Can fish get sleep deprived??

[Nano Reef69]

I fell asleep at 8 and I turn my lights off at 9 and left them on until two in the morning. Most of the fish were asleep but one of my baby clowns was wide awake. This morning I woke up and he was just laying there lifeless. I fed them and it woke up to eat. Then I left my tank and cane back and he was under a rock not moving. I put my hand in the water and it started to move again I currently turned the lights out and he is just laying on the sand bed. Please help!!

[Michael78]

No expert here, but I have made that mistake more than a few times getting stuck at work late or just forgetting... I finally got my lights on a timer... there have been times where I left them on all night and I’m sure it’s not good or healthy at all but my fish all were fine.. now that I have a timer no problems at all.. maybe the fish is just resting.. it responds for food so probably ok.. again no expert.. if something is wrong with the fish I doubt it’s cuz you left the lights on a few extra hours..

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

Yes no and maybe so. You certainly have apex and/or active hunting fish that just swim forever. A lot of pelagic (open ocean) sharks require constant motion to keep water running over their gills. If they stop they end up choking themselves out. 

 

Sleep in fish has been a long intriguing question and from what I've read it can really depend on the species in question. I used to work in the zebrafish colony at the NIH and we had an incredibly strict night time policy as there was definitely a lights-out period. Any leakage of light during off hours usually ended up with an ugly reprimand from the project officer (my boss) and being suspended from entry.

 

The Wikipedia article titled "Sleep in Fish" is a pretty interesting primer. Skip down to their references page and there's actual research articles on the topic.

[mcarroll]

Fish sleep like we do.  

 

My fish are in bed at the same time every night, no exceptions.  

 

You need an appliance timer.

[Candymancan]

Yes they can, and fish can also die from light shock.  Ive done it before.. turned the lights on at night and a tang died from a heart attack.. Had it happen to fresh water fish too.  Fish have internal sleep clocks like we do.. So keep them on the same lighting schedual if you change it and turn it on an hour or two too early they will freak out and swim like theyre asleep bumping into rocks and walls like theyre half dead.

[sw26303]

Geez man thats sad.

[ef4life]

In my experience clownfish can be lazy, I have 1 in particular who just lays on the rocks all the time not moving. Every fish has its own personality and can do weird stuff from time to time.

 

but you should invest in a timer for the lights, everything in this hobby goes back to consistency.

[chunkylovah]

From my experience clownfish are weird sleepers in general. Their schedule is regular but I have one that used to sleep on the sand, then it slept under a rock, then squished between two rocks so it wouldn't float away, then it learned from my other clown to just sleep in the farthest corner with its face towards the sand... They are peculiar fish indeed.