Fish autopsy, graphic pics warning for the squeamish

[livingart]

mates fish died on sunday

swimming fine in the morning, normal behaviour

that afternoon laying on the bottom upright and twitching a bit , no gill movement

brought it to me monday morning for an autopsy

sadly it had been frozen so makes an autopsy difficult

outside of fish didn't show any visible signs of trauma or damage

fat healthy looking fish

opened gut

appears to be a massive amount of fat in surrounding the organs

kidney seemed damaged on outer edges but that may have been caused by freezing

[phoenix44]

Yech. Fat... This is why it's important to let them grow at their normal growth rate.

Good post LA!

Sucks about your fish's friend though. What seems good on the outside is not always good on the inside. Sometimes I think we kill our pets with love. I see it with domesticated animals almost everyday.

[Caryl]

So what sort of fish was it and what had he been feeding it?

[BikBok]

what sort of foods would contribute to fat build up?

[livingart]

yes it is important to let them grow at a steady rate

this was a fast fish so got to food before other tank inhabitants

that amount of fat could put pressure on vital organs and slow down their function

friend was gutted, no pun intended

[livingart]

fish was primarily a plant eater in a tank of predators

basically any food where a fish over eats and stores residue in the body can cause it

in this case beef heart may have been part of the problem

feeding once a day could be a factor, where an animal feeds all day in the wild

getting its daily intake in one hit could cause a fat build up

[Nymox]

Fish was Leptobarbus rubripinna (red finned cigar shark) He was fed a diet of ox heart, prawn, cucumber and courgette. As Mark says very fast fish, so he would eat as much meat as possible before anyone else could get to it, and then still peel back his veges. I guess there was no real way of preventing this from happening in a community tank with predators, but its good to know that behaviour isnt the only thing to consider when putting different species of fish together, some times their feeding requirement might be so different that its detrimental to their health.

R.I.P. Havana just hope his last couple of months with me have been good

[livingart]

thanks nymox

[Rabbit]

Ox-heart

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-beef-heart-i13322

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

Amount Per Serving

Calories 424Calories from Fat 109

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12.2g19%

Saturated Fat 3.6g18%

Trans Fat 0.4g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2.5g

Monounsaturated Fat 2.6g

Cholesterol 545mg182%

Sodium 152mg6%

Total Carbohydrates 0.4g0%

Protein 73.2g

Based on cooked meat so increase your fat content again.

Now keep in mind these have been mass produced and grown extremely quickly not for quality but for profit (Fat +1 again).

[ryanjury]

Also bear in mind that they are warm blooded fats so very hard for a fish to digest, this is the reason why some people don't recommend feeding any foods from warm blooded animals to your fish as the fish cannot process the fats in them and it leads to these sorts of issues, yes the fish love it, and they grow fast and it is cheap but it is not good for a long life.

[livingart]

i feed oxheart as part of a varied diet

i do run on the thought that a slightly hungry fish is a happy fish though

[DennisP]

Didn't you just win this fish off TM a while ago nymox?

Sorry for your loss. Was a nice fish from what I saw.

[phoenix44]

Any excess energy obtained from food is stored easiest as fat; so that's more or less what happens.

In the wild most fish eat less, have larger 'enclosures' and go through phases of not eating at all.

I guess it comes down to us trying to copy nature as best as we can. (Message typed at 8.07am, forgot to press submit)

[Fruju]

Wow. This must mean that Henwards beasties are obese lol. That was a lot of fat in the shark, gutted for ya Nymox.

[jarrodrussell]

is it possible for a fish to have a heart attack? the fat could of caused it?