Strange Figure 8 Behavior

[Flumpus]

I went in to do something on my computer yesterday, and looked over to see what my Figure 8 was up to, and thought he was dead. He had his tail curled up, almost like he was making himself into a little ball. He wasn't swimming, rather curled up in a ball riding the current of the filter. I got really worried, because he wasn't doing anything other than just riding the current in a ball, so I tapped on the glass and he immediately snapped out of it, then returned to normal, and ate fine this morning and everything. I'm not sure if fish have the capacity to be silly and just do things for fun, but maybe they do? Is it possible he was just trying to have a good time? I certainly hope nothing is wrong, and watching him this morning it definitely didn't seem like it, but I was really worried last night. Any input is appreciated... Thanks.

 

[Dave Legacy]

From what I've seen so far that seems to be a behavior enduced by stress. Seems almost like when a dog puts it's tail between it's legs. If the F8 is ok now, I wouldnt worry. Check the water parameters just in case.

 

[Erised]

It is usually said to be stress related ... however I wouldn't worry too much.
My puffer too went through a couple of minutes of curling it's tail and just sinking to the bottom... I thought I'd had it when I saw it! Absolutely freaked out & got Peter, by then he was hiding behind the wood, I figured he'd be dead the next day (it's how I lost 1 of my dwarf puffers). Oddly enough, once he spotted Peter he just swam to the front fine, without any trouble what so ever and has not done anything like it again.

Perhaps it's just something they do once in a while, and if it doesn't happen again within the next few days I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Little Fish]

I have seen one of mine did that in the morning, may be just waking up. I have never seen my other F8s doing that though. On another occasion, I upset one of my F8 by dumping a cup of cold water over him accidentally He curled up and sank to the bottom breathing heavily for almost 5 minutes. Eventually he went back to normal and I do things more careful now. If your F8 constantly curls it's tail and sits at the bottom, it is definitely a problem. If it did that only once, it's probably temporarily upset by something.

 

[Flumpus]

Well, just tested my water... nitrites are zero, ammonia is zero, temp is 79, and the SG is 1.005. My puffer is swimming around, looks just fine, normal puffer stuff. My gobies are also fine, so I don't think it's water related, and I reall thing there's nothing to worry about now. The gobies wouldn't have stressed the puffer out, they're lazy and stay in their caves/hiding spots a lot of the time, and weren't out when the puffer freaked out. Oh well, maybe just an odd little quirk of my puffer. I definitely keep an eye on him though.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

My Gsp's always curled up in balls when they slept. So cute if the kitchen light was on they would tuc up in their caves, but if the room was dark they would both go to their corners. Wrap their little tails around themselves and sleep till morning, or till I annoyed them.