Hey everyone,
I just recently lost my orange pike cichlid. I was out of state and left my tanks in the care of my roommate who is competent and owns many fish of his own. I came back and he informed me that my prize baby boy cichlid had mysteriously died. My water parameters are excellent; no other fish is in any stress. He told me that this all happened Sat when he went to the beach around noon the fish was on the bottom sideways and breathing hard. he was alarmed but had to go so when he returned at 2 pm the fish was dead and he threw him out before I got back. I was hoping he would freeze him so I could perform a necropsy for parasites or other issues. I was wondering if it could be he ingested gravel. Some fish do this and have issues, and he picked up gravel in his pursuit of food often. I had an oscar who ate it every once and a while but after a while he would either regurge or excrete it if it was small enough. Any pike keepers out there no anything about gravel related deaths. It's possible it could have been something else but I only feed processed or farm raised frozen foods and he and the tank are well established (he was 1 yr old and the tank is 3 yrs running). Any help ideas are appreciated. I guess in time I may replace him. He was a great fish.
I just recently lost my orange pike cichlid. I was out of state and left my tanks in the care of my roommate who is competent and owns many fish of his own. I came back and he informed me that my prize baby boy cichlid had mysteriously died. My water parameters are excellent; no other fish is in any stress. He told me that this all happened Sat when he went to the beach around noon the fish was on the bottom sideways and breathing hard. he was alarmed but had to go so when he returned at 2 pm the fish was dead and he threw him out before I got back. I was hoping he would freeze him so I could perform a necropsy for parasites or other issues. I was wondering if it could be he ingested gravel. Some fish do this and have issues, and he picked up gravel in his pursuit of food often. I had an oscar who ate it every once and a while but after a while he would either regurge or excrete it if it was small enough. Any pike keepers out there no anything about gravel related deaths. It's possible it could have been something else but I only feed processed or farm raised frozen foods and he and the tank are well established (he was 1 yr old and the tank is 3 yrs running). Any help ideas are appreciated. I guess in time I may replace him. He was a great fish.
