RIP crimson

[Rtc/tsn]

My sympathies too. Thank you for posting. Many shy away from such posts while they can be some of the most informative, even though it is not always easy to troubleshoot successfully.

It is hard to imagine the posited causes of death. Perhaps unless the feed was bony or spiny, then an internal organ could have been damaged. But this is way, way out of the left field. Simply put, catfish pretty much never die from a large meal. In all likeliness, it must have been something else.

I feed them crappie that I catch myself and fillet and cut to chunks for them so it’s very possible I missed a pin bone while filleting the fish but the water perimeters are normal nothing else has changed so that’s all I can think of no disease or parasites

 

[twentyleagues]

I feed them crappie that I catch myself and fillet and cut to chunks for them so it’s very possible I missed a pin bone while filleting the fish but the water perimeters are normal nothing else has changed so that’s all I can think of no disease or parasites

What about the pacu you had added that were sick? Were those in this tank also? No qt right? Was it a weird coincident or something more sinister? Sorry for your loss.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

What about the pacu you had added that were sick? Were those in this tank also? No qt right? Was it a weird coincident or something more sinister? Sorry for your loss.

No the pacu were both removed after an hour of being in the tank and both ended up dying and after I treated the tank also it was almost a 2 week difference between the pacu and catfish death and there’s no way there was a parasite or disease in the crappie cause I always freeze it before feeding to kill any bad stuff

 

[Rtc/tsn]

What about the pacu you had added that were sick? Were those in this tank also? No qt right? Was it a weird coincident or something more sinister? Sorry for your loss.

Speaking of pacu I got another one today it’s maybe 3 inches give or take and doing a lot better than the last 2 I had and I know a lot of people don’t approve of me not quarantining fish I only do it if they’re visible stress, damage or disease

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Freezing kills parasites only if done at long enough temp and for a long enough time and both conditions are pretty strict!

Freezing doesn't kill bacteria (or all bacteria?).

Pacu having been in the tank only for an hour would be plenty enough to contaminate the tank with a pathogen and it is highly suspicious they had died and 2 weeks later the RTC died... but if Crimson contracted some disease from pacu, it'd get sick for a while and it'd be obvious and then die. Since it ate the night before, it couldn't have been a disease.

So we are back at the crappie + bones hypothesis. If you might have missed a needle sharp bone or a piece or a spine etc. and Crimson stuffed itself till round, it is fathomable that its tummy and a vital internal organ was pierced. Still a very rare occasion but possible, especially if the crappie are sizeable, not fry or babies.

If the crappie were small, I'd see no reason not to feed them to a catfish whole. If worried, fin spines could be snipped.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

Freezing kills parasites only if done at long enough temp and for a long enough time and both conditions are pretty strict!

Freezing doesn't kill bacteria (or all bacteria?).

Pacu having been in the tank only for an hour would be plenty enough to contaminate the tank with a pathogen and it is highly suspicious they had died and 2 weeks later the RTC died... but if Crimson contracted some disease from pacu, it'd get sick for a while and it'd be obvious and then die. Since it ate the night before, it couldn't have been a disease.

So we are back at the crappie + bones hypothesis. If you might have missed a needle sharp bone or a piece or a spine etc. and Crimson stuffed itself till round, it is fathomable that its tummy and a vital internal organ was pierced. Still a very rare occasion but possible, especially if the crappie are sizeable, not fry or babies.

If the crappie were small, I'd see no reason not to feed them to a catfish whole. If worried, fin spines could be snipped.

I feed them chunks of crappie meet from legal size crappie i catch at the lake (9 inches) and I also eat the crappie it’s really good lol but even though it’s rare that I missed a small bone and it managed to pierce an organ it’s still possible also after he ate after 10 minutes his color started to dull and go from black to light gray

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Change of color to pale may indicate stress indeed. I wonder why it hadn't regurgitate then... but things are often more complex than we know.

In any case, it looks possible and we don't appear to have any alternative guesses atm.