Any theories on why scombs generally die after reaching 12" in captivity?

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2014
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Byram, NJ
I often read that scombs die mysteriously after reaching 12" in captivity but I was just curious as to why they do
 
my theory is that they can't migrate to spawn - they reach sexual maturity @ approx. 1 to 2 years of age and approx. 12 inches in length at this point the mating instinct kicks in and cannot be fulfilled - they die of hormone overload
 
I say they are very sensitive for bad water parameters.
Even if their Tankmates dont have any problems they will die.
I never had such a sensitive fish.
They get easily stressed from tankmates so this could be a reason too.
When you have them in a nice group with top water parameters , top food without
tankmates it should work.
 
Otherone said:
my theory is that they can't migrate to spawn - they reach sexual maturity @ approx. 1 to 2 years of age and approx. 12 inches in length at this point the mating instinct kicks in and cannot be fulfilled - they die of hormone overload
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Care to elaborate on 'migrate to spawn?' Do you think they need some kind of special conditions? Or more appropriately, do you know of any such conditions? I currently have 8 scombies that I've had since they were 1 1/2 - 2". Now they are at a good 6-8" and I have documented their growth meticulously so far. My goal is to document the 'Life and death of a Scomberiod' as of now.
 
Malte81 said:
I say they are very sensitive for bad water parameters.
Even if their Tankmates dont have any problems they will die.
I never had such a sensitive fish.
They get easily stressed from tankmates so this could be a reason too.
When you have them in a nice group with top water parameters , top food without
tankmates it should work.
Click to expand...

Weird. I've had the exact opposite experience throughout the years with multiple scombs and never had any problems. The most recent I had them with an aba aba knife, goonch, 2 armatus and 2 hujeta gars with no problems at all. 1 time I didn't do a wc for a month and they weren't affected. Kept them a good 2 years before I sold them.


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sunnysjourney said:
Care to elaborate on 'migrate to spawn?' Do you think they need some kind of special conditions? Or more appropriately, do you know of any such conditions? I currently have 8 scombies that I've had since they were 1 1/2 - 2". Now they are at a good 6-8" and I have documented their growth meticulously so far. My goal is to document the 'Life and death of a Scomberiod' as of now.
Click to expand...

This is far from the 1st speculate why scombs die from sudden death syndrome and to be quite honest the theory was a combo of many of us - we speculated that water parameters need to change for scombs to breed - ie. breeding piranha you simulate dry and wet seasons to trigger the mating instinct. Scombs may very well live in colder faster moving waters as adults and need this colder temp to complete its maturity but until someone actually puts a tracker on one we'll never know.

I kinda did the samething try to document my last scomb that did reach 12" and 2 years one month of age - alas one morning with no warnimg the scomb was spiraling out of control like someone hit it in the head with a rock, for all I know he rammed the glass but the similarities to other scomb sudden deaths are to hard to dismiss as the cause.
 
Otherone said:
This is far from the 1st speculate why scombs die from sudden death syndrome and to be quite honest the theory was a combo of many of us - we speculated that water parameters need to change for scombs to breed - ie. breeding piranha you simulate dry and wet seasons to trigger the mating instinct. Scombs may very well live in colder faster moving waters as adults and need this colder temp to complete its maturity but until someone actually puts a tracker on one we'll never know.

I kinda did the samething try to document my last scomb that did reach 12" and 2 years one month of age - alas one morning with no warnimg the scomb was spiraling out of control like someone hit it in the head with a rock, for all I know he rammed the glass but the similarities to other scomb sudden deaths are to hard to dismiss as the cause.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. Lets see how mine turn out. By the time they are at around 10" the weather will cool down too and Ill simulate a 75 degree water with a nice current (I have an MP 40, will set that to random).
 
Otherone said:
This is far from the 1st speculate why scombs die from sudden death syndrome and to be quite honest the theory was a combo of many of us - we speculated that water parameters need to change for scombs to breed - ie. breeding piranha you simulate dry and wet seasons to trigger the mating instinct. Scombs may very well live in colder faster moving waters as adults and need this colder temp to complete its maturity but until someone actually puts a tracker on one we'll never know.

I kinda did the samething try to document my last scomb that did reach 12" and 2 years one month of age - alas one morning with no warnimg the scomb was spiraling out of control like someone hit it in the head with a rock, for all I know he rammed the glass but the similarities to other scomb sudden deaths are to hard to dismiss as the cause.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I never thought of that. Now that I think about it, during the winter, I didn't realize that the heater went out cuz my temps dropped to the mid 60's but they were all still eating fine so I didn't worry about it. Maybe that's why mine were able to live so long before I sold them


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Once i didnt make a water change for a couple of time and the fishes were well feedet.
The water turned to get bad. (i was in vacation)
One Scomb from my Group was swimming out of control and looks like he dies very soon.
I put him in a hospital tank and he is getting better day by day.
So thats why i thought they are sensitiv for water parameters and stress.
He is in the hospital tank for a few days we will see how it turns out.
 
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