How to Save a Fish from Shock?
Shock is an extremely life-threatening condition for a fish. But if you see a shocked fish right on time, you can revive her back to life. In this condition, there can be so many reasons by which a fish gets deprived of oxygen, it is moving slightly, but there is no air exchange from gills and is fainting to death.
Whenever your pet fish face this condition, immediately try your best to help. Do not leave your beloved fish to death. Some people think that might be fish has got any disease, and it is dying now, but this condition can be immediately tackled.
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How to Save a Fish from Shock?
Here, I am going to tell you all of the possible strategies to save your fish from this condition. Your slight negligence can cause shock conditions in your pet fish.
So, make sure that at least the water provided to them is clean and safe. Its temperature and pH should be maintained. You should give a suitable living environment for your fish.
Not only this shock condition occurs in the crowded fish tank but also only some fish in a tank or aquarium can face this issue. First of all, you should know the reasons of fish getting into the shock condition.
Causes of Shock in a Fish
There are different causes of shock in a fish which are;
Bad quality water
Bad quality water is a great cause of shock in fish. If the water is impure, mixed with heavy metals, it can be dangerous for your fish. You can use Marineland Power Filter (on Amazon) to fix this issue.
If the levels of heavy metals are too high, then a fish can go to the shock condition. This could also happen when you have just changed the tank water.
Because the heavy metals are, as such not visible to the naked eye, but if they are present in water, then definitely they will harm your fish.
It depends upon where you have filled the aquarium water. Sometimes tap water has such metals with them along with chlorine.
There is Chlorinated water in most of the places, which is completely safe for humans but not for pet fish.
Similarly, if you haven’t changed fish tank water for days, the ammonia gets accumulated in the tank. Fish live and excrete in the same place, and the excretion levels get high.
These high nitrates (excretions) are converted to ammonia and make the fish suffocated. Your fish is moving slightly, but it is not breathing properly. The airflow through the lungs is very bad and is fainting badly.
If you will neglect this situation and leave you fish alone, then you will lose your fish. This shock condition can be revived, and you can bring back your fish to life.
pH Drastic Change
The sudden drastic changes in pH can lead your pet fish to face shock conditions. The sharp pH decline or increase proves life-threatening to your fish.
The shock which a fish gets because of pH is called the osmotic shock or pH shock. Slight fluctuations are yet bearable and lead to certain health problems.
It also depends on the fish species and their suitable pH survival range. Keeping the aquarium water at the optimal pH levels can resolve this issue, you can use an API water pH stabilizer (Amazon).
This can also happen when you move your fish from one place to another with absolutely different pH levels of water.
The same is the case with chemical buffers. For example, if you go outside and find some corals in the shop or anything like this, which can increase the mineral content of fish water.
If you add a large number of corals or such types of things, they will raise the pH of a fish tank, and most likely, you will go towards losing your fish.
Anything that has a natural buffer in it and you are adding that thing in your fish tank in higher amounts; it will drive the pH up. Many of the people lose their fish like this.
Sudden Temperature Change
Sudden temperature change is also one of the major causes of fish getting into shock. As such, temperature doesn’t change in a tank immediately, it takes time if the climate is really cold and your warm tank water is getting cold.
A fish living in warm water, when exposed to the cold water it gets shocked. Or a sudden temperature change can be like this, that you have moved your fish from a warmer water bag into a big cold tank.
Ultimately, this sudden change can lead to fish to shock and stress. If the temperature drop is too drastic suddenly, then your fish can die.
Symptoms of Shock Condition in Fish
If your fish is in shock, the possible symptoms that it will show are;
- Darting
- Gasping
- Thrashing
- Swimming near the water surface
- Trying to jump out
- Improper breathing
- Airflow from gills is not proper
- Bumping into things
Sometimes your fish is in a high state of shock and gets so much weak to jump out of the tank. It is getting fainted and out of breathing.
How to Revive a Fish in Shock?
A fish can be revived from shock if you take the notice from its earlier. You can definitely save your fish life. If it is showing the symptoms which I have told to you above, then understand immediately that your fish is in shock and need immediate help.
If you see your pet fish in this situation, then immediately try to help so that you may not lose your fish. Maybe sometimes you understand the cause quickly, like the dirty water or extreme temperature change, etc.
But sometimes the fish is gasping, and you didn’t understand the reason for a shock. Whatever the shocking case is, immediately take out your fish from that water and move it to freshwater immediately.
The water you move your fish in should be a little bit warm. Put three or for oxygen hoses in water connected with the oxygen pumps for your shocked fish.
In shock condition, the fish breath starts to get stopped, it gets out of oxygen, and the heart is about to stop because of no oxygen.
When you immediately put your fish in slightly warm water with an accurate pH and oxygen hoses it will bring back your fish to life.
If you have a very big fish in your tank, then you can put the oxygen in its mouth. If you have a pet fish vet near you, then immediately consult to them otherwise you can do it too.
This condition is also faced by the fish, which are getting transported from one far place to another and people treat them by giving a huge amount of oxygen.
Anyways you can set three or four oxygen supplies immediately for your pet fish and leave it there. A surge of oxygen will make a fish heart palpate normally; it’s a kind of oxygen therapy for the heart to bring fish back to normal life.
Fish get suffocate in the shock condition, they are just bumping into things and become blind. Although they are moving a but are really suffocated. You can easily recognize their strange behavior and breathlessness by seeing the gill’s improper airflow.
Whenever change your water, change it slightly, keep an eye on pH levels with the help of a pH indicator. Give time to adjust your fish in the pH adjustments.
When you have given your pet fish, a high amount of oxygen, then treat it with warm water and salt method. Slightly raise the temperature of tank water and add a little bit of salt.
The warm water and salt will also remove any of the parasites or diseases from your fish. The pure oxygen from the oxygen pump will come up fast for the first few minutes, then it will come softly.
The pure oxygen will let your fish breathe properly and its heart will start its rhythms properly. By doing so you can bring yours out of shocked state.
The only things to care for is a pure and huge amount of oxygen provision immediately to a shocked fish, warm water with optimal pH and purity from all chemicals, waste, everything, etc.
My Story – How I Helped my Fish to Survive?
My Goldfish has also faced the shock last month. My fish was literally chased to death. Actually, I am an extremely busy person but I definitely spend some time caring for my fish.
At the starting of last month, I was so busy with my work that I have no time for my fish. I set the duty of one person who I trusted to take care of my fish.
He was having no idea about such things and he did the sudden water change in the entire aquarium. The water was cold enough and my fish get shocked.
When I came back home, my fish was gasping and it was showing all other symptoms of shock. Fortunately, it was not too late, I immediately took out both of my fish in a bucket full of water.
I put four oxygen hoses there and left it. The fish was moving, when I touch it moved but actually it was in a need of surplus oxygen.
So, I hyper-oxygenated my fish and it survived, fortunately. I was glad that I saved my fish life. After that, I put my fish back to the aquarium by setting the aquarium water temperature to normal and pH adjusted.
I also make sure that my fish aquarium water is completely chlorination-free. So, you also take great care of your fish, and if it is in shock give it immediate help for survival.
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