My fish is playing dead! (pic)

[bschroller]

I have a iridescent shark. He is about 2 1/2 inches long and has been really active since I got him about a week and a half ago. Well today he did something strange which has got me worried. I introduced t painted glass tetras into the tank and the ID shark started playing dead on the bottom of the tank! At least thats what I hope he is doing. He sits still on the bottom, and even turns upside down. But he is breathing the whole time. I will come back later and hes in a different spot doing it. Is this normal for this fish?

 

[Menagerie]

I will say that is abnormal. What are your tank parameters? How soon after the addition of the other fish did this happen? Is his breathing rapid?

 

[tbonem91]

I'm thinking something was introduced with the other fish and he is not actually playing...

 

[bschroller]

This happened right after we added the new fish. It doesn't seem like he is breathing any more rapidly.

 

[Fluff]

Found this on fishindex.com. HTH

This is a strange fish. When scared or hurt it plays dead for up to 20 minutes!. Mine does this sometimes. They are very hard to catch, and they have very bad eye sight, so when trying to catch them, they dart quite fast straight into the sides of the tank or rocks and ornament, they regularly damage the end of their snout, so be careful.

 

[Menagerie]

He stops playing dead and acts normal at times?

 

[bschroller]

well not yet, we have only had the tetras in there for about an hour. But the shark is stil breathing and he does move, but does his playing dead act in another spot.

 

[madasafish]

Bottom-to-mid dwelling fish like the ID shark often lie on the bottom when they are dying. They cannot control their buoyancy, so they often flip over, and will breath for another 12-24 hours before dying. The fact that it is flipping on its back is a really bad sign. I am almost certain that this guy is dying, but stranger behavior has been observed in fish!

How are your ammonia levels in the tank? It sounds like this guy may be suffering from stress associated with water quality issues.

The coincidence of the introduction of the other fish and this behavior is probably only that--coincidence. But do keep us posted.

 

[lmw80]

Any updates on the ID? How is he doing?

 

[SSS]

I know I can't help here but I wanted to say I love the way you have your tank setup. Very Bad-ass.

 

[bschroller]

Guess What!!!
After about an hour of him playing dead, he is now swimming around like crazy. He would go to one corner of the tank and turn over and play dead or just lay motionless and then would move to another corner. He is now the active fish that he was before the tetras got there.
What a weird fish!

 

[papastew]

Cool. Good for him.