Fish tank people, have you ever seen a fish try to save another fish? Everything in me tells me to flush this?

Question

Cherry Barb because it has ick and is spazzing all over the place swimming upside down etc. But it's "boyfriend" keeps bumping it trying to get it to swim upright (sometimes successfully) sort of herding it here and there and saving it from the bottom feeders that want to eat it...
The sick fish also is eating...but I am sure it will die soon.
My actual question is...Do fish have "feelings" for eachother? Or is this some sort of thing you all have seen before.

I have treated the water with aquarium salt...I shall turn up the temp a couple of degrees..thanks!

Answer 1

Don't remove the fish, or you'll just have to medicate two tanks. If you have a quarentine tank specifically set up and cycled, you could move her there, but otherwise don't. Ich only lives part of its lifecycle on the fish and likely the entire tank is already effected. As mentioned already, raise the temperature and add some aquarium salt. Do daily water changes and make sure to vacuum the gravel thoroughly, as ich lives down there too.
As far as euthanasia goes, I generally give people the following set of criteria that a fish should meet before one might consider euthanising it.
1.) Completely unable to swim- on the bottom or floating at the surface
2.) Not eating- at all!
3.) breathing VERY fast- you can tell by comparing her gill movements with those of her "boyfriend"
4.) suffering from a KNOWN incurable disease- like dropsy, fish TB, etc. Ich does not count.

In other words, don't give up on her just yet! I've seen lots of fish pull through ich infestations.
Finally, your question about fishy feelings. I personally believe that fish have feelings for each other, no matter how primative they may be. Fish are smarter than people tend to believe, and even if it's simply a survival mechanism, we must remember that the emotion we call love started out as a survival mechanism too- to encourage our hunter-gatherer ancestors to stick together and provide the best possible environment for their offspring. What I'm trying to say is that it's callous to assume that just because fish are small and allow themselves to be kept in glass cages means that they have no feelings. Consider: cichlids mate for life, but half of our marriages end in divorce. I wonder what those cichlids think of us?
Liszie

Answer 2

Well, as far as I know, fish don't have any feelings for each other, nor do they care or experience sadness when another of them dies. However, I can't presume to know what goes on a fish's mind, and who am I to say that fish don't care for each other?

That said, don't flush your fish until it's dead. At the risk of sounding corny, where there's life, there's hope. Are you attempting to treat your cherry barb for the ich parasite? If not, you should try. Add 1 rounded tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of tank water (disolved first in a cup of tank water), and increase the temperature by a degree or two. Your fish does sound too far gone to be saved, but it cannot hurt to try.

Answer 3

I have seen this in the past with fish I had. I swear my fish had their own personalities. I don't see why one type of animal (like a dog for instance) can be accepted as having feelings, but another living breathing animal (your fishie) cannot. Seems contradictory to me. If the fish has Ick I'd have separated it at the least. If you've medicated it as directed (the whole tank included) and still no comeback, the odds aren't good. I wish you luck.

Answer 4

One of my friends fish just a month back did the same thing. I was tellingher not to flush it till it's eyes turn white...lol I know thats not funny but I had a floater that came back to life the next day,,she ended up thinking maybe she forgot to put the water drops in to make the water ok.... so she did that and her fish was all weird but not dying. So I told her to leave it then and see what happens He's still alive.. so now our method is we don't flush them til their eyes turn white....

Answer 5

Fish might have feelings for eachother, but no one really knows, it could just be trying to move it out of its way, but you should try doing this and not flush it, and it might pull through and survive.Best of luck to you and your fish!!! here is a site that will help you, or just try google and type in "treating ich"
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1791&articleid=2421

Answer 6

get the fish out like you should have done a while back put in small freezer bag then discard in the am .but you will need to clean and treat tank rite away

Answer 7

I do not think that fish have feeling for each other. Fish are drivn almost exclusively by instinct and while they might modify behavior patterns to fit certain situations, they don't reason sugnificantly and they don't have emotions. Their brains are not physically set up for it, those parts are non existant in most fishes brains. The bumping is something else altogether.

Remove the fish and euthanize it.

MM

Answer 8

get rid of the fish with ick he is contaminating the tank the other fish will die

treat treat treat

Answer 9

yes it is possible foe fish to have feelings for eachother and btw putting drops in the tank to make the water ok will help alot....

Answer 10

I have seen this too. I will never forget it because it really drove home the point that we underestimate our fellow creatures. I think they do have feelings for each other.