Why does my fish randomly sit at the bottom of the tank?

Question

I started out with 9 fish total, but they all died/killed each other. Before they died, I guess one pair had a baby and here we are today. He will come up for food sometimes, but for periods of time, and I mean about a week or two, he will just sit at the bottom of the tank and do nothing. When I tap him with the net he'll move, so he's not dead. But I don't get why he does this. After this period of time he'll be normal and swim around and eat, but he does nothing now.

Answer 1

maybe the fish is lonely or bored. did you ever  wonder why exactly those other fish died? maybe a disease that your couch potato now has.

Answer 2

What kind of tank do you have?  What kind of filter are you using?  What kind of fish???  It sounds like you had the 9 in the beginning with a tank that wasn't properly cycled.  A tank is "cycled" when enough time has passed for certain bacterial colonies to develop in the filter at sufficient levels to fully convert fish wastes (ammonia from breathing & pooping; and nitrite) to nitrates.  Tank cycling is a long and arduous process that takes weeks to complete.  If you didn't do this, your fish died of toxicity from too much ammonia and/or nitrite.  One of the signs of toxicity in fish is bottom-sitting.

Answer 3

Looks like you suck at keeping fish alive....    don't have any children,  they're even harder.

Answer 4

I had about the same amount of fish and they all got sick and died except one.  The tank eventually started leaking and then fell into the bathtub and broke (long story) but then the last fish was put into a jar.  He actually lived for a long time after being transferred, and the only reason he died was because my friend overfed him for a few days and the water got all cloudy.

Anyhoo.

My fish's behavior sounds very similar to yours.  He would just sit at the bottom of his jar for days at a time and wouldn't even come up for food, and then he'd be all psycho and energetic at other times.  It sounds silly, but maybe he's lonely?  A lot of fish live in schools, so maybe he doesn't know what to do with his solitude.  It depends on his species, really.  Try maybe getting one or two fish of the same species, maybe it'll help.

I'm sorry I wasn't much help, and also that I talk so much.

Good luck :)

Answer 5

i don't know maybe it's lonely buy another fish