PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,

I have a tank at my workplace and while we were adding some fish recently one of the Pangasius cats (a very tiny, young fish) jumped out of the tank twice and had to be picked up and placed back in the water. It is swimming again now, but seems to be having trouble "balancing". Does it have to shed its slime coat or did the fall mess it up irreparably?

Update: It is now just staying still on the bottom of the tank, not swimming, just floating in place...I really hope it will recover.

Recently a koi jumped out, was quickly rescued, and showed the same dazed floating behavior you described. It recovered after a few hours.

If you want to help the fish, add liquid "medicines" (not truly) like API stress coat (or a similar product) that are supposed to help injured fishes recover. Make sure to use reputable brands, though.

Pangasius and relatives are said to be skittish, prone to hurting themselves, and to grow so large and so quickly that they must eventually be housed in ponds/mega-aquariums. Once the fish is completely healed, including these factors in your plans and calculations might help it avoid future injury.

Cheers, and good luck to your fish!

I'm happy to report that the fish seems to have recovered fully!