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Hi everyone. Hope you are all well.

A thought just struck me today: When listening to the side of my terrapins tank, the noise made by the filter and bubbles is quite loud underwater!

Does anyone know if too much underwater noise is a bad thing for terrapins? Or do they not mind one bit? I don't know how good their hearing is, but I imagine the waters in the wild are noisy too.

Just wondering!

They have an auditory system, but lack the openings/ears that we do. They actually don't hear very well, and are supposed to hear lower tones better than high ones. They are very sensitive to vibrations, however.

If the tank is large enough and the noise is isolated to one side, then it should be OK. My new filter makes a lot of noise and water movement but it doesn't seem to bother them.

My canister filter is really quiet but its the air pump that I had a problem with. Do most people use an air pump? I believe the canister filter oxygenates the water as well. Anyway I put the air pump on with an air wall type bubble maker and if you put your ear to the glass its sounds like a volcano erupting in there. I took it out and havent used it since. Is it the bubble maker or the pump thats making the noise. Ive hear of whisper quiet pumps but not the device that sprays the bubbles....

I don't use an air pump. Don't know what was making the noise, but I've heard that turtles like the bubbles from bubble wands, if that's what you were using. (Increasing the oxygen in the water helps prevent/cut down on algae.)

On my XP3 filter I use the spray bar and have the nozzles pointed upwards and my turtle loves sitting near there on his crate. Kind of looks like a turtle jacuzzi. It also keeps the surface of the water moving so it doesn't get stagnant.

My turtle filter is very noisy, when the water is pouring out of it the way it is supposed to,, it sort of bothers us. My two turts seem fine with it. But, do turtles hear alot of sound or is it mainly vibrations that they hear.

reslvr wrote:My turtle filter is very noisy, when the water is pouring out of it the way it is supposed to,, it sort of bothers us. My two turts seem fine with it. But, do turtles hear alot of sound or is it mainly vibrations that they hear.

They do sense vibrations more than hear, but I've read that they hear low sounds better than high sounds. Not sure how true, but I know Koopa does hear us talk after we've entered the room.