Cause of death?

I haven't been able to get pictures of this fish while she was sick, and now that she has finally died I got a few. I've puzzled over her symptoms for a long time now, so I'd like a little help. Her history started with camallanus worms when my entire tank was infected. She was one of the worst cases, and was very bloated with worms. I successfully treated the tank though, and she lost all her worms, though not all the bloating. Since then she got fatter and fatter, abnormally so. Within a few months she started to lose her swimming ability, and would twirl around with her head down. She continued eating throughout all of this. Then something looked like it was sticking out her side, sort of a bubble. It seriously looked like she was going to explode, so I put her in quarantine, where she had been for a few weeks. She finally passed on today, and it looks like she had internal bleeding or something. What could cause this? My only guess is that the worms left too many holes in her intestines, and maybe she had fluid in the abdomen (never any protruding scales though). However, this darkening didn't show up until recently.

Thanks for any help.

Maybe see if you could have this moved to emergencies...I have no clue what that is

Just a guess...But when you treat a fish with worms it will kill the worms but they may still reamin in her ...sick i know....this could have lead to a secondary disease/problem which resulted in her death...Again just a suggestion as i dont have much experience with worms....Sorry for your loss!!

The red patches signify hemorrhage/bruising. Anything else I wanted to say has left my brain...

This might sound gross, but did you cut her open? If so, was there a lot of fluid in her abdomen?

If I remember what else I was going to say, I'll let you know.

Edit: Just re-read your post and came up with a little more. The swollen tummy could have been due to edema. Perhaps there eventually got to be so much fluid built up that it affected her swim bladder. I don't know if that can/does actually happen, it's just a thought I had. I'll puzzle over it some more and let you know if I come up with anything else.

Good luck Sorry your fish died, though.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

I'm actually pretty sure she got rid of all her worms. I actually collected them. Anyways though, lizard - I think that's basically what was going on. I don't know necessarily what caused it, though I have guesses. I couldn't cut her open, I'm not quite that scientific. Thanks though, I'm actually glad she's finally gone, she looked uncomfortable for quite some time.

Perhaps she acquired some sort of bacterial infection, secondary to the worm infestation? Oooh, collecting the worms - now that sounds like fun

Yeah, I'm sure she is more comfy now - that bruised tummy doesn't look like much fun to have Poor little fishy...

Pamela
aka Married Lizard