# stages of death



## Gracie6363 (Mar 13, 2005)

Hi all,
I am curious what signs or stages of fish death there are. 

I have a white skirt tetra that since I came home from vacation has been cowering in the back of the tank.... breathing extremely rapidly.... loosing weight it seems, etc. 

The house got rather warm while I was gone and the people caring for the fish and cats didn't think to turn on the air or anything. So I got home to a hot (about 82-84 degrees) tank a dead pleco. 

Is this fish at the end of a normal life cycle? Something caused by the heat or the algae I also have going on in the tank or or what?

Should I put him out of misery or will he pull through?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I'm gonna guess that the dead pleco's rotting is the primary cause of this fish's problem. Do wa partial water change, but not with water much cooler than the tank water, and increase the aeration with an airpump until it cools down again and gets reoxygenated ( heat drives the oxygen out a bit ). Your fish might be okay.


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## margo (May 21, 2005)

How are the other fish doing?


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## Gracie6363 (Mar 13, 2005)

TheOldSalt said:


> I'm gonna guess that the dead pleco's rotting is the primary cause of this fish's problem. Do wa partial water change, but not with water much cooler than the tank water, and increase the aeration with an airpump until it cools down again and gets reoxygenated ( heat drives the oxygen out a bit ). Your fish might be okay.


the pleco was found by the person feeding the fish... wasnt dead the day before so it was caught quickly... i did a water change the day after I got home to cool the water and it's been back at 78 degrees for over a week now. I plan to do another weekly water change today.


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## Gracie6363 (Mar 13, 2005)

margo said:


> How are the other fish doing?


all other tetra and danios are active and breathing normally. 

parameters are all fine. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, ph 7.2 temp now back at 78. penguin filter, and air pump in place.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

did your feeder person notice if the fish was eating when they were feeding?


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## Gracie6363 (Mar 13, 2005)

they probably didn't really stick around to notice... the tetra for a few months now have been very skiddish. They used to practically jump out of the water after the food and for a while now they wont eat until i at least step back from the tank. 

I did a water change yesterday... before doing it I observed his behavior for a while... the breathing isn't as rapid but it's still not regular. Today seems to be doing about the same - maybe better... we'll see.


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