My gourami fainted or blacked out!

[eguthrie]

I have a 1-1/2 year old female pearl gourami. A couple of days ago, I was feeding the fish, and she was eating fine. Then all of a sudden, she just went limp and plummeted upside down to the bottom of the tank. Her eyes became very black and lifeless, and I could not detect any movement of her gills.

I spent another 2 or 3 minutes feeding my other fish and watching her motionless body. Then when I was about ready to flush her body down the toilet, I detected a slight movement in her gills. It gradually got stronger, and then in another minute or 2, she righted herself, and gradually started swimming again. She's been fine since then.

Is there such a thing as a fish blacking out, or maybe having some kind of seizure? A similar thing happened to her about a year ago, but that time it only lasted ~ 10 seconds.

 

[Lupin]

to MFK!

It's hard to know what exactly is causing it as it happens internally. Did the fish's body also turn black? And please do not flush a fish whether it is alive or dead. If unsure of the fish already dead, leave it and keep a close watch or perform euthanasia using clove oil.

 

[spaulding]

hmmm.... the ol narcoleptic fish trick.

i've never heard of that happening, but it is interesting

 

[eguthrie]

The color of the fish didn't change. Except the eyes got really dark.

 

[Acezoo]

One time I had a Betta who I think had a seizure. I was walking by the tank after separating some of my Guppies and he hit all sides of the tank very fast just like he could not control himself and he did the same thing your pearl did. It scared me so bad! Never did it again really strange.