South American Cichlids • Found my oscar dead this morning....

[heylady]

I just don't get it. Yesterday he seemed to be breathing a bit harder than normal. I did a 50% water change (knee jerk reaction). He looked like he was breathing easier after that. I made sure there was plenty of surface agitation too. The pleco and the snails in the tank are fine, were fine, still are fine. But this morning I found my Irwin dead.

Even hubby was upset


I just don't get it. Nothing new was added to his tank. None of my other tanks have sick fish so no chance of cross contamination. He ate well, color was good, activity normal just that little bit of breathing hard. Nobody's done anything in the house that could somehow contaminate the water (I've been down - had surgery last week so no activity to speak of).


RIP Irwin!

[heylady]

Hubby thinks that Irwin may have eaten a large snail or even a piece of gravel. I know that there have been times when Irwy would eat something on the bottom and grab up some gravel too but he always spit the gravel out.
Would eating gravel or a snail do this??

[BlackShark11k]

Sorry for your loss! Never heard of oscars eating gravel or snails, just picking it up. Maybe he accidently swallowed some?

[Big Vine]

heylady, so sorry about Irwin.
This one has me completely stumped.

BV

[TheFishGuy]

I lost an oscar due to it choking on a piece of gravel... I think your husband is on the right track... Sorry for your loss

[djoneser]

Sorry for your loss. I have heard of a couple of cases where a fish choked, I remember one thread the person was saying that someone had thrown a piece of candy in the tank.

[heylady]

Thanks everyone for the sympathy! He was a really cool fish and I know we will miss him, even the dog has gone by the tank looking for him! (Irwin always ran the glass with the dog....)

I cannot think of one thing that has been done to the tank or around the tank, I guess the gravel theory is going to be the one we go with. I suppose I should have looked in his mouth when I got him out of the tank but I wasn't thinking of that and hubby was nice enough to bury him under my rose bush so it's too late now.....

[SYcichlid]

R.I.P. Irwin. Sorry for your loss.

[shef]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Oscars are great fish.

[terd ferguson]

I'm so sorry for your loss. R.I.P. Irwin.

[StillaZilla]

So sorry for Irwin. How old was he? Is there any chance he just died of old age?

[elroach]

Yea I lost a Male GT to swallowing gravel and stopped eating. When he died, I was basically playing with him and looked in his mouth, just for fun, and behold I see a black something. I shake him and out comes a piece of gravel. Looked again and seen something else black and again shook another piece out. I ended up getting bout 4 or 5 pieces out.

It really sucks because he was a breeder with my female and he wasn't cheap. Sorry for you lose but I guess it happens when you have animals.

[barlis]

sorry for your loss......

[heylady]

Thanks everyone! He was only a year old or so (can't remember exactly)....so old age wasn't it. Hubby told me that the night before Irwin died he was in the bedroom (where the tank is) and saw Irwin coughing but he didn't connect it with anything until now.
My hubby also wants to know if I'm going to get another oscar...."looks strange in there without that big old fish staring at me"....if I do you can bet I'm pulling out that gravel first!!!

[barlis]

he was so pretty...you should get another....