Lost a Discus

[BrianNY]

This fish really had a great personality. She was a leopard snakeskin, quite small, and dominated her much larger tankmates. She always ate well and at feeding time would claim a section of the tank as hers.

A few weeks ago she stopped eating. I removed her and her mate to their own tank thinking that stress was playing a key. Then she began to bloat up. I was certain that she had a malignant tumor. She got so large that only a tumor could cause her to become as distended as she did. Finally I had no choice but to humanely deal with it.

I decided an autopsy was in order. What I found really surprised me. There was no tumor. All that bloat was merely water. The dissection revealed a plant stem lodged in her upper intestines. She simply couldn't pass it, and I don't think there was anything I could have done to save her.

I keep a floating plant called pothos in my discus tanks. The discus like to hide beneath it and pick at the roots for food. It just goes to show how providing what we think is the best environment may be deadly. Also, when a fish gets ill, we usually expect some disease. We hardly expect a fish to die from something it consumed. However...........

 

[youronlysin]

Sorry about that. I wouldnt take it too hard about the plant... It could have been any plant and done the same thing. Its just too bad for the fish that it worked out that way.

 

[Jchillin]

Nature is full of surprises. Even in a "controlled" environment, nature will do something unexpected ("Nature abhors a vacuum comes to mind").

Sorry to hear about this BrianNY - Kudos to you for taking the extra step to determine what caused this unfortunate occurrence.

 

[Rudy_627]

sorry to hear it but you can feel better that you were able to take care of one of the pickiest fish ever and the most expensive(why i said the most expensive is cause for a medium sized Discus=$100 and a large size Discus=$150 and for a pair the will breed for sure=$500) you did all you could

 

[critter905]

Sorry for your loss Brian, and thank you for all the advice you have given me.

 

[macman7010]

Sorry to hear about your fish. It is nice to know though that you must be a very advanced aquarist to be able to conduct a complete autopsy like you did.

 

[lmw80]

aw, Brian, I am so sorry.

At least you learned from this experience.

 

[QTOFFER]

Sorry to hear about that, Brian.
At least you found out what the cause of death was.
I guess pothos is a no-go in the aquarium.

 

[Fluff]

Wow, sorry Brian.

 

[rubysoho]

 

[SerLunchbox]

brian that sucks. The reality is that nature is not always kind. even when we keep our fish in a habitat they are comfortable in, it can still work out for the worst. I wouldn't be shocked to see if there were numbers done on fish the died in the wild because of something they injested like a plant or a piece of gravel.

 

[Meredith]

OH no Brian. I am so sorry!

 

[severum mama]

Brian, sorry to hear about the loss of your discus. I know I wouldn't have been able to investigate the cause as you did, at least you found out what happened so you could help your others.

 

[waterlilly]

sorry for you loss Brian not only did you learn something from this we all did

 

[webmoose]

Sorry about the Discus Brian.

 

[BrianNY]

Thank you all.

 

[FishLover14]

Reallly Sorry about it Bryan.


Dan

 

[An t-iasg]

Brian, I'm so sorry to hear this also, and I echo the others in saying that it is fortunate that you were able to do an autopsy. We all learned something. If it was me I'd have those pothos out of the tank so fast, but I'm sure this was a freak accident and there are some things we can't control, as much as we try.

I'm sorry for your loss How is the other discus doing without her?

 

[Psyhampster]

awww, that really sucks Brian... Sorry for your loss...

 

[czcz]

I'm sorry you lost such a personable pet. Thanks for sharing your findings and teaching.