Almost all aquarium fish can make sounds. They do this for a variety of reasons:
- Cichlids, among other things, during courtship and aggressive behavior
- catfish for defence
- Tetra possibly for shoal cohesion
- Loaches for unknown reasons
An inexpensive mono microphone from the supermarket, a condom to pull over it and a connection cable to the sound card of a computer and a midi program or something similar is enough to make the fish sounds audible.
literature
Zupanc: Fish and their behavior, Tetra-Verlag
Reproductive biology of aquarium fish (1+2) and behavior of aquarium fish (1+2) Schmettkamp-Verlag, books on the Düsseldorf symposia
Do fish hear noises from the room?
Sound is excellent under water and transmitted much faster than in air. Fish hear noises from the room well. In addition to the noise in the room, there are noises from the aquarium technology, for example filter motors.
In nature, for example when diving in lakes, you can find that things are louder there than is often thought.
Fish hear mainly low tones. The upper limit of hearing is 1000 to 2000 Hertz for fish that do not have any special sound-conducting organs. Mormyrids and Anabantids also hear significantly higher pitched sounds. Species of the Ostariophysi hear best, to which belong, for example, relatives of the barbs, tetras and catfish. Ostariophysi are fish that have the so-called Weberian apparatus. A total of 8 Weber’s bones conduct sound from the swim bladder to the hearing organ in the head. Some of these species hear up to 13000 hertz. The upper hearing limit of these fish therefore also decreases when the swim bladder is destroyed.
Some fish can already tell who is in the room by walking. With acquaintances, do not let them disturb you in their activities. With strangers, they flee into dark corners or hide in caves, depending on the species.
How the fish react to the respective noise must be checked on a case-by-case basis. If a door slams shut every now and then, fish usually react with fright again and again. They get used to music that is played frequently.
Fish that have not yet acclimated are usually very sensitive to noise and ground vibrations. Once they are used to it, they react less sensitively or not at all.
As with humans, noise remains a constant burden on the body, causing stress. But from conscious perception, the noise is filtered out over time if it has no biological significance for the fish.