Fish in "Shock" ??? Seizures???

hondaman

Quisiera ser un fish!
Dec 15, 2005
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New Jersey
PHOTO EVIDENCE POSTED BELOW!!!

Sorry kinda long but this has to be explained...

Ok this might sound kinda n00bish but I have never experienced this. Therefore, I wanted to share and get some feedback.

Last night, one of my Bala's did a quick circle, went belly up, sank to the bottom, pushed its mouth all the way out, and had what looked like a seizure. After about a minute, he turned upright and swam around the top of the tank sinking every few seconds.

Then, about 5 minutes later, he did the exact same thing. Circle, belly up, sank, mouth out, seizure. Then after a minute upright and swam.

This happened for about 30 minutes straight. Even the other sharks in the tank were trying to help him out by swimming next to him and keeping him upright (think cops boxing in a car during a chase).

I have never seen this before and by now, of course, I'm thinking he was a goner. I decided that if this continued for another 10 minutes, I would take him out and euthanize in the freezer. Got the bowl and fish net ready and watched.

10 minutes later the drama continued, so I netted him from the bottom of the tank. I saw he was still fighting so I decided to give him a repreive for a few minutes. I made it so he was in the net upright, dropped the current in the power head, and let him sit in the stream.

After a few minutes I saw he was swimming normal again and let him go. Turned off the lights and the power head (so he wouldnt get stuck if he seized again), and fully expected him to be dead by morning.

Would you believe that this morning, other than a bit lethargic, the fish is back to normal? Not even a sign of a problem.

Now I went to my nearest 2 LFS' and both of them told me that this sort of thing happens sometimes at the store. They said, "The fish, especially jumpy ones, sometimes go into shock" and that "my fish did exactly that". Whats even more puzzling is that according to BOTH "fish associates" the result of this is ALWAYS death.

Well my fish is not dead. He seems fine now. Just to think he was 30 seconds away from euthanization. So my question is, does anyone got a better explanation to this? or is this the actual answer?
 
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You say you put him in the stream? Perhaps he was O2 deprived? When you do catch and release you are supposed to push the fish through the water to get the water through the gills and the oxygen to him before you let him go -- same principle perhaps?

Roan
 
I figure the O2 probably helped him out but still... what caused it in the first place and what was it?

Oh and before you ask, here are my water readings...

Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 75
Alkalinity: 40
PH: 6.8

I also had no live plants in the tank, 30% water change done last Saturday (today also).
 
Hrm, out of my league and I can only hazard a guess :)

I still think a lack of O2. But how to prove it? erhaps try an aerator for a while? It can't hurt, since you have no plants (yet) and even though it would be nice to know why that happend, if you can prevent it . . ?

I see you are thinking of planting the tank (this one?) maybe run an aerator until you start with the planting. The plants will provide more 02 into the water column.

See what some of the others have to say.

Roan
 
Well since the fish was ok all day, I went ahead and did my usual "Saturday Afternoon Tank Cleaning". I also rearranged the tank, added a log (fake), and planted some sword grass for the first time.

The sharks seem to like it, but here is a curious note, the shark in question seems to be taking it easy under the log. He did come out to eat tho.

Hell, I'd also feel like crap after about 20 seizures.
 
Well day 3 now since the events, the shark has barely come out from under the stump and he did not eat this morning.

He seems to be resting on the gravel which for sharks is unusual.

shark_stump.gif


Anyone out there, any info?
 
Another update.... The shark finally did come out of the trunk and is looking for food. However I did notice that he is barely moving his tail fin and seems bloated. Sorta looks like hes paralized.

Should I euthanize him?
 
I guess ill hold on and see how he makes out. Hes one tough cookie, a real fighter. Would hate to end his life unneccesarily but I dont want to make him suffer either.

Its just painful to watch him try to swim. The other sharks seem to be helping him out though. Its amazing to see how they box in around him sorta like protecting him.
 
Could this be a swim bladder issue now? Should I treat the tank with Maracyn 2 ?
 
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