That video was the last time we were feeding two pimas.
One pima, we called small pima or affectionately Sima for short, is no more.
When I was wallowing in filth up to my chin while cleaning and vacuuming the 15,000 gal sump on October 5, 2018, Sima jumped out of its 4500 gal at some point. The sump is a noisy place (I didn't turn off the pumps) so I didn't hear it. Many fish freak out when the turbidity suddenly changes and the water goes from clear to a soup of detritus. Pimas are some of them. They don't like it.
The heavy duty plastic film cover and the spring clamps couldn't prevent Sima from bailing. They are like a steel-headed heavy torpedo. Need a heavy gauge net to stop them really and threaded C-clamps.
Anyhow, IDK how long it spent on the floor. Might have been 30 min or 2 hours. More likely the latter. When I got to it, it was not moving much at all and it was hot because the temp in the fishhouse was in the 90-ies that day. It didn't seem like it was even breathing but the gills were still wet or rather slimy. The slime on the body almost dried but just not quite.
I could barely lift it - it's like a slippery 60 pound, 5 feet long, noodle-like cylinder. Having dropped it two times, I finally managed to plop Sima back in the tank straining all I got. Long story short, it was a huge relief to see it was swimming and breathing and after a couple of days it was back to its own self, an insatiable feed hog.
One month passed by and nothing appeared wrong. Then, having fed in the usual vigorous manner one day, it refused to feed the next, which wasn't like it at all. They never refuse feed. The next morning the fish was swollen and reddish all over the body, eyes, fins, and it was over by the night fall. It went in two days.
The symptoms looked consistent with a very bad case of hemorrhaging septicemia. The swiftness is probably too. I can only presume that the jumping out and laying on the floor for 1-2 hours had been a huge shock to Sima and had dealt such a blow to its immune system that it eventually faltered.
The big pima, aka Bima, has jumped out twice. Once a year ago and I attributed it to a fluke. The second time, three days after Sima's jump. Hence, I figured it wasn't an accident anymore and I installed a rather strong nylon leaf netting over the 4500 gal. Both times we were around when Bima jumped out and were able to plop it back soon. It was a hard task even for the both of us, my wife and I.
Anyhow, here are the last shots of Sima at 3 years old or so (2.5 years with us), having gone from 6" to 5 feet exactly. It was probably a male because of slower initial growth, submissive nature with respect to Bima, and less color.
