a microphone and one speaker you can't just reverse the wires but you would need a effects processor that will allow you to delay the time so it is out of phase to cancell out the sound. To succesfully make this work in a home enviorment would be difficult. __________________ GEAUX TIGERS!!! Current Tank Info: 75gal

03/03/2006, 01:31 AM	#19
db138 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Missouri Posts: 44	You might want to try Dynamat. It's main use is car stereo intallations. It's a thin sheet (1/4") that is sticky on one side. I have used this hundreds of times and is super easy to install. You can get a 2'X6' roll at Best Buy or other car stereo stores. Here is their homepage: http://www.dynamat.com/ Hope this helps