Marbled Cat shark died Mysteriously

FishyMel

New member
A couple of days ago my 15 inch female marbled cat died mysteriously. My water parameters were perfect
0 nitrate
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
1.025 salinity
She was eating but not taking on weight which was a little strange. She was way to skinny when she was shipped in, cats are really skinny but her belly was suken in. Also she was shipped in only 1.5 gallons of water and when I tested its ammonia, it was at 3.0 (dark blue) after diluting it for acclimation! :eek2: I'd think a fish especially a shark would be instantly dead in that and to think she was in it for 18 hours! She also was constantly breathing hard despite all the maxi jets I had for oxygen. Here is my theory, the high ammonia burned her gills and caused a gradual organ failure making food only pass through her system and not take nutrients or weight. Her belly was also red when she came in which would indicate ammonia burning and/or nitrient difficiency from failing organs because it got worse over time even with an iodine supplement, she was constantly scratching it in the sand and against walls. It was a really horrible death, and I hope didn't cause any pain by having you read it. I also think such a large animal shouldn't of been pulled from Australian waters for trade, that also probably made any acclimation even without ammonia very hard. It is so depressing watching such a beautiful animal die. :( Anyone else agree with my ammonia burn theory.


The good news is the ray I bought at the same time in the same tank is doing very excellent and is a rather happy little critter.
 
Sorry to hear about that.

Still it's possible that the Ammonia build up ultimately caused it's death.

Even exposures to small amounts of ammonia can be ultimately prove to be fatal for shark.
 
Don't know about you, but I'd talk to the supplier and make enough of a fuss for a refund or replacement. Definitely make a fuss though..
 
Sounds like it had worms internally.I am now learning that we should be deworming all of are fish and sharks as soon as we aquire them.You can use prazipro or praziquantel aka dog/cat dewormer.It also kills flukes.
As for the ammonia in the shipping bag,all fish will have a amonia build up in a shipping bag.Did you use amquel before acclimating it?If you neutralise the amonia before raising the ph in the bag there will be no affects from the amonia.Amonia is only toxic at proper ph levels8-8.4.If you notice in shipping bags with fish the amonia rises but the ph drops and at lower ph levels amonia is not toxic to fish,but if raise the ph (via acclimation drip method) without nuetralising the amonia first your fish will get gill burns.This is a trick I learned when recieving fish directly from Bali Indonesia.I lost a lot of fish before doing this and after hardly any.Sorry about your loss,Chris
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11690517#post11690517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kaledrina
Don't know about you, but I'd talk to the supplier and make enough of a fuss for a refund or replacement. Definitely make a fuss though..
People like you are the exact reason I stopped selling fish to fellow hobbyst!You can not hold them responsible for that that is ridicoulus,it arrived alive that is all any guarantees for sharks and some do not do that at all.Another thing is who knows what happened to it during shipping.
 
Sounds extremely familiar to the internal parasite that plagued my bamboo. I was able to kill the parasite (which I described in a previous thread).

Sorry for your loss.
 
Are these internal parasites contagious? Can they be transmitted in the water column to my ray or fish in the tank?
 
My bamboo shark is also is there right now, I hope she can't get it.

Another question is would the extreme breathing after short excercise be from parasites too? I also forgot to mention her extreme sensitivity to light. Her eyes never seemed to respond to light very well either and she seemed really not to like any type of light. Which I thought could be that her eyes burned.

Reefer, thanks for the amquel advice. I would've never thought of doing that.

I don't blame the shipper. I do wish she was shipped in more water. Even if it had cost more, I would of paid for it.
 
I dont believe they are contagious. My shark had it for a few weeks, and my ray and none of my fish got sick.

My shark was breathing heavy for up to 24 hours, and then very slow for up to 24 hours, and then heavy again, etc, etc.

the sensitivity to light could have to do w/ the fact that she was sick + darkness for the shipping, and depending on the lighting that the previous people tending it used (if they used any light at all). My shark used to move w/ light, but when she got the parasite, She disappeared during the day completely (even during feeding) and only popped out for a few hour during hte night, and those few hours, she was extremely sluggish.
 
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