Possible arowana killer

[rallysman]

Recently I lost my Black Arowana from unknown causes. The specifics can be found here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77534
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77766

Here is a general timeline:
Cloudy eyes, treated with melafix.

(1 week later)
everything is great

(1 week later)
Tuesday: Fish is fine, eating well, swimming, and acting like the world is his. From here on in we'll refer to this as "normal"
Wednesday: Slight gasping Slowly opening and closing mouth), but otherwise normal.
Thursday: Turning pale, gasping, swimming, not eating
Friday: Swimming like you would imagine a drunk fish, being lethargic, laying down, pointing vertical with nose down and tail up, then dead.

Here is the PM I received from Dodgefreak8 during this ordeal.

I just read back through my post about my aro. He did the EXACT thing yours did. He had cloud eye so I treated with melafix. 2 days later cloud eye gone and he was pale and head standing in my tank. I treated exactly how you did with water changes and salt. I even did the Epsom salts and antibacterial meds. I found out it's called ascities. Its an infection in the stomach caused my a parasite or SHARP food like frozen pieces of shrimp that tear the stomach. it puts pressure on the swim bladder and is almost always fatal. you did all you could, it was completely out of your hands

That sucked to hear. We think that everyone else should take this into consideration and discuss it. The thing that really ads to this is the picture below of blood coming out of my fish when I removed him from the tank. We're not sure if this is what is the cause, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. If you have any input or advice, please share it. We would not like to see fellow Arowana owners go through the same deal. It sucks to watch a fish die and know there is nothing you can do to help it.

So, MFK, what are your thoughts on this matter?

 

[thecoolguy]

yikes!

makes me think twice about feeding my asian freeze dried shrimp....

freeze dried shrimp can be SHARP! poke my fingers all the time and it hurts.....

makes sense - makes me wanna de-head the shrimp before feeding......

 

[vanimate]

Levi, what were you feeding him? Tail on MP?

 

[vanimate]

yikes!

makes me think twice about feeding my asian freeze dried shrimp....

freeze dried shrimp can be SHARP! poke my fingers all the time and it hurts.....

makes sense - makes me wanna de-head the shrimp before feeding......

Do you mean freeze dried krill? Some pieces are very sharp. I lost a nice dat to a piece of FD krill

 

[rallysman]

Levi, what were you feeding him? Tail on MP?

Unfortunately, IIRC the night before he started acting funny was tail on market shrimp.

 

[greenterra]

First off,Sorry to hear about your loss.As for the theory of possible cause I see it as a very real possibility.I have always fed shrimp/prawns but I have always fed them deshelled.The spike on the tail could easily rupture the internal organs and could be why you witnessed bleeding from the anus.I know no one likes to cut open a pet but in this case I would so I could examine the internals for signs of injury.

 

[Miguel]

I followed your other thread.. so sorry for that poor blackie.
I personnaly do not feed shrimp with shells and their heads because of the spikes they have..

Hats off for your description and the way you posted this, because I am sure that a lot of keepers will, as of today revise procedures,a nd aros have been saved today, Levi.

 

[rallysman]

First off,Sorry to hear about your loss.As for the theory of possible cause I see it as a very real possibility.I have always fed shrimp/prawns but I have always fed them deshelled.The spike on the tail could easily rupture the internal organs and could be why you witnessed bleeding from the anus.I know no one likes to cut open a pet but in this case I would so I could examine the internals for signs of injury.

Thanks for the input!
I have thought about that (the fish is now in the freezer, I'm not up for hacking him up right now). It wasn't until after the fact that I saw the blood and we put 2 and 2 together. I never fed shell on, but i fed the tail to help with color. Even if this is not the cause of this death, I won't feed tail on anymore.
I just want everyone to throw their two cents in to see if we can help others avoid this mistake


Maybe later I'll get out the scalpel and see if I can find anything

 

[95socalstang]

This is why my current black ONLY eats hikari aro sticks and lots of them

 

[Alex.P]

Sorry for your loss . Thanks for the info though, as Miguel said it really will change the way most of us feed our fish.

Another one to look out for are Stickel Backs ( a little fish that has spines all over its fins). I usually find a few in my packets of smelt that i feed my rays. if you do find them you can feed them but make sure to take off all the fins, as i can imagine they have the same effects as prawns
Alex