# Can fish "faint" ?



## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

I am pretty sure my new fish just fainted.:shock: Scared me!
I turned on his light this morning and he was ok...and then I dropped a bloodworm in there to see if would be interested in eating..(he hadn't ate yet since I got him)
Well, He went real fast to bite the bloodworm..then all of a sudden he froze clamped his pectoral fins and did a wiggly swim to the bottom and laid on his side for a minute or two. I thought he was dead... :-(
He is swimming around again though. I have never seen anything like this.:shock:
I walked away from the tank for a little bit to feed my other fish, came back and he is now swimming around again.:shock:
Is it possible that a fish can faint?:shock:


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## BlakbirdxGyarados (Feb 10, 2011)

.. That's... unusual. I have never seen a betta fish... much less Any fish do that before.

I don't have an answer, but I'd like to know too.
... Maybe the food was that good? '


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## rex4Fish (Feb 4, 2013)

My year-old betta has "fainted" twice, once a few weeks ago and for about 6 seconds, then again this morning for about 10 seconds. Both times he had just swallowed his first (of two) breakfast pellets and immediately fell to the bottom of the tank, completely motionless. I thought he'd had a heart attack or stroke or something. When he did start moving, he seemed to be somewhet disoriented but then within a couple of minutes he seems perfectly fine. Very startling never the less.


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

I saw Rose faint. I just saw she laid motionless in the fake plants. it scared me a ton but she got up and swam normally.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I've had one of my boys faint before too. It was a few days after I spawned him and he got all excited for his first meal, fainted before he even got to it. I was thinking it was more of a trance, you know, like the kind they go in while wrapping another female?
Nothing to worry majorly about. Keep an eye on him, if his behavior becomes more strange than just fainting (lethargic, physical changes, etc) then i would start to worry that this may be a neurotic issue


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

aemaki09 said:


> I've had one of my boys faint before too. It was a few days after I spawned him and he got all excited for his first meal, fainted before he even got to it. I was thinking it was more of a trance, you know, like the kind they go in while wrapping another female?
> Nothing to worry majorly about. Keep an eye on him, if his behavior becomes more strange than just fainting (lethargic, physical changes, etc) then i would start to worry that this may be a neurotic issue


what's "neurotic"?


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

An issue with the brain. I meant to say neurological issue. Some fish have spasms and twitches and its a brain issue kind of like epilepsy and what not.


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

aemaki09 said:


> An issue with the brain. I meant to say neurological issue. Some fish have spasms and twitches and its a brain issue kind of like epilepsy and what not.


OH!!!!!!!  now i get it


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I've had a cory that would "faint". He'd be fine and swimming around then all of the sudden would kind of spasm out and drop to the bottom and lay on the sand motionless for a few minutes. Then would seem fine. It was something neurological because eventually he died.

I also had a Congo tetra that fainted when the fish shop guy netted and bagged him. He was upside down in the bag and I mentioned something to the guy and he said "oh, they do that all the time. He'll be fine." And he was. Still have him today.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Maybe the fish aren't fainting. Maybe they are having a type of sezure? Food time would be a very exciting time for a little fish and the excitement could trigger one. What do yall think?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

Last week mine did that once. I was feeding him and he ate the pellet. all of a sudden he went straight down to the bottom of the tank. I thought he died. After a few seconds, felt like minutes he started swimming again. The only thing I could think of that made that happen was maybe the pellet got stuck in his throat. Hasn't happened again and I hope it never does. He really scared me.


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## Kuronue (Oct 12, 2012)

Never seen a fish do that before, let alone heard of it. Interesting to find out what it is :3


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## osromatra (Jan 9, 2013)

I think of it more as a hunting type behavior. Mine will freeze when he is stalking live food. He goes motionless, all fins stop movement, and he drifts, but I see his eyes, following the live food. And then he jets off after them after a bit. I think in nature they'd have better camouflage with their coloring so I think it is a stalking, predatory type behavior, especially since it occurs usually with feeding apparently.


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

jeaninel said:


> I've had a cory that would "faint". He'd be fine and swimming around then all of the sudden would kind of spasm out and drop to the bottom and lay on the sand motionless for a few minutes. Then would seem fine. It was something neurological because eventually he died.
> 
> I also had a Congo tetra that fainted when the fish shop guy netted and bagged him. He was upside down in the bag and I mentioned something to the guy and he said "oh, they do that all the time. He'll be fine." And he was. Still have him today.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


but upside down means sickness, not death...


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

i love research


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

So, if a fish can faint, can they also have narcolepsy? I swear my male is narcoleptic. He'll swim around normally, then suddenly stop in mid-swim, and looks like he's sleeping. He doesn't fall to the ground, or float to the top, just stops, like he's completely frozen in place. He's completely unresponsive during this time. He's also a VERY heavy sleeper, and it take quite a while to rouse him in the morning or when it's obvious he's sleeping for food.


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

Well considering fainting is caused by neurological impulses and or lack of blood flow to the brain. since fish do infact have brains, it's completely possible that they can faint. It's also possible that when he swam fast to get the bloodworm, he could have been spooked by something. Maybe a sudden reflection, or his fins hit something he wasn't expecting, which could all cause him to go into a shock state. Like how when you spook a hamster they suddenly turn stiff for a moment, then start to move like normal. 

You could just have a very skittish betta, or something just spooked him that time. If he's fine now, he should be alright.


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## PaulO (Aug 13, 2012)

It could be a self defense mechanism. If the fish is being caught or realizes it may may have just compromised its camouflage it could be trying to protect itself. This could be the fish trying to blend back in with the *non-existent in some cases* surface debris or foliage to mask the sudden movement it just made to prevent other "prey or predators" from detecting it. Seems a little more reasonable and universal than a seizure or a stroke. On the other hand some of these pet store fish don't have the best genes... Anyway these are just speculations no real evidence to back it up so I guess we'll never really know.


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## Little Leaf (Jul 7, 2012)

or maybe we can study them and find out if they really fainting or if it's different?


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## PaulO (Aug 13, 2012)

Well with an animal this small the difficulty is rather large, you could try and recording behaviours, factors possibly affecting behaviours and set up a whole experiment. The most thorough way would be an autopsy of the brain for abnormalities or defects *once the fish is s.i.p." but the cost of the equipment and just to find out if it's neurological or instinct would be rather pointless *to say it bluntly*. I guess it would be a good experiment for a university student who has access to the equipment though :-D.


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