MYSTERY BICHIR DEATH?????

[angelojg22]

after going on vacation for Christmas i came home to a dead senegal bichir. it sucked especially cause i wasn't there to see it happen. i had my Dad feed the fish and he said one day he saw him kind of side ways on the bottom in his hut and when he got the net hoping he would scurry away he saw that he was dead and blood seemed to be coming out of his anus. he froze him so i could see for my self so i defrosted and looked to see if any scales were missing or if any damage was done but nothing looked wrong but the blood coming out of his anus. i wanted to cut him open and look if he ate anything but i dont have the tools for that so im wondering if this happened to anyone else if there's an explanation?
the water parameters have always been perfect NO3 always bellow or at 20ppm ph 7.0 and no ammonia beside i have much more fragile fish than the hardy bichir.
his tank mate are
silver arowana
5 eartheaters (geophaguses)
black ghost knife
striped pike
flag tail
Lima shovel nose
2clown plecos
a SAE witch has gone missing
fire eal
and a hystrix Ray

i have a couple of thoughts like maybe he ate something sharp but what could he eat that would cut his intenals up or my arowana took a chom at him but all his scales were fine and no frade fins huuuu any ideas???
thanks

 

[mike_sema]

That sucks, Do you use sand or gravel? if gravel he could have swollowed some but could not pass it.
and how long have you had him

 

[mike_sema]

and you could get a hobby scalpel from just about any store and open him up, I am very interested to see if there is anything in there

 

[angelojg22]

i use sand so if he swallowed anything it was maybe it was a peace of decor. and do you think my aro could of bit him and injured him that way ?

 

[mike_sema]

he could have. how big is the aro

 

[angelojg22]

he could have. how big is the aro

hes about 17-18 inch its just odd if the aro wanted a snack thats the last fish i would think he would go for but idk
oh and the bichir was like 6-7

 

[mike_sema]

I would think if the aro got him it would show

 

[DariusAmurdarja]

Could be alot of reasons. Internal wounds, parasites, a tumor. I don´t think your aro is the reason for that. Sorry but i guess you will never know what killed him. There are so much possibilities and you said yourself you can´t see any wounds. Alot of senegals come from breeding farms and base on a very small genetic circle. That could also be a reason.

 

[life4rent]

Im thinking he swallowed a gravel or something he couldnt pass out and suffered from internal bleeding in the anal area.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Internal injuries from the looks of it. Btw even if it did not die from that, it would just be a matter of time before your 18" aro kill it.