Topic: Sudden Death

[clarissah]

I've just lost my tinfoil barb
my boyfriend did a 10% water change this morning. All water params are within good range.
was sitting watching tv when the barb suddenly started thrashing around upside down, so funny white filmy stuff oozed out of him, we took him out into a bucket and he died, in less than 2 minutes.
We've had him about 2 years, he's about 12 cm in length so not sure how old he is. Externally all looks fine on his body.
What could be wrong . All the other tank mates are looking fine.

haven't had any fish losses in about a year.

[Morgrid]

Strange, maybe it was a heart attack, siezure or such. Whatever it was it doesn't sound like a problem that is usually seen.

[clarissah]

any known reasons what would cause a seizure or heart attack?

[Cholly]

Not that I know of, other than maybe it could have been a birth defect. Like Morgrid said, it doesn't sound like any normal issue. 12 cm is pretty tiny for a 2 year old tinfoil barb, it should have been closer to 30, so it probably had some issues.

How big is your tank? I think you mentioned it before, but I'm afraid I don't remember.

[clarissah]

thanks all. Cholly we've had it for about 2 years, don't know how old it was when we got it. size is about 1.5 metres x 60cm x 1m (can't remember what the volume is in gallons) - i googled and average lifespan is said to be 8-10 years so it can't have been old.

[Cholly]

It sounds like it either had a birth defect or it was stunted before you got it. With those tank dimensions it should have grown to full or nearly full size, tank was plenty big enough, well over 200 gallons. Probably lived longer with you than it would have otherwise.