So i feed my fish at like 3:00 (nori) and about 10 minutes later my yellow tang starts acting like something is wrong in his head. He starts bangin his head against the glass and rocks, swimming in a circle, and then lays himself against a piece of rock like he's exhausted and breathing heavy. Never seen anything like it before. I let him sit for about 15 min and he ended up at the back of the tank at the bottom wedged between a rock and the glass. I pulled him out and put him in the refugium. I've had him for about 3 weeks without any problems, no ich, no nothing. I've got 2 other fish in the tank one blue tang and one marroon clown. Neither is sick. Got any suggestions? What can I do or is it hopeless?
I think my tang had a stroke!! Need suggestions?
- Thread starter teguc1
- Start date
Pandora
Premium Member
Though you don't see external signs of ich, I think that's causing the behavior you're seeing. In tangs, if there is something irritating their skin, they will act exactly as you see it acting... especially if the problem is anywhere near their lateral line pores; this affects their ability to direct themselves while swimming, and that combined with the scratching motion will lead to erratic crashing, and subsequently, the behavior of laying on the side out of exhaustion.
john rochon
New member
I think also sometimes internal parasites might be a cause of this and /or bad water conditions.
Amphiprion
Premium Member
It may sound crazy, but fish are fully capable of overexciting themselves. This can lead to what may possibly be heart failure or stroke. I have observed this in previously stressed individuals that were suddenly excited in some way (food, net, etc.). They frantically move with a rapid, twitchy motion and in some cases, they even turn white and drop to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes they can be "resuscitated" by moving them back and forth to restore water flow across their gills (since the gills may not be functioning). This doesn't always work and sometimes the fish will just die anyway.
Pandora
Premium Member
Heh, what you're describing is a fish going into shock secondary to environmental stress. They don't have heart attacks or strokes the way people do (fish don't suffer from atherosclerosis... not an opinion, had a background in ichthyology and now work in human medicine). YOU on the other hand, can lower your risk of both by eating more fish.
Internal parasites are a possibility, but usually this behavior has to do with neurologic problems caused by irritation of their lateral line system. FYI, they also respond to toxin exposure in much the same way.
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