Chinese Algae Eater randomly bloated and died

[Ashley Nguyen]

Hi there! I’ve had my CAE for 4.5 years. She has always been perfectly healthy, always active a lot at night, hides a bit during the day. I feed her 2 times a week max, usually algae wafers or a couple pellets. My goal is to never overfeed her. She always has some good algae in the tank to snack on daily. Last night she was so active that i could hear her dashing around and sucking on the tank (I usually hear her every night so this is a good sign as always). I had work from the early morning and I didn’t get home till 10pm. When I came back, she was at the bottom of the tank with her stomach faced up, extremely bloated. She never bloated before, nor had she ever had any health issues in the past. No signs of outside injury and no pine coning. Just a huge bloated belly with what seemed like gray stuff in the inside of it (I thought it was just the food inside of her). She was not breathing at all but still looked very fresh and her eyes still had light to them. Put her in a cup and Waited for about 10 minutes to see if she was just unconscious but she never breathed again. Can anyone tell me what may have happened to her ? The water conditions were perfect as well. Only thing in there with her was rabbit snails, bamboo, and a bumble goby. They all have been in the tank for years. 30 gallon. Now about 3 days ago I noticed hydra was in my tank. Don’t know how it got in there. I got a sword plant a few weeks ago (it died ) and that is the only thing I could think of that could’ve brought hydra in. Does hydra kill CAE?

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi there! I’ve had my CAE for 4.5 years. She has always been perfectly healthy, always active a lot at night, hides a bit during the day. I feed her 2 times a week max, usually algae wafers or a couple pellets. My goal is to never overfeed her. She always has some good algae in the tank to snack on daily. Last night she was so active that i could hear her dashing around and sucking on the tank (I usually hear her every night so this is a good sign as always). I had work from the early morning and I didn’t get home till 10pm. When I came back, she was at the bottom of the tank with her stomach faced up, extremely bloated. She never bloated before, nor had she ever had any health issues in the past. No signs of outside injury and no pine coning. Just a huge bloated belly with what seemed like gray stuff in the inside of it (I thought it was just the food inside of her). She was not breathing at all but still looked very fresh and her eyes still had light to them. Put her in a cup and Waited for about 10 minutes to see if she was just unconscious but she never breathed again. Can anyone tell me what may have happened to her ? The water conditions were perfect as well. Only thing in there with her was rabbit snails, bamboo, and a bumble goby. They all have been in the tank for years. 30 gallon. Now about 3 days ago I noticed hydra was in my tank. Don’t know how it got in there. I got a sword plant a few weeks ago (it died ) and that is the only thing I could think of that could’ve brought hydra in. Does hydra kill CAE?

Unfortunately yes, Hydras can kill fish. If the fish was small enough, it would eat them and you'd have no idea where they went. The bloating most likely was an internal reaction to getting stung. With the fish being on the back end of it's natural lifespan ( 5-10 years), it's ability to repel or counter toxins could be diminished.
Any new item that goes into your main tank ( especially plants) should be either quarantined or disinfected prior to going into the tank. So many " nasties" can come in on live plants. Fish should be quarantined for at least 60-90 days as there are pathogens with lifespans that long.

Hope this helps