Have You Seen Fishes Sleeping on Branches?

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
6
I was walking around the house at 1 am one fine sleepless morning when I saw something that made me rush back for my mobile camera. It was only after becoming the proud owner of multiple aquariums (believe me, I am not using the term 'multiple' lightly here!) that I realized so many funny quirks of fishes.

From having a siamese fighting fish trust me so much that he would come to be petted every morning to watching the unique mating process of these betta fish, there have been some real eye - opening moments. 

But I never got to really see fish sleeping until recently. Or rather, I did not notice it till now. Most find their own corners beside the serene aquarium air pumps and nestle in the darkness once the lights go out (the neon tetras as expected, sleep together thus also guarding one another while the betta finds a nice leaf to lie on).

But it was the siamese algae eater that made me smile. Can you spot him in the centre of the photo below?

Have You Seen Fishes Sleeping on Branches?
Sure, you've heard of pet cats, dogs, birds and even snakes sleeping on top of wooden branches. But when was the last time you saw a fish sleeping on a branch!!! 

Turns out he had made this his actual wooden bed! I say this because I took a couple of photos a few days later too. All these pictures were taken in a pitch dark room with no light except the flash from the mobile camera so you will have to excuse the clarity. 

Again, the two pictures below were taken once more while walking around in the living room after midnight and noticing the same fellow sleeping on the branch. But this time, the photos revealed something even more amazing to me when I checked them out. 

Have You Seen Fishes Sleeping on Branches?


Both the siamese algae eaters were sleeping next to each other, having converted adjacent branches into beds! I had not really noticed the second fellow in the dark until the camera light illuminated him.

Have You Seen Fishes Sleeping on Branches?

I was able to take multiple pictures of them in the dark in this pose without them every moving, which if you know these sprightly fish, is not common at all. 


I have a full video on these useful aquarium fishes (featuring these two sleepy heads, who when awake, are easily the quickest in the aquarium and never stay still) for those who would like to know more about them!

I'm taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter's #MyFriendAlexa

Post a Comment

6Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I needed the closeups to go back to the first one to spot them.

    Damyanti at Daily (w)rite

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! This is fascinating! How ignorant we are about the animal world!
    By the way, how many aquariums do you have at your place?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your home sounds like a fun place to be. It is so fascinating to find odd behavious of other species. Maybe they must be wondering why the human is awake in the middle of the night. 😀

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice post. I merely stumbled upon your journal and wished to mention that I even have extremely enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. finally I’ll be subscribing on your feed and that i am hoping you write once more terribly soon!

    ReplyDelete
Post a Comment