Angel Fish Startled and Not Moving

[uliabear]

So today I went to move around some decor in my fish tank that only has one angelfish in it, named Tom. As soon as I stuck my hand in the tank, Tom freaked out swimming and hitting the walls of the tank and I slowly removed my hand from the tank and he sunk to the bottom of the tank. It’s like he has a stroke or something. I turned off all of the lights in the tank and watched as he was still breathing. He slowly got back up and sat still for awhile, I watched him for maybe 15 minutes and he was acting decently normal, swimming around the tank. I left the room so he could calm down but as soon as i came back in the room (since it’s my bedroom) he instantly sunk again, like an opossum playing dead. He’s at the bottom of the tank right now and is right side up, but he isn’t moving. I’m really worried about him if anyone knows what could have happened please let me know what i need to do to help him. I checked all of the water parameters and everything is normal, i just cleaned the tank yesterday so he has clean fresh water. Thank you for any advice

Update: he’s up swimming near the top of the tank again but i’m still worried that i’m going to scare him again

 

[Colin_T]

Yesterday when you did a water change, did you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
Any new water should be free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

-------------------------​

Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

-------------------------
Fish kept in bedrooms often become nervous and skittish because they don't see people all the time. The best place for a fish tank is in the loungeroom where people walk past it all the time. Then the fish get use to people and don't care if someone is near the tank.

If you have a mobile in the room and use a small fan, it can provide movement to help the fish get use to things moving about them.

You can tie lengths of ribbon (about 12 inches long) to the front of the fan and they will wave about when the fan is blowing. Have the fan oscillating (moving left to right and back) and it works even better.

If you have a small television in the room (you don't need the sound on), the flashing light and movement on the screen can help fish get use to things moving around them.

-------------------------
Make sure you have a picture on the back of the tank and have some plants in it for the fish to hide in. Have some floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) too.