Alpha's Dead... what happened!?

[Grv97]

Well.. I came home today to see the best fish in the world floating sideways at the top of his tank...... I said a little prayer and flushed him... it was sad but i know hes better now. but what i don't understand is how he died...? I was taking care of him correctly! i followed every rule and did everything i was supposed to do! he seemed fine a week ago! he seemed fine two days ago!!! yesterday i noticed his color had faded... but i didnt think it was anything serious because it wasnt extremely noticable.. but when i came home today he looked totally different! he had white stuff on the ends of his fin and it faded up to gray. his body had this weird white dullness and he had white fuzz over his face and in his gills... it was scary. but what was it!?

[Saphira101]

Sound like columnaris or "fish fungus". I honestly don't know how to cure it, you'll have to ask other members. All I really know is what it looks like, and what can cause it: rough handling, poor water quality, stress, and/or a poor diet. I think it's prevented by
keeping the tank water clean, removing dead fish from the tank immediately, and not allowing cross-contamination of any tanks. it looks like this:



Hope this helps!

~Saphira

[AyalaCookiejar]

I am sorry for your loss. Swim in peace, Alpha.

It's hard to say what caused it. I'm pretty sure Kanaplex treats it, though, although I know that you didn't even have time to treat it. (Kanaplex also treats dropsy. I will NEVER not have it on hand again in my life, it is so incredibly useful.) culomnaris has two types. One that develops over a couple days and one that kills quickly. I know you can probably guess which one he had. It is usually caused by a lowered immune system or cross-contamination. It is very contagious. I would thoroughly clean any equipment you plan to reuse.

Some fish are just hardier than others. One of my females passed away from Dropsy three days after a one hour power outage that made her tank temp fluctuate, although none of my other four fish got sick. Unfortunately, sometimes really small things like that can make them sick. :(