Demeter
Member
If anyone has an aquarium in their bed room (I have 5 in mine) I'm sure you've all heard noises coming from the tanks after lights out. Most of the time all I hear is trickling water and the low hum of filters but sometimes I hear more interesting things.
I've got a 55gal with African cichlids, a lace catfish, and a striped raphael. The raphael is a shy little fella and doesn't come out to feed during the day like my lace cat so I've taken to dropping in a few algae wafers after dark. As any cichlid keeper knows, they will eat anything and everything that comes into the tank, so of course they would sniff out the food meant for the catfish, even in the dark. Apparently both catfish do not appreciate snooping cichlids when they feed, so I often hear a fair amount of grunting and squeaking at night, sometimes I begin to get concerned as it sounds like someone is truly trying to kill the catfish (so far no one is getting beat up). Plus thrashing around near the surface, not sure who's doing that though.
On a separate night, I was getting ready for bed after I had already turned off all the tank lights. I walked passed a room containing 2 other tanks and heard something alarming. Loud grinding noises, which I immediately assumed was a filter burning up. I turned the light on and walked to the tank only to fine my bristlenose pleco rasping on the Styrofoam bowl I use to prevent duckweed from clogging up the filter. He seems to like grazing on the algae that has grown on it.
Any odd noise coming from one of my tanks makes my heart race for a moment, most the time it is the fish themselves making noise and not the equipment. Why must they worry me so?
I've got a 55gal with African cichlids, a lace catfish, and a striped raphael. The raphael is a shy little fella and doesn't come out to feed during the day like my lace cat so I've taken to dropping in a few algae wafers after dark. As any cichlid keeper knows, they will eat anything and everything that comes into the tank, so of course they would sniff out the food meant for the catfish, even in the dark. Apparently both catfish do not appreciate snooping cichlids when they feed, so I often hear a fair amount of grunting and squeaking at night, sometimes I begin to get concerned as it sounds like someone is truly trying to kill the catfish (so far no one is getting beat up). Plus thrashing around near the surface, not sure who's doing that though.
On a separate night, I was getting ready for bed after I had already turned off all the tank lights. I walked passed a room containing 2 other tanks and heard something alarming. Loud grinding noises, which I immediately assumed was a filter burning up. I turned the light on and walked to the tank only to fine my bristlenose pleco rasping on the Styrofoam bowl I use to prevent duckweed from clogging up the filter. He seems to like grazing on the algae that has grown on it.
Any odd noise coming from one of my tanks makes my heart race for a moment, most the time it is the fish themselves making noise and not the equipment. Why must they worry me so?
