Return Pump Padding

[usvi diver]

How important is it to have the foam pad on the bottom of the return pump? I am putting my sump together tomorrow and I cant find the foam padding that came with the pump. I am guessing it is used to keep the pump from vibrating on the glass bottom of my sump.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

That's what it's used for......vibration damper. Anything you can find will work. Hobby Lobby sells all kinds of things made out of a closed cell foam that will work.

 

[usvi diver]

Thanks for the info. Is it okay to buy the foam already with glue on one side? Something like weather stripping maybe?

 

[bluespot]

Before I got a return pump with rubber feet on it I used a piece of foam from a camping/sleeping bag pad. Worked great. Still have a larger piece under my sump for padding.

 

[sewer urchin]

Be careful of what you put in the tank, I remember a post for a year or two ago where the member used a mouse pad to dampen the pump vibration. The only problem was that he found out later that there was something in the pad ( maybe a flame retardant) and it nuked the tank and fish. I remember that Homeless Depot had some silicone feet "pads", I picked some but have been to lazy to put them on.

 

[freezerrat]

I wrapped airline tubing around the return pump in my biocube. That worked pretty well.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

You do need to be careful of it's content. I'm not sure that weather stripping would be a good alternative due to the glue. Some foam is formaldehyde based (such as carpet foam, the foam in chairs, foam in car seats etc) and that will leach off as a gas. Don't want that!

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Agreed with above. Be careful about what you use for padding. I remember the post about the mouse pad...

Another consideration is not to have the return pump resting on the bottom of the tank. The bottom of my return pump is a fraction of an inch above the bottom glass of my sump. Quiet as a cat hiding in a dog pound, and absolutely no vibrations...

 

[joseayes]

Hot gun with silicone, applied some on the bottom plate of the pump and it wasn't the same vibrations, worked with me.

 

[usvi diver]

Thanks for the help all. I found two silicone pot holders at Wal-Mart for $4 each. They seem to be working.