Posted by ladiblu on March 04, 2003 at 06:41:16:
I have a gorgeous veil angelfish about 6yrs old that has been acting very strange lately. Upon turning on the tank light in the morning we find him/her (not sure of sex) nestled in/on the rocks at the bottom of the tank not moving at all. No fins moving, not mouth, not gills, nothing like its dead as a door nail. Upon touching it lightly with a net it begins to swim around and then lay back down again. Like trying to wake a child up in the morning for school. :) I have to go after it a few times with the net to get it up and going. This has only happened a couple of times now but is worrisome. This morning however it was up and swimming around until we turned the light on and then it went to the bottom and proceeded to "play dead" for a bit. I keep checking on the amonia, ph, temp etc and all are fine. Currently it is the only fish in a 20gal Extra tall tank, and has been for about 1yr now. Do Fish sleep? If so do they become motionless? Is it dying? Any clues? I would really hate to loose my Angel although I do know it will happen some day. BTW what is the life expectancy? I have had it since it was about the size of a quarter (body size) Now its as big as my palm (again body size only). Thanks for any help. One more thing, what is the best food? I have been feeding it TetraColor flakes, originally because of the mix of fish I had and have just continued same since its been alone. Its a black and silver Marble with reddish orange wide stripe all across the top. Therefore wanting to maintain the color.
Thanks again and have a great day. :)
