Mighty Prawn Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Do you guys open up your fish when they die? I had a platy that died today, and it had been fat and swollen for a month. At first we thought she was pregnant, but after all that time we figured she wasn't, and had bloat or was constipated. Anyways I found her dead on the substrate in my hospital tank today, so I did an autopsy to see if I could find anything that might clue me in as to why my other fish are dying. Turns out, she WAS pregnant, and had a belly full of fry. They looked like normal fry, but had little red sacks on them. There was also a green "blob" that came out, neon green, in a perfect orb shape. Is that the swim bladder? She had absolutely nothing wrong with her from what I could see. All these deaths make me want to quit :-/ I also took my driftwood out of the tank, and it was COVERED on the bottom with white fuzz. What the heck? I moved all of my fish out of the tank slowly over the course of the day, and I'm going to assume, with great water quality, and no obvious problems from the autopsy that there is something toxic in the water, probably from that fuzz. I'm going to vacuum the gravel like crazy, and I guess slowly introduce fish back. I wish there were a test to check for toxins. Anyways, is there some kind of site that shows what to look for in an autopsy for parasites or worms, damage to organs etc? -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop Eye Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 What did this fuzz look like. I had white fuzz in my tank once.. all over the bottom of my tank. I had no fish in it at the time.. I read somewhere. I cant remember now that some times drift wood gets this fuzz and its harmless... I dont know if this is the case.. What happened is I put a breeding trio of rainbowfish in this tank. The male died 1 hour after being in the tank so I moved the others back into their old tank. I cleaned out the tank and set it up again. 2 hours after being set up.. This white fuzz grew in it. I never did find out why this happened. It has never happened before.. and hasnt happened since.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Done tons of fish necropsies over the years....even a few post-mortem caesarians on livebearers. The green thing will likely be a swim bladder or blaader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vapor Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sorry to hear about your Platty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 For what it's worth, white fuzz on driftwood is pretty normal and not likely the cause of any problems. My convicts used to love eating the fuzz on their driftwood. Once they ate it all it never came back. Sorry that doesn't help you figure out what the problem is, but at least you can check the fuzz off your list of possible culprits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Yes, the fuzz is normal. Might be a type of fungus, but like we eat mushrooms, it won't kill the fish. You can keep it in check by keeping fish that will constantly clean your decor. Ottos are perfect. Not all catfish are good. For ex, Zebra plecos (like how many ppl have those anyway?), will not even touch driftwood and I saw it growing in their tank. If you have L134, they are very active and constantly rasping around everything. But if you want a fish that is inconspicuous, get ottos. They keep the algae gone and clean the "yucky" stuff off your decor. And sorry about your loss. There have been a few ppl who just lost fish (me). Maybe there's something in the water.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanker Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 There have been a few ppl who just lost fish (me). Maybe there's something in the water.... Ya, seems to be quite the rash of mysterious "something in the water" deaths lately... my "mysterious cichlid hating 20 gallon", for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sounds like you need more circulation in the tank. BTW, did lots of fish dissections in school, including one on a doped fish with a beating heart. :heart: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
street cypher Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Here are a few shots i took while dissecting this p. e. endlicheri. Cause of death- asphixiation from blockage of throat due to ingested gravel I also kept its skull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted January 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 OMG that's awesome. I'd love to have some whole fish skeletons. How did you get the flesh off of it? -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
street cypher Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Boiled it to soften the flesh and used toothpicks and fine tweezers. Boil again and repeat. Did that a couple times until there was no flesh left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted January 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 How big was the fish? Glad I'm not the only one who thinks bones/skeletal structure are interesting. -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 That is really cool but i dont' think my mom would like me boiling my dead fish in her house :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 You could always go the other route and place the carcass in a container with flesh-eating insects until it came out gleaming white. Would your mom be OK with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted January 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Move out? -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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