Dude, is that the CM30P7-1? Same as mine. Nice flow indicator you got there, btw!
Interestingly I was originally going for the same sort of position/mounting of the pump in my case, but in the end due to space restrictions I came up with another.
Since you showed you yours, I'll show mine (in leak-testing stage):
Note that the straight-up mounting position cannot be used with the CO10P7-1 as it does not have a magnetic seal.
The pump makes a soft high-pitched noise; not bad, but I too would prefer something more quiet. It
is very powerful, however; it creates vortices in the tubing, but that is probably also in part due to block design...
Since thes pics were taken, I have managed to get most of the air out. The water now runs clear and the vortices are nearly invisible as a result. The pump motor warms up to 33C max., not the 53C that has been specified by the manufacturer and found by others (it is running at 12V --I checked). I suspect it doesn't like to be constricted at the inlet.
Oh, and here's the (modified) Aquatube res:
