Do fish have heart attacks? I think mine did, heres why.

2174 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by warhead_71, Jan 25, 2017

LouisIsMyDog

Discussion Starter · Jan 23, 2017

Dear Planted Tank Community,

Tonight is a sad night for me. My blue dwarf gourami died and I cannot figure out why. My only conclusion is from panic/stress which led to a heart attack. I have a hollow Cholla Wood looking drift wood. One end is bigger than the other, cylinder shaped. See attached link for image below.

At around 9:00pm the fish were doing well. After sitting down and zoning out on my computer working, I got up and checked my tank at around 11:30pm. Now that is almost 3 hours if we do a rough estimate because I am not sure about the timing. Anyway, I believe the fish got through the big end of the Cholla Wood and couldn't pass to the other smaller end causing him to turn and getting his head stuck in a small hole. Now the part that bothers me is, HOW DID HE DIE? I would image a fish stuck would die from starvation or something. Do they really get heart attacks? I'm a novice in this hobby, so.... I have no experience.

BTW this is a 40 gallon tank with plenty of swimming room and no big fish tried this before nor did any fish that swam through got stuck.

It's my third month in the hobby with a total of 19 fish and this is my first death. I did not image this is how it would go down. Please shed some wisdom.

ps. I know in this image my crested java ferns have their rhizomes buried. I fixed that

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p9gr3fnecdisbn8/Screen%20Shot%202017-01-23%20at%2012.12.24%20AM.png?dl=0

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

KarenSoCal

· #2 · Jan 23, 2017

I had almost the exact same thing happen a couple weeks ago with my platy. I believe she swam into the open end of my cholla wood log. The she tried to turn around, and her head stuck out a hole on one side of the log, and her tail stuck out a hole on the other side of the log. She was really tight in there. I don't know how long she was there, but I was able to use a pliers and break away wood to free her. She was injured, and died during the night. I think it is simply the stress of being stuck, kind of like shock in a person.

Save

PlantedRich

· #3 · Jan 23, 2017

I'm an old hand at killing fish as I have done it in many different ways. Too many to begin to count? But one thing that I feel often happens with fish that are stuck is that they are not able to keep the water flow going through their gills. Humans who die from heart attacks due to panic, often have preexisting heart problems that I would not expect in fish. No training/experience there but just my thoughts.
But I have also had major size fish suddenly die with action which would look very much like heart attacks or strokes. My most recent loss of this sort was especially painful to me as it was my main male breeding stock.
A 9" full grown healthy male Protomelas insignus that had very special color, etc was swimming in open water in a 125 gallon tank begging for food as always when I heard splashing and saw him in spasms and he was dead before I could get a net to catch him. Just suddenly went dead and the body drifted over to the filter intake. One might have thought he got stuck in the intake and died but I see this too often and know that they just wind up there when dead/dying.
My best advise on fish death?
Don't invest too much in beating yourself for letting it happen. There will be far too many to allow that so put your feelings into those around you who are far more important.

See less See more

Save

KarenSoCal

· #4 · Jan 23, 2017

@PlantedRich
Thank you! I have been beating myself over Naomi the platy..after all, I put that log in her tank, and she suffered. But you are 100% correct...if I invest that much emotion into every fish that dies for whatever reason, I will not be able to continue in this hobby. I will care for them to the very best of my ability, enjoy them while they're here, and let them go when it is their time, knowing I made their lives the best I could.

Save

mistergreen

· #5 · Jan 23, 2017

No, unlikely a heart attack. If you would dump it in freezing water, yes, that's a possibility.

Save

LouisIsMyDog

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 24, 2017

Thank you for everyone's response on the matter. I found a thread where it suggests that it is a possibility for the fish to hide in small tight places when they are ready to die. I always like to hear other peoples point of view, especially of those who are more experienced than me.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8-general-planted-tank-discussion/68138-can-fish-get-stuck-plants-die.html

Save

Pipejax

· #7 · Jan 24, 2017

Gourami breath air. The fish got stuck and drowned.

Sorry about you're loss

David

Save

Nordic

· #8 · Jan 24, 2017

Young zebra danios sometimes have sudden death when chased or touched with a net.
Sometimes they will come out of it with a bit of stimulation, other times they just stay dead.

I think when fish get stuck, it is the equivalent of someone sitting on your chest. They can't move their gills properly and then they drown.

Save

Anorea

· #9 · Jan 24, 2017

Pipejax said:
Gourami breath air. The fish got stuck and drowned.

Sorry about you're loss

David

I didn't know gourami had lungs. D:

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Save

Darkblade48

· #10 · Jan 24, 2017

Anorea said:
I didn't know gourami had lungs. D:

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Some fish have what is known as a labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. It's not really a lung, but it's a lung-like organ.

Save

Anorea

· #11 · Jan 24, 2017

Like betta, yeah. Das supergeil!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Save

LouisIsMyDog

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 25, 2017

Pipejax said:
Gourami breath air. The fish got stuck and drowned.

Sorry about you're loss

David

I cannot believe I did not remember this.

"Dwarf Gouramis are considered Labyrinth Fish, meaning they breathe directly from the air, and must have access to the surface."
Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Dwarf Gourami Labyrinth Fish

I feel like a noob for not putting 2 and 2 together. The cause of death is now conclusive and I feel relieved. I also made that cholla wood inaccessible to fish to avoid more casualties.

Thank you everyone for the contribution!

Save

Reactions: 1

warhead_71

· #13 · Jan 25, 2017

Gouramis have a "supplemental" labyrinth organ to mix oxygen with stagnant water, but they will not "drown" in good oxygenated water. The labyrinth organ helps them survive in slow-moving, low-oxygen rivers.. or being stranded in ponds and puddles when rivers flood and recede. Most anabantoids don't even develop their labyrinth organ until they get older -- so it's unlikely that a fish in your filtered aquarium died from lack of oxygen, unless the gills were also suffocated. The stress of being trapped is more than enough to kill most fish.

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month