We recently added a fish tank and tropical fish to our household. If you think about it, changing the environment for fish is really no different than introducing a new dog or a cat into the household. Just like dogs and cats, it can take fish some time to adapt to their new environment. Their world is disrupted; the water is different, the lighting may be different, their food may be different, and there are different fish that they are now living with. They will go through a period of adjustment as they settle in to their new home, and each fish will respond differently.
Our fish seemed to adapt fairly quickly; but one, a bottom-feeding albino corydora, was very stressed and did not adapt as easily as the others. “Squiggly”, as we affectionately call her, would swim (the cory swim looks like a wiggle) erratically around the edge of the tank; around and around and around, day after day. We also noticed that she didn’t seem to be eating like the others. After about a week, the erratic swimming stopped; she just rested on the bottom (corys also rest on the bottom) and didn’t swim much at all. Something just didn’t seem right with little Squiggly.
One evening, I decided to offer Reiki to Squiggly, actually to all of the fish in the tank. Two of the fish came forward right away and stayed right in front of me for the entire treatment. Others continued swimming around the tank, taking turns coming forward to connect with me. They would stop right in front of me and look intently at me for a couple of minutes. Similar to other animals, the fish were truly open to the energy.
Squiggly was resting quietly on the bottom toward the back of the tank for most of the treatment. As I was about to finish the treatment, Squigglybegan swimming around the tank; she was now swimming steadily and interacting with the other fish; this continued for the rest of the evening. And, the next morning Squiggly ate along with the other fish; she was right in there with the other bottom feeding fish making sure she got her share of the food! After a scare the next day when we could not find her in the tank, Squiggly continues to swim normally and eat regularly; she has adapted to her new home.
Tropical fish are really no different than other animals in their openness to receiving Reiki. Reiki helped Squiggly overcome the stress of being in a new environment. Just as Reiki can help reduce stress in the fish tank, Reiki also can help dogs, cats and other animals cope with any type of stress they may experience, including adapting to a new home or situation.
-Ann Noyce, SARA Teacher
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