Angel fish suddenly died....

I have three angelfish in my 30 gallon tank. (before you judge, They are all very small and will have larger tanks when then get bigger) I just found one of them dead, out of nowhere! The tank has been set up for a year now and the levels are all perfect. (per the API test kit). I look inside my tanks every day. So the process must have been quick because he was practically a skeleton when I found him. He was up against the filter still in one piece, but mostly skeleton. So I am worried that he got suck and suffered. Unless he died in another area and his dead body eventually made it to the filter.

I never noticed any strange behavior from him. He was a healthy beaultiful angel. Then I walk in the house to find him all gross and stuck to the filter. What the heck could have happened? The others are doing just fine. We had this guy for a month and he seemed to thrive. Are they weak fish? Is it easy for them to get caught in a filter? I have had fish die in the past and if they die elsewhere, they get eaten up quick by the bottom dwellers. So I am pretty convinced he got stuck up there. Could that have happened to a healthy angel, or must he have been sick and we didn't know it? He was the largest of the three, so that makes it even stranger that he would get stuck. I just feel awful because if that is what happened, I could have saved him if I would have noticed it sooner. But like I said, he was fine last night, I come home at lunchtime today and he looks like he has been dead for days, but he hasn't.

Sorry that got long. I am just very sad to have lost our beautiful blue angel. He was my favorite. I don't really know what I am asking to tell you the truth. I guess just whether or not people agree that is what happened. Or are there other theories? To sum it up, the fish was alive last night and dead and deteriorated to a skeleton by noon the next day. WHAT THE HECK???

 

I'm sorry for your loss...
I have no idea how it could've happened.

 

Aw, I'm sorry I breed angels and I can vouch for the fact that they're more prone than other fish to keeling over without any visible cause. My personal guess is that it's usually something to do with the digestive tract.

 

It's odd too because the one that passed is a rarer angel and we got it at a very well respected pet store that specializes in fish. People travel from all over to go there. The angels that are still alive are from petsmart where they have dead fish in every flippin tank. The one that passed is from the pet store. I would expect that one to be the stronger one.

Is it really possible for a fish to deteriorate that quickly? Its just strange because he was alive last night. He was all white mostly skeleton this afternoon. I would think it would take longer than that.

 

Sorry for your loss...

 

It's odd too because the one that passed is a rarer angel and we got it at a very well respected pet store that specializes in fish. People travel from all over to go there. The angels that are still alive are from petsmart where they have dead fish in every flippin tank. The one that passed is from the pet store. I would expect that one to be the stronger one.

Is it really possible for a fish to deteriorate that quickly? Its just strange because he was alive last night. He was all white mostly skeleton this afternoon. I would think it would take longer than that.

Sometimes it works in reverse of what you'd think-the fish from the nasty LFS may have an immune system of steel while the coddled, "fancier" fish are very delicate!