Turning the filter off at night?

[Sniv]

I've recently bought a 24L tank just for shrimp (because they're so cute!), and have discovered that the filter hums at just the frequency that'll drive me bananas when I'm trying to sleep.

No problem, I thought, I'll just turn it off at night- but a quick google tells me common consensus is that doing that will (a) starve the bacteria in the filter sponge of oxygen and kill them and (b) the lack of filtration will cause waste to build up to dangerous levels.

Is this true? I've worked with enough with bacteria of various sorts to think that point 'a' must be rather exaggerated, and 8 hours without media flow won't be great but won't slaughter the lot? With point 'b' regarding waste, is this such an issue if I'm only keeping shrimp as people seem to think their load on a tank is pretty marginal? I'm a very novice fishkeeper though, so can't really guess at either.

If it is true and the filter must stay on, any suggestions as to what I can do?
I've tried adjusting where it sits at the waterline and it still hums; it's apparently just the noise of the motor.
Due to the fact I rent in a houseshare the tank has to go in my bedroom.
The filter came with the tank and should have cost £20 on its own, so I assume it's not complete tat, and I wouldn't want to buy a more expensive one right now. And it's not loud, but does disturb my sleep; I think most filters will be similar.

Any of you tried turning your filter off regularly like this? Or any ideas to stop me hitting the thing with a hammer at 3am while screaming "STOP HUMMING!!!"?

[TreeSparrow]

No, don't turn it off. It'll poison the shrimp at night and yes, you'll be stagnating your cycle. I had a nano filter made by Dennerle and it didn't hum at all.

[Sniv]

Eh, I really don't want to buy a new one just at the moment. In setting up the tank I'm already near my budget and I haven't actually brought any shrimp yet!

I also don't want to risk buying a silent one to discover it's not actually silent - I was assured this one was super quiet, and it is pretty quiet, but it's the kind of noise my ear latches on to. If it was in my living room I'd tune it out no prob, but when it's purring away a metre from my sleeping head it's a different matter.

[TreeSparrow]

Well I'm not sure what to suggest. Return it and exchange for a different model?

[UterusUterusGhali]

I've been turning mine off at night for the same reason.

I've found balancing the motor (it's a Biorb) on the tub of fish food muffles the noise a fair bit.

[HoneyDragon]

Don't get the shrimp!

Sell the filter on eBay. Buy the following;

Chlorine

Robo Fish

Here endeth your problem.