armadillo

Thijs found him in the evening, he'd just sunk to the bottom.

He had absolutely no symptoms prior to that, like a sunken belly, or body damage from fighting, or bulges on his belly, or a change of colour.

He wasn't a good eater, but we figured he just ate when we weren't looking and again, his belly wasn't sunken. We give him a mix of live snails, live bloodworms, and freeze dried tubifex. We'd had him 2 to 3 weeks.

He lived in a 72L with 2 other puffers (females).

Water parameters were: n'ate 10 n'ite 0 a'nia 0. Our thermometers are completely uncalibrated, even our digital ones, so we can only guess at what the temperature is. It did feel cold to the touch (as low as 24C possibly).

Any idea what could have happened to him?

COBettaCouple

it's possible he had an internal problem like an infection or parasites, perhaps even some sort of physical defect.. white poo would've been one possible indicator of that.

armadillo

His poo was... human-like, like his tank-mates (puffer poo is really gross. Too realistic!)

COBettaCouple

hmm.. i'd still guess internal infection or parasites given his eating habits.

Bonochick

Oh no! I'm sorry.

I once lost a tiger barb out of the blue for no good reason. Water was fine, he showed no symptoms...then I went home and found him dead. I guess sometimes things just happen, which I know offers no comfort. I'm sorry.

armadillo

Yep, I think that's extremely likely. However, their poop should be different (more stringy) if it is internal parasites, according to sources on DP's, and he should have either have a sunken appearance, or on the contrary, he should have shown some 'bubbles' under his skin, as our female is onw showing....

Its tricky what to give them to eat, as on the one hand, live worms are likely to give them parasites, and on the other hand, non-live food can't be used in the long-term. We're breeding some snails for them, but not in huge quantities (one or two snails so far put back in in their tanks, ever).

Am really a little miffed.

Could it be that he left the heater out for 12 hours (overnight) one night when he forgot to switch it back on after maintenance? The thing is, it doesn't really get that cold in the house. I'd say 19 degrees max, and by the time 26C water goes down 7 degrees in one night...

armadillo

Thanks, Bonochick. No, no, it's good to know we're not the only ones. I was conscious not to get too attached to these fish as I am not their primary carer (Thijs is). But he's really bummed.

COBettaCouple

could it be constipation? will they eat peas?

armadillo

That's a good point. They've not eaten any veggies yet. We could try peas (with the 2 remaining females). But come to think of it, he didn't appear constipated.

COBettaCouple

yea, it's a mystery loss.