# Do vibrations bother fish?



## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

Hi there,

Many electrical devices around the tank can cause slight vibrations to the tank (powerheads, HOB filters etc.). Does this, in your experience, bother the fish?


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## dobie832 (Aug 4, 2007)

The stray electrical currents will. You should use a grounding probe to help prevent lateral line disease ands other ailments. Be aware that a pH probe may not work properly.


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## ER9 (Aug 2, 2008)

dobie832 said:


> The stray electrical currents will. You should use a grounding probe to help prevent lateral line disease ands other ailments. Be aware that a pH probe may not work properly.


would you care to elaborate on that a bit? you have my attention but what you said went right over my head.


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## die2win (Aug 10, 2008)

*Where did that come from?*

Oh, the ground rods (probe) are used to prevent you from getting shocked if an in tank heater, power head or other device starts to go south. 

Fish will have problems that can be a real mystery from electrical leakage into the tank, some are fatal, like "hole in the head" (really) syndrome. :eek5:

I don't think the small 60 + cycle vibrations from pumps motors etc cause any stress to fish, we tend to tune out noise that is there all of the time and I imagine that fish do also. :fish:


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

noise from motors that run the powerhead etc. don't really bother the fish. Fish don't hear. They feel pressure from vibrations. It's the loud abrupt vibrations that freak them out. It takes a while for new fish to acclimate in their new environment as well, so they can feel skittish at first.


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## crabcake (Dec 19, 2007)

i bet that intense vibration, even if it were constant, would create extra stress for fish. the low level hums originating from most aquarium equipment shouldn't cause too much trouble.


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## colinthebassist (Nov 30, 2007)

The noise power heads and other pumping devices in the aquarium make hardly any noise. Not enough to bother anything. I work with large variable frequency drives at work all the time, from 1HP to 100HP, a few even higher. Those will give you a headache in a matter of minutes if you stand within 10 feet of them.


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

Thanks for your replies, I'm somewhat relieved. Just for clarification, it's not the sound that I'm worried about. But many powerheads and pumps vibrate and transfer this vibration to the glass of the tank.



mistergreen said:


> noise from motors that run the powerhead etc. don't really bother the fish. Fish don't hear. They feel pressure from vibrations.


That's not quite true, fish have an inner ear plus their lateral line to detect vibrations. Otherwise, it wouldn't make much sense that some fish actually produce sounds.



> It's the loud abrupt vibrations that freak them out. It takes a while for new fish to acclimate in their new environment as well, so they can feel skittish at first.


That makes sense. I noticed that the fish were nervous and suspected the vibrations. But it was probably the whole new situation, the new strange thing in the tank, the increased current etc.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Aquarist_Fist said:


> That's not quite true, fish have an inner ear plus their lateral line to detect vibrations. Otherwise, it wouldn't make much sense that some fish actually produce sounds.


interseting.. never knew that but it makes sense. Lots of fish make noises.


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## solution7 (Oct 29, 2008)

I have trained my angels to come to me when I tap the fish food container on the top glass ala takashi amano (you can youtube amano feeds his altum angels). So I know they react to sound vibrations. My angels come screaming to the source of the vibration everytime I do this, and they learned it fast. It took less than a week of feeding in this manner and they were trained. I think it is cool.. I noticed that my GBR's respond the same way. Tetras don't..


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

dobie832 said:


> The stray electrical currents will.


Do you have any sources to back this up? You may be right, but I was always under the impression that since fish aren't "grounded" they don't get shocked. Electricity follows the path of least resistance, and since there are so many conductive materials in our stands, equipment, rocks and substrate, it seems that the current would never even touch any fish?


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