Let this be a lesson

[Stroy15]

DO NOT SURPRISE YOUR FISH.

The story here is I attempted to add a seed pod of a drawf lily and out of no where this fish PANICS across the tank, I panic, the rest of the fish shelter. I turn to added the rest of my small amount of fish protector and added stress coat to the tank. She might have hit herself which is why she's at the bottom in the photo.

(part of the problem might have been that I rinsed the seed pod with a combination of hydrogen peroxided and algae fix, the smell may have contributed. Added a little pimafix, for smell check, maybe that will help, I don't know I was panicking)

After a few minutes she returned to normal and resting at the edge of the tank. The lesson is try not to surprise your fish.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/11/2022 at 1:53 AM, Stroy15 said:

DO NOT SURPRISE YOUR FISH.

The story here is I attempted to add a seed pod of a drawf lily and out of no where this fish PANICS across the tank, I panic, the rest of the fish shelter. I turn to added the rest of my small amount of fish protector and added stress coat to the tank. She might have hit herself which is why she's at the bottom in the photo.

(part of the problem might have been that I rinsed the seed pod with a combination of hydrogen peroxided and algae fix, the smell may have contributed. Added a little pimafix, for smell check, maybe that will help, I don't know I was panicking)

After a few minutes she returned to normal and resting at the edge of the tank. The lesson is try not to surprise your fish.

Poor her 😞 !

[nabokovfan87]

Oh yeah... This definitely happens.  Poor little fish.  It's always best to open / move slow and give the fish a chance to notice if they are jumpy / sensitive.  Very sorry this happened!

I was watching the stuff in my tank today and I opened the door and was just looking, realized they stopped because I was above the tank and big / scary looking.  Once I sat on the floor they went back to normal.  But, I ended up just opening the door really slow for the rest of the day to try not to disturb them too much entering the room.

One of the most common things is fish jumping or hitting the lid and this type of injury happening.

I was reading a study (a legit design study and scientific series of documents on the topic) about fish and sound pollution.  Because of lateral lines and other senses the fish have, it very well could've been as simple as the large disturbance on the water surface moving through the tank and it scared the fish.  It happens, unfortunately.  It sounds like the fish is ok, thankfully 🙂 .

Edited November 11, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Tanked]

Long ago when I had common plecos, I learned not to approach the tanks after lights out unless I at least announce my presence first. The pleco would crash into the sides and occasionally move the smaller rocks.  The room is never totally dark, and the fish do occasionally spook each other.  Talking to the fish or myself as I enter the room seems to alert them to my presence.  This seems to work during day light as well. The TFBs aren't afraid of me, and sometimes get in the way during maintenance.  They will still get twitchy if I suddenly appear at their window without warning.