Did I just kill my fish??

[~TG~]

I hardly EVER post anything, I'm more of a reader so sorry if this is long but I need some advice/help..

I have a large tomato Clown thats been very overprotective of the tank since i introduced my first RBTA about a month ago. I can't even get my fingertips in the water without him coming up to attack at the surface. Well lately I had kinda simmered him down by feeding him with my hand before i attempted to put my arms in the tank and that would calm him down a bit.

I was trying to rearrange some rockwork and add some rocks from my other tank to this one. My tank is pretty tall so I couldn't see very well and I THINK I accidently must have hit him with a big piece of rock or squashed him against the back of the glass..I don't know what happened..All of a sudden he went completely pale ~ looked like he went into some sort of seizure/shock ~ then limp & laid at the bottom on his side NOT breathing... he was dead... :( He laid like that for about 1-2 minutes with no movement at all. Then he came to his senses, got his color back, fast shallow breathing and a bit disoriented. He was bumping into the rocks and looked like he couldnt see or get his balance right... that was about 3-4 hours ago and now he's breathing fine and looks like he always does ~ fiesty....

I am CLUELESS as to what might have happened because I dont think I hit him at all! When I had the rock in my hand I was swaying it lightly side to side because he would not move out of the way. But I dont think I touched him with it at all. The ONLY thing i can think of was that the rock in question came from a tank with fine fine sand into this tank that has a coarser sand. Is it possible that he took in some of the fine sand with my swaying motion causing him to go into some sort of weird shock/death/seizure?? I am so freaked out about this...

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this happening?
What did I do wrong??
What signs should I look for in the next couple of hours/days?
Any and all advice would be much appreciated.... :(

Thanks Again
Thelma

[GaryP]

There is really no telling. Just keep an eye on him. Sounds almost like he had a concussion.

[~TG~]

Thanks Gary... I will keep an eye on him.

[AlienAnchovies]

either that or you scared the ever loving crap out of that poor fish, and trust me ive done that many a time

[Polkster13]

So how is the fish doing? Did it make a full recovery?

[Tim Marvin]

Yes, how is that fish?

[~TG~]

Do you have a DSB and was it disturbed? You may have released some gas from it, stuff knocks a fish flat in seconds.

Josh ~ I do have a DSB and I probably didn't clean the rock off well enough before placing it in the other tank. It sure knocked him out alright... I had a "floater"..... I learn from my mistakes :roll

either that or you scared the ever loving crap out of that poor fish,

Alien ~ I don't think there is any thing that will scare this one... on the contrary he scares the living crap outa me when he makes a go at my arm.... Makes me scream everytime ~ as if he was a freaking shark attacking me... :angry ****es me off!!! Now when the neighbors hear me ~ they know its feeding time... :roll


Thanks guys for asking how he's doing...
All is well now.... He is back to his old fiesty self again attacking my fingers as soon as I get close to the surface to feed....
you'd think he'd be a little timid still but NO ~ NOT good ol' "Fatty".....
Here's a pic...

~Thelma

[Sherri]

Thelma, glad to hear that all is well...lol

[demodiki]

OMG Thelma I don't think we've laughed that hard in a while!!! Don't get me wrong, I feel terribly for your fishy, but that story was so **** funny, start to finish. Fish with a concussion! haha... or scaring him to death... I love it. I hope when we finally get fishies that they have as much character as Fatty (??What a name!).



Danny & Melissa

[~TG~]

I hope when we finally get fishies that they have as much character as Fatty (??What a name!).

Yeah he's a character alright ~ He is by far my favorite of the bunch :wub and he know's it...LOL
I saved him from a LFS where he wasn't eating, very scared, sick looking brought him home, fattened him up, gave him some good ol' TLC and look what I've created :roll a FEARLESS Tomato that bosses everyone around ~ including me.... :blush
Good luck with your new set-up and I'm sure you'll find some good fishies and you can come back to share some wild stories as well!!!

~Thelma