Cause of sudden death in fish

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mallik
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:25 pm

Cause of sudden death in fish

by mallik

Today one my Cichlids died suddenly. I got it from the local fish stores 2 weeks ago. I first quarantined the fish for 2 days and treated it with mild anti - itch. The fish was all active with no signs of sickness. It showed all its best blue colors. I could not see any visible stress or any nipped fins. After observing it for 2 days I put it in my other cichlids community tank.
The tank is 5 Gallon tank with 2 Yellow young Labs juveniles. The tank is well ventilated with adequate sunlight, a bio sponge filter and the temperature is set at 84.4 degee centigrade. It has got sand as substrate. The fish was actively swimming allover till today, with regular intake of flake food and some smashed beans. Today evening i saw the little guy
quietly sitting at one corner of the tank. I thought he must be exhausted and just chose his spot. The next minute i saw he has turned from active blue to pale blue with almost white and turned upside down and struggling to breath. I was devastated seeing this happen all in just 10 min. A few minutes later he breath his last. I took out the fish and observed. There was nothing much i could do other than flush him down the toilet. I had great hopes on him. Yesterday I made a 50 % water change.

My probable diagnosis is this fish has got some bacterial infection.
Or is it hard for human eye to trace out any itch in blue colored fish

I am attaching a picture of the fish that looks similar to him.
Can any great minds out there through some light on this, and suggest me what could had happened.


dream2reef
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:19 am

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by dream2reef

Maybe you have different temperatures between the two tanks? Not enough oxygen in the tank he was put in? Ick can be cured with a simple five to eight degree temp increase.
Slowly of course. Do that for a week or two or until gone. I've had fish for over two years and then one day no warning dead. But I still have fish from 4 years ago as well. They are fragile and who knows what life it has already led in stress and what not. Proper acclimation is always key. The fish died fairly quick in the transfer so maybe not a proper acclimation???


dream2reef
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:19 am

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by dream2reef

You posted before on a similar subject recently. I think you need a full cycle or you are already at you limit for fish or comboed all into one. One inch per gallon. Five inches allowed. But you probably don't actually have five gallons of actual water as well.


mallik
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:25 pm

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by mallik

dream2reef wrote:
> Maybe you have different temperatures between the two tanks? Not enough
> oxygen in the tank he was put in? Ick can be cured with a simple five to
> eight degree temp increase.
> Slowly of course. Do that for a week or two or until gone. I've had fish
> for over two years and then one day no warning dead. But I still have fish
> from 4 years ago as well. They are fragile and who knows what life it has
> already led in stress and what not. Proper acclimation is always key. The
> fish died fairly quick in the transfer so maybe not a proper acclimation???

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.
I transferred the fish after two days after i got it. From hospital tank to the community tank. So the fish was in the community tank for at least one and half week. It was well accustomed to the new tank and got along with other fish. The temperature was set to 84.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The oxygen levels are also good. As the rest of the fish looked active with no signs of sickness.

Like you said probably it is the fate of the fish I got. or my bad luck. I had the tank up and going for the past 3 months. I use stress coat and de chlorine every time i change water in the tank. With your suggestion in mind i will stick to the fish I have right now. No more new fish unless I have few more disasters. Right now the fish look active doing their own thing not bothered about loosing a mate.


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by natalie265

Have you tested your water for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite? I think it's important to rule that out if you have an unexplained fish death.


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by natalie265

Also, please clarify something. In your previous post, you stated that you had 6 cichlids in your 5 gallon. In this post you state you added the new cichlid in with only two other fish. What happened to the other four fish? Did you lose them as well?


mallik
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:25 pm

Re: Cause of sudden death in fish

by mallik

sorry I missed out of that. I gave them away to my family friend who are also fish enthusiast. We often pet exchange.

Cause of sudden death in fish

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