Depressed Discus?

[delta5]

I culled the fry and ever since the parents have been acting depressed. I tested the water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, PH, PPM, KH, and GH. Everything is normal and nitrates are under 5ppm. Can they really get depressed after losing their fry? They are eating, but not like they use to.

The only thing I did since culling the fry was I took the hoses off my C-360 and ran a brush through them to clean out all the brown 'sludge,' and put the 4" pvc pipe back in that they spawned on before.

[Kyla]

i dont know, but i had a male that pretended he was dying when i removed his mate. it was so bad i put her back in. all of a sudden he was fine again. melodramatic discus.

[John_Nicholson]

Depression is an emotion that fish to not have.....they have a brain the size of a pencil eraser. Their behavior is purely instinctual.

-john

[nc0gnet0]

Depression is an emotion that fish to not have.....they have a brain the size of a pencil eraser. Their behavior is purely instinctual.

-john

Tell that to the fish that came in second at Austin!!!!!

[Tshethar]

Depression is an emotion that fish to not have.....they have a brain the size of a pencil eraser. Their behavior is purely instinctual.

-john

Don't think the jury is in on this question. Fair enough to caution folks against projecting a full complement of human emotions onto their pets--so maybe "depression" is a bit much--but anthropocentrism runs to the extreme in both directions, AFAIC, and not without practical/ethical implications. Will be interesting to see in the years ahead what neuroscience people have to say about types of sentience and consciousness.... These are not scientific journal articles (and I wouldn't be qualified to evaluate them if they were), but mainstream media suggests that the basic premise remains a topic of interest in some research circles....

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160220-do-fish-have-feelings

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201406/fish-are-sentient-and-emotional-beings-and-clearly-feel-pain

[Akili]

Don't think the jury is in on this question. Fair enough to caution folks against projecting a full complement of human emotions onto their pets--so maybe "depression" is a bit much--but anthropocentrism runs to the extreme in both directions, AFAIC, and not without practical/ethical implications. Will be interesting to see in the years ahead what neuroscience people have to say about types of sentience and consciousness.... These are not scientific journal articles (and I wouldn't be qualified to evaluate them if they were), but mainstream media suggests that the basic premise remains a topic of interest in some research circles....

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160220-do-fish-have-feelings

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201406/fish-are-sentient-and-emotional-beings-and-clearly-feel-painVery Interesting Thanks for sharing Bill!!