Gutted - what should I have done?

[shemesh]

I posted this is the Emergency thread, but just realised it would be better here -

My beautiful wee golden ancistrus, Heidi, was found dead today.

I had noticed her belly was a bit swollen, so I fed them peas last night. I don't know if she got any, but it was obviously too late.

Having checked her body her belly looks like a bad bruise. She seemed happy in the tank - my stats are Am 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 10. There is mopani wood that she chewed on, a bit of algae, and I even had sinking pellets that I fed for her and the corys at night (never saw her eat one though). Occassionally I would leave a piece of courgette overnight and she ate that. All the other fish are well and healthy looking.

I'd like to know if I did anything wrong? I would love to get another ancistrus, but not if I can't look after it properly.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[smithrc]

how long had you had her?

 

[shemesh]

how long had you had her?

[snapback]848530[/snapback]​

Had her for 4 weeks. She was quite small - about 1 inch.

 

[Fishy411]

may have been bloat. did you check for signs of external diseases? ich,scarlet, bacteria?

 

[shemesh]

Checked her body over, but just the dark stomach.