Apoc
28-04-2011, 09:55
As the subject eludes to, we lost our prized goldfish ( named “ guy “ ) on Tuesday… :wondering:
For some the common fan-tail goldfish may not be anything special BUT:
1. He was our FIRST fish that we had ever bought ( and consequently survived through many ordeals, including much of our rookie fish-keeping mistakes )
2. Lived to the age of about 4 or 5yrs
3. Was quite a large / impressive specimen… about 15cm or so….
While certainly upset about loosing him, I am more concerned about the manner in which we lost him… Let me first list a few tank specs:
1. 3ft tank, +/- 116 litres
2. 1000L per hour internal filter + dual sponge filter
3. Substrate = normal PFS
4. Water changes weekly or bi-weekly. +/- 30%
5. Tank mates include a three or four white cloud minnows, a guppy, another smaller goldfish ( +/- 5cm ), and more recently two clown loaches of about 8 or 9cm’s each ( only had the clowns in with him for about a month or two )
6. Temp is at about 23’C to accommodate both the clowns and the goldfish
7. I feed VARIOUS foods… Vipan flakes, tetra prima, the odd half an algae wafer, a different brand of granulate food the name of which eludes me at the moment, frozen foods every once in a while ( blood worm, white mosquito larvae, Ocean ‘ Tropical quintet ‘ ( sp ) ), as well as the odd goldfish flakes ( Sera mostly )….
I am adamant that on Monday he was ‘ fine ‘…. Eating enthusiastically ( as usual ) and swimming around just fine… Tuesday morning I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to the tank… just fed them and rushed off to work…. By the time I got home after work on Tuesday:
1. He was obviously very ill
2. Being sucked in and pushed around by the flow of the filter ( couldn’t swim by himself / resist the flow )
3. Had lost most of his colour
4. And upon closer inspection I found;
5. Both eyes were completely dislodged / loose in their sockets
6. There was a HUGE cavity in his head…..
7. For lack of a better way of describing it his ‘ brain ‘ had been completely sucked out – IE: The whole head was hollow inside….
8. Hence the eyes being seemingly dislodged
9. He had another hole in the top of his head of about 5mm In diameter….
I did an extremely hasty water change just for good measure, but he was obviously long past the point of no-return as he died within 30 minutes or so from there…
So….
Having regard to all of the above im seriously confused as to what the possible problem was….
Is it an extreme case of Hole in the head ? I haven’t noticed any pinholes ( or anything infact ) prior to Tuesday being wrong with him though, is it possible for Hole in the head to develop LITERALLY over night ?
I thought it may have been an attack of sorts by the clowns, but they have shown NO signs of aggression towards him or any other fish before ? Also the ‘ extent ‘ of the damage seems a bit extreme even if they did all of a sudden show aggression….
Im really baffled…. Unfortunately I didn’t have the heart to take pictures of him / the damages at any stage but was nonetheless hoping someone could advise of possible causes ?
For some the common fan-tail goldfish may not be anything special BUT:
1. He was our FIRST fish that we had ever bought ( and consequently survived through many ordeals, including much of our rookie fish-keeping mistakes )
2. Lived to the age of about 4 or 5yrs
3. Was quite a large / impressive specimen… about 15cm or so….
While certainly upset about loosing him, I am more concerned about the manner in which we lost him… Let me first list a few tank specs:
1. 3ft tank, +/- 116 litres
2. 1000L per hour internal filter + dual sponge filter
3. Substrate = normal PFS
4. Water changes weekly or bi-weekly. +/- 30%
5. Tank mates include a three or four white cloud minnows, a guppy, another smaller goldfish ( +/- 5cm ), and more recently two clown loaches of about 8 or 9cm’s each ( only had the clowns in with him for about a month or two )
6. Temp is at about 23’C to accommodate both the clowns and the goldfish
7. I feed VARIOUS foods… Vipan flakes, tetra prima, the odd half an algae wafer, a different brand of granulate food the name of which eludes me at the moment, frozen foods every once in a while ( blood worm, white mosquito larvae, Ocean ‘ Tropical quintet ‘ ( sp ) ), as well as the odd goldfish flakes ( Sera mostly )….
I am adamant that on Monday he was ‘ fine ‘…. Eating enthusiastically ( as usual ) and swimming around just fine… Tuesday morning I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to the tank… just fed them and rushed off to work…. By the time I got home after work on Tuesday:
1. He was obviously very ill
2. Being sucked in and pushed around by the flow of the filter ( couldn’t swim by himself / resist the flow )
3. Had lost most of his colour
4. And upon closer inspection I found;
5. Both eyes were completely dislodged / loose in their sockets
6. There was a HUGE cavity in his head…..
7. For lack of a better way of describing it his ‘ brain ‘ had been completely sucked out – IE: The whole head was hollow inside….
8. Hence the eyes being seemingly dislodged
9. He had another hole in the top of his head of about 5mm In diameter….
I did an extremely hasty water change just for good measure, but he was obviously long past the point of no-return as he died within 30 minutes or so from there…
So….
Having regard to all of the above im seriously confused as to what the possible problem was….
Is it an extreme case of Hole in the head ? I haven’t noticed any pinholes ( or anything infact ) prior to Tuesday being wrong with him though, is it possible for Hole in the head to develop LITERALLY over night ?
I thought it may have been an attack of sorts by the clowns, but they have shown NO signs of aggression towards him or any other fish before ? Also the ‘ extent ‘ of the damage seems a bit extreme even if they did all of a sudden show aggression….
Im really baffled…. Unfortunately I didn’t have the heart to take pictures of him / the damages at any stage but was nonetheless hoping someone could advise of possible causes ?