Do fish get heart attacks????

[shoura]

I was very shocked yesterday to see my poor Leopard wrasse suddenly go into convulsions for a few seconds then sink to the bottom of the tank stone dead.... One minute she was feeding happily as usual and the next she was gone---I had had her for 15 months and she was a fat healthy-looking fish as far as I could see. If this had occurred in a human I would have thought massive MI or catastrophic cerebral haemorrage but in a fish????
Any thoughts anyone?
Thanks!
Shoura

 

[TerryB]

Of course fish can have many of the same problems that other animals do. We just don't know how to help with many of them. Strange that it was eating an just died later that day. My guess is that it had a virulent internal bacterial infection. They can kill very quickly without warning. Do you use a powerful protien skimmer or Poly Filter by Poly Bio-Marine? If you look from the end of the tank to the other end does the water look clear or a little cloudy? It would be a good idea to make a large water change using well aged and aerated saltwater. It may be possible that the fish had symptoms that you just didn't recognise. The first symptoms are usually any slight change in behavior (i.e. hiding more than usual, coming out later after the lights go on, eating less or not as many foods, etc.)

Terry B