I use a Quietone 3000 for my return pump from my sump and it's been really quiet. I have no complaints so far.

a mag 18 is alot larger bodied pump than the 7,9,or 12 that I recommended, and transfers alot more heat, and is very noisy compared to the smaller mag drive series.

I am a proud supporter of the Velocity Pump. It does unfortunately generate heat but it is extremely reliable, has great flow adjustment, and far quieter than the person with this opinion.
"my personal opinion, those pumps are not worth their weight in feces...."

Kevin

Yes, I know, but was using it as a comparosom.

I found that they were quiet too, untill you need to scale back the flow, I found that this put considerable load on the motor and bearing, leading to high heat generation, and early failure of the pump. All these things form my opinion, my opinion is that they are a poorly designed pump not worth purchasing. This is an opinion of many people involved in the business end of the aquarium industry.

A snapper would do fine, very quiet, and works great, even when you have to restrict the flow. These pumps actually use less energy if you throttle them back.

I've had one for 2 years and its been great.

Im suprised by this statement, Im no expert on pumps, but I was under the impression that any pump would be under full load, or even excessive load when restricting the output of said pump??? Not being able to efficiently scavange the water would create turbulence at the impeller, forcing the motor to work harder to spin the impeller(motors are wound and loaded to spin at a certain RPM,I believe this is one reason why mag drive pumps dont heat up as much as wound motor pumps do when restricted). At least this was my understanding of basic fluid dynamics and impeller load... Please set me straight if Im under the wrong impression, curiosity strikes!

http://www.reeflopumps.com/images/flow_charts.xls

straight from the manufactures site.

really annoyed that my computer is being a turd and I cant open the file...lol
any chance you could copy and paste it for me?