Can somebody help me figure out what killed this fish?

[Cambrianexplosion24]

Hi guys! I very recently ordered a golden dwarf acara cichlid (nannacara anomala) online and unfortunately the fish passed away tonight just one day away from passing my two week quarantine and being able to go into the main tank. He seemed fine and was reasonably active, curious and had an appetite. Last night I saw him hiding for the first time in a while but I didn't think that was unusual. The crazy thing is this is the second time this has happened. I ordered two gda cichlids the previous month and one of them is thriving and doing fine while the other was noticeably weakened and passed away shortly after arriving. I don't know much about the site but it's called "Arizona Aquatic Gardens" and they certainly seem reputable, lots of fish species and one of the few places I've been able to find certain species. Maybe they just have a weaker batch right now. Otherwise I'm trying to figure out what happened so I can hopefully avoid this in the future. I'll even attach two pictures of the fish literally minutes after passing away. I checked the nitrate level in the quarantine tank and it's not particularly high, probably could use a water change tomorrow but otherwise not serious and the betta that lives in there doesn't seem affected by anything. The betta himself is a large male and is about the same size as the acara so I wondered if maybe he could have had something to do with this but first of all they tended to avoid each other and coexist peacefully and secondly I don't really notice any sign of injury. No injured fins, no scales out of place, no wounds. The water temperature in the tank also felt warm to the touch and again the betta is acting normally. For a second I thought I might have seen the faintest little trace of a hair-like fuzz on the cichlid's chin but I didn't seen anything when I examined him out of the water. In the minutes leading up to his death he was on his side, occasionally thrashing around and swimming awkwardly on his side before sinking and he wasn't breathing much and barely responded to the touch of the net. Anyway, looking at the pictures do you guys notice anything that might have killed this fish? both sides of his body are shown. If so what's the best way to keep it from happening again?

 

[fishydaddy]

Very mysterious!
My only thought is extremely low oxygen? Something the betta wouldn't be harmed by, but the acara would. The thrashing seems like it could have been freaking out because it couldn't breath. Just a guess though, this is very weird.

 

[Hellfishguy]

Some fish sustain internal injuries caused by rough handling during shipping. They arrive looking perfectly healthy, only to suddenly die for no apparent reason.

 

[Cambrianexplosion24]

Very mysterious!
My only thought is extremely low oxygen? Something the betta wouldn't be harmed by, but the acara would. The thrashing seems like it could have been freaking out because it couldn't breath. Just a guess though, this is very weird.

Well the quarantine tank has never needed an air pump because the filter flow creates enough bubbles but it's certainly possible, especially if he already had something else.

Some fish sustain internal injuries caused by rough handling during shipping. They arrive looking perfectly healthy, only to suddenly die for no apparent reason.

I was definitely wondering about that. That seems very logical. I for sure like to see if I can find fish locally before deciding to order them due to the risks involved.

 

[RogueFebreze]

Respectfully, please do not use that site ever again. They have a 1.5 on yelp, and they earned it. It is imo not a reputable business. The hobby, and quite frankly, that world will be a better place if business finally goes under. Just read some of the reviews these losers get:
LiveAquaria | Quality Aquarium Fish, Supplies & Equipment

 

[Cambrianexplosion24]

Respectfully, please do not use that site ever again. They have a 1.5 on yelp, and they earned it. It is imo not a reputable business, The hobby, and quite frankly, that world will be a better place if business finally goes under. Just read some of the reviews these losers get:
LiveAquaria | Quality Aquarium Fish, Supplies & Equipment

Good to know! I did find their shipping costs insane anyway. I do know about Liveaquaria and Aquaticarts and I have some of their fish saved in favorites for future orders. I've never heard of wespottropicalfish though. I'm going to go check them out right now! Maybe they'll have golden acaras.

 

[RogueFebreze]

Good to know! I did find their shipping costs insane anyway. I do know about Liveaquaria and Aquaticarts and I have some of their fish saved in favorites for future orders. I've never heard of wespottropicalfish though. I'm going to go check them out right now! Maybe they'll have golden acaras.

Wet Spot tends to have a vast assortment of cichlids, friendly and helpful staff, and they only send healthy animals. They once even sent me a puffer fish free of charge and shipping fee just because they didn't send me the right sex in my first shipment. I love giving them my business. Over the past 8 months, I have had 4-5 orders from them and I have yet to lose a fish they sent

 

[CHJ]

I don't know much about the site but it's called "Arizona Aquatic Gardens" and they certainly seem reputable,

Oh no. No no no. They sell fake fish.

See that beauty. It is sold on their site right now.
Of course if you know corries you can see it is a photoshop construct of a green laser, and gold/orange laser and other stuff for the crisp black, the face is also a laser in shape. It is not a Rust Cory that they are selling it as. This means that what shows up at your house will look nothing like that.
That picture is so pretty that it shows up at the beginning of row 2 of a google image search for Rust Cories. rust cory - Google Search

I think that alone should show why you should never consider giving them your business. Avoid them like you would avoid some new plague that is a cross between The Black Plague, Rabies, and Ebola.

So if they will sell you a fish that doesn't exist, what kind of morals do you think they have when it comes to selling unhealthy fish?

If that is not enough their Better Business Bureau is pretty spectacular. Arizona Aquatic Gardens, Inc. | Complaints | Better Business Bureau® Profile
Arizona Aquatic Gardens, Inc. | Better Business Bureau® Profile
Dave's Garden is the place to go for nurseries. How are they looking on their plant sales? Terrible! Arizona Aquatic Gardens
Reseller ratings Arizona Aquatic Gardens Consumer Verified Ratings & Reviews A solid 1 star with 82 reviews.

It may not be possible to find a worse place to do business.

 

[Cambrianexplosion24]

Oh no. No no no. They sell fake fish.

See that beauty. It is sold on their site right now.
Of course if you know corries you can see it is a photoshop construct of a green laser, and gold/orange laser and other stuff for the crisp black, the face is also a laser in shape. It is not a Rust Cory that they are selling it as. This means that what shows up at your house will look nothing like that.
That picture is so pretty that it shows up at the beginning of row 2 of a google image search for Rust Cories. rust cory - Google Search

I think that alone should show why you should never consider giving them your business. Avoid them like you would avoid some new plague that is a cross between The Black Plague, Rabies, and Ebola.

So if they will sell you a fish that doesn't exist, what kind of morals do you think they have when it comes to selling unhealthy fish?

If that is not enough their Better Business Bureau is pretty spectacular.
Dave's Garden is the place to go for nurseries. How are they looking on their plant sales? Terrible!
Reseller ratings A solid 1 star with 82 reviews.


It may not be possible to find a worse place to do business.

That IS crooked! I mean I'm glad I got one healthy one that's currently thriving but two dying shortly after arrival is definitely a red flag. And I can see what you mean about google liking the pretty pictures, they always seem to show up when I'm looking for a specific fish species. From now on if I can't find a species locally and I'm having trouble finding it on the well liked reputable websites then I'll just ask you guys if you know where I could get them

 

[CHJ]

Yeah it places high due to the number of times people click it. Everyone thinks it is pretty so they click it to see what it is. If a site wanted they could set up a script to load an image millions of times to get better placement.
I imagine an unfortunate few order it right after seeing it. Those who google rust cory before buying it immediately figure out something is up as no other pics look like that.

 

[SarahPar]

I would estimate either extreme stress or gill issues.

 

[CHJ]

Oh no. No no no. They sell fake fish.

See that beauty. It is sold on their site right now.
Of course if you know corries you can see it is a photoshop construct of a green laser, and gold/orange laser and other stuff for the crisp black, the face is also a laser in shape. It is not a Rust Cory that they are selling it as. This means that what shows up at your house will look nothing like that.
That picture is so pretty that it shows up at the beginning of row 2 of a google image search for Rust Cories. rust cory - Google Search

I think that alone should show why you should never consider giving them your business. Avoid them like you would avoid some new plague that is a cross between The Black Plague, Rabies, and Ebola.

So if they will sell you a fish that doesn't exist, what kind of morals do you think they have when it comes to selling unhealthy fish?

If that is not enough their Better Business Bureau is pretty spectacular. Arizona Aquatic Gardens, Inc. | Complaints | Better Business Bureau® Profile
Arizona Aquatic Gardens, Inc. | Better Business Bureau® Profile
Dave's Garden is the place to go for nurseries. How are they looking on their plant sales? Terrible! Arizona Aquatic Gardens
Reseller ratings Arizona Aquatic Gardens Consumer Verified Ratings & Reviews A solid 1 star with 82 reviews.

It may not be possible to find a worse place to do business.

Here is a link to the pretty FAKE fish I was talking about at AZ Aquatic Gardens. Cory - Rabauti Cory Catfish - Arizona Aquatic Gardens

 

[MacZ]

That is not fake, just misidentified, which is never a good sign. Corydoras rabauti exist, they just look different than the picture.

 

[CHJ]

Rust Cories exist and I linked above to the Google Image search.
The picture as I said is a made up in Photoshop and I listed some of the fish used to make it. If there was a real cory that looked like that I'd have my LFS looking for them. The pic is a total fake as there are no real fish in existence that look like it.

 

[MacZ]

Must have missed one post on the small mobile screen. nevermind.