Do fish really go "Belly up"??

woody189

Member
I've unfortunately had plenty of fish die on me, but I've never seen one go belly up.
DO they actually do that? I always find them sucked into a poewrhead, lying on the sand, or being eaten.
Just wondering.
 
K

kjlondry

Guest
In Michigan fish go belly up every year in the great lakes. There is a certain time every year fish just die and go belly up, there will actually be hundreds of dead fish washed up on shores. There is a reason for it, but i forgot what it was....
 

drtito

Member
I had a sailfin tang for about 4 years.
Got it big and I grew in my tank, till one day I came home to find it belly up
.
I tried to get it up right and in the flow, but its time had come.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I believe that when a fish dies bacteria living in its gut enters its tissues and as these bacteria feed on the fish they release gases and the trapped gases cause the fish to go belly up.
Fish also have a swim bladder, which they use to control depth. I think that air remaining in their bladder after they die causes them to rise to the surface belly up
 

hlcroghan

Active Member
I don't think I have ever had a fish actually be upside down when it died in salt or fresh. They cuc always got it first.....but my african frogs do and boy do they stink too!!! I have one named Kermit now. So cute!! He actually croaks at me underwater. Supposedly it means they want to mate. Ahhh froggy love!!
 

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3036717
I believe that when a fish dies bacteria living in its gut enters its tissues and as these bacteria feed on the fish they release gases and the trapped gases cause the fish to go belly up.
Fish also have a swim bladder, which they use to control depth. I think that air remaining in their bladder after they die causes them to rise to the surface belly up
I thought it might have something to do with gasses, but your description makes sense.
Thank you all for the responses. i was just curious
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3036717
I believe that when a fish dies bacteria living in its gut enters its tissues and as these bacteria feed on the fish they release gases and the trapped gases cause the fish to go belly up.
Fish also have a swim bladder, which they use to control depth. I think that air remaining in their bladder after they die causes them to rise to the surface belly up
I think it is so cool how you pipe in with these total facts.
Thanks for taking the time looking all this stuff up.
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3036717
I believe that when a fish dies bacteria living in its gut enters its tissues and as these bacteria feed on the fish they release gases and the trapped gases cause the fish to go belly up.
Fish also have a swim bladder, which they use to control depth. I think that air remaining in their bladder after they die causes them to rise to the surface belly up
Yep bacteria will do that to fish and it's a darn good thing it doesn't do that to us

I am not sure about this, but I think that it is sort of like our blinking. If we die with our eyes open, they stay open and if we die with them closed, they stay closed...
And with fish, if they inflated their bladder when they died, it will stay inflated and they will float.
Sometimes I'll go to places like wal*mart and see freshwater fish with giant abdomens floating at the surface and that is an indication that they have been there long enough for the bacteria to produce mass quantities of gas.
 

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by PEZenfuego
http:///forum/post/3036902
Yep bacteria will do that to fish and it's a darn good thing it doesn't do that to us

I am not sure about this, but I think that it is sort of like our blinking. If we die with our eyes open, they stay open and if we die with them closed, they stay closed...
And with fish, if they inflated their bladder when they died, it will stay inflated and they will float.
Sometimes I'll go to places like wal*mart and see freshwater fish with giant abdomens floating at the surface and that is an indication that they have been there long enough for the bacteria to produce mass quantities of gas.
YUP, and I am sure some fish..just like people are just FULL OF IT
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3036958
I like to keep things interesting

The way I look at it, if it takes you 5000 posts before you help one single person...you still helped a person.
But she's probably helped a lot of people
...just not 5000 people.
 
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