WAL jumped out of tank

[SourAngelfish]

Very upsetting, I got home after work today and found him on the floor dried, he was a little wet on his underside so I placed him back in the tank…. If he’s not moving, is it safe to assume he’s passed? Should have listened to the warnings and put a lid on the tank, poor fella, I feel pretty guilty about it. Anything I can do to help it/save it/bring it back to life if possible?

 

[SourAngelfish]

He’s breathing! Unbelievable! So glad I didn’t flush him, shook him around a bit and now it appears his gills are pumping

 

[SourAngelfish]

Well now I’m worried again as it appears he’s not breathing, I suppose only time will tell. Just gonna let him sit in the tank

 

[kno4te]

Well now I’m worried again as it appears he’s not breathing, I suppose only time will tell. Just gonna let him sit in the tank

Wait it out. They are pretty sturdy.

 

[koltsixx]

Wait it out. They are pretty sturdy.

I agree with kno4te, WAL are fairly resilient. The good thing is his/her gills where moving as being dried out can cause them to become stuck closed and getting them open again without damaging the gills can be tricky. So at least that's a positive in your favor. Just keep stress as low as possible and make sure the water is well aerated and give him some time. I know how you're feeling my Hemibagrus Filamentus jumped while I was sleeping and I got him back in the tank and while he is swimming I barely see him opening his mouth and he hasn't eaten and it's been 2 days. Like you I am forced to wait it out without much I can do about it.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Just made sure the gills were opened, even though they don’t seem to be moving now. I was thinking ive seen people revive normal fish that have been out of the water for longer so I’d assume that a lungfish of all things should recover from this. He’s been out of the water anywhere between 6-18 hours

 

[2Itiwhetu]

I had a goldfish that used to jump out of the tank he was in so often we named him " Suicide Fish " eventually we set up a pond from him.

 

[Krismo962]

I haven't kept any lungfish but I'm assuming they also breathe atmospheric air like bichirs and snakeheads? If they do you might want to lower the water level (just enough to keep the fish submerged so that it won't drown if it doesn't have the strength to go to the surface for air)

 

[koltsixx]

I haven't kept any lungfish but I'm assuming they also breathe atmospheric air like bichirs and snakeheads? If they do you might want to lower the water level (just enough to keep the fish submerged so that it won't drown if it doesn't have the strength to go to the surface for air)

Great advice, I personally hadn't thought of that.

 

[xenacanth9]

Update? I've seen full recoveries in some fish like eels. I once had two Anguilla rostrata escape from my outdoor system (no longer in comission) without me knowing, settle underneath my house, stay there for presumably hours in the hot summer sun, and then bounce back completely shortly after being put back in.