Nightly Aquarium Noises

[Demeter]

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?

 

[2211Nighthawk]

Took me a long time to figure this one out, my goldfish spitting gravel against the side of the tank.

But yeah, there’s a reason I don’t have fosh tanks in my room.

 

[Junne]

My one male pleco used to beat up my Nerite snail nightly. For several months I heard "pinging" noises and never could find the source. Then one night, I SAW him in action batting the poor girl around with his tail!
I moved my old girl to a different tank where she can live out the rest of her life ( she's one of the 3, old 6 year old Nerites )

Her shell looks really jacked up no thanks to the pleco!

 

[Demeter]

Plecos seem to be a common culprit of odd noises. My male would chase the female around a bit at night, causes some splashes every now and then.

I once had a Chinese algae eater that would dig into the gravel, it took quite a while to figure out what that noise was.

 

[Crafty Cichlid]

I have a golden rabbit snail that would wake me up at night dragging it's shell around, and rooting in the gravel.

Now I just have a betta and two shrimp. All I hear at night is bubbles.

Used to hear my frontosa and other cichlids excavating all day and night. That, understandably sounds like gravel getting moved around though.

 

[Eirelav_mcgoo]

When I was very young I had a 20 gallon. It was poorly stocked due to my inexperience and young age. Anyways, I had a pictus cat that would glass surf the sides and top (probably stressed because of improper tank mates and the small tank!) He was a character though. As night is heard splashing that was not the filter. Like someone had dropped something in the tank. It was the cat performing his signature moved, I called it the "free willy". He'd zoom along the surface and launch himself out of the water, then dive back to the bottom and repeat. RIP Stan.

 

[Crafty Cichlid]

When I was very young I had a 20 gallon. It was poorly stocked due to my inexperience and young age. Anyways, I had a pictus cat that would glass surf the sides and top (probably stressed because of improper tank mates and the small tank!) He was a character though. As night is heard splashing that was not the filter. Like someone had dropped something in the tank. It was the cat performing his signature moved, I called it the "free willy". He'd zoom along the surface and launch himself out of the water, then dive back to the bottom and repeat. RIP Stan.

Funny, aside from the parts that make you sad.

We had a pictus die in one of the hides, and get stuck. Stank up the whole house. Even after a few water changes, we still couldn't figure out why the tank stank. One day it's bloated carcass appeared out of nowhere, slowly cartwheeling through the water, and holy vapors from **** did that think reek when I scooped it out!
To this day, I'm at a loss as to how a four inch dead fish got lost, and not eaten in an overstocked 20 gallon tank!