Absolutly Gutted

Kizz · Jul 25, 2009

Well my other half went up to his house this morning got a phonecall saying that his 8 year old columbian shark had died

There's not a mark on him at all . He brought him down to mine so i could have a look ...No idea why just made me 10X worse . Sitting blubbering like a baby over a fish i've never even kept myself ! All those plans i made for the brackish tank have went out the window . I've never felt so upset over a fish ! Took a couple of pictures of him maybe one of you's would be able to see a physical reason why he died . The tank he was being kept in was big enough for him the tank mates weren't really suitable and he had never been kept in brackish water ! Would this have shortened his life span ? He would have been moving into his new home in 2 weeks !

Am i weird for feeling that way over a fish ? He was a big handsome fella too Also how do i dispose of him ? He's way too big to go down the watery heaven route and my bin's don't get emptied til wed really don't want him lying decomposing in my bin

One Gutted Fish Keeper

Pic's

Oh and water param's were
Ph 7.6
Amm 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 20

mixmaster jay · Jul 25, 2009

Hi im so sorry for your loss ive got a channel catfish which is almost the same to look at and i love that shark catfish are awsome fish

normally if a brackish fish is kept in freshwater after time it can give the fish kidney and liver fallier but im not saying this is the case and i cant see any discolouration anywhere it looks to me it died very healthy

Kizz · Jul 25, 2009

So it could just be a case of old age . I've no idea on there life expectancy so don't know if he was old or just a young pup ! Just can't believe i've became so attached to a fish ! I think it's because i've been knowing i've been getting him for 4 months or so and after 4 months of tryiin to get him to hand feed he finally done it last weekend ! My otherhalf trained him to do it when he was young but he would never do it to anyone else

Davo86 · Jul 25, 2009

Sorry to hear that Kizz, he certainly was a beauty,

When any brackish water species is kept in freshwater their lifespan is never as long, but at 8 years old the fish has obviously had a long and happy life and I would simply put it down to the fact that old age caught up with him,

around 10 years is the average lifespan when kept in brackish conditions so 8 years in freshwater is going to be just as good.

mixmaster jay · Jul 25, 2009

old age sounds like the cause to me it is sooo easy to get attached to a fish especially when they get big and for a long time even though you didn't look after it you conciesly knew it was there all the time