Autopsy of my pond goldfish

**Nick_Pavlovski** · 11-16-2007, 11:07 AM

I came home today to find one of my shubunkins floating dead in my pond.

It's belly was a bit swollen, but was also greyish (under the scales). The shubunkin's belly is normally white.

Any ideas what it might have been that killed it? It had been in there 3 years...

**cocoa_pleco** · 11-16-2007, 01:58 PM

i have no idea.

if you have the equipment, you can do a real autopsy. you just need a microscope set. take a sample of the fishes skin coating, and look at it under the microscope. theres pictures online that tell in a fish autopsy whats normal and whats not normal

**Incredulous_Ed** · 11-16-2007, 08:59 PM

The same thing happened to my goldfish a while back. He was like that for a month, then he died.

**KcEE** · 11-17-2007, 01:18 AM

Gosh! Speaking about goldfish, There's this goldfish in a pond where I work at. It has been swimming vertically for quite sometime. It's stomache is bloated too! Then one day, I noticed that it stopped swimming and now it's just floating upsidedown! It has been like this for weeks! Poor thing....Sometimes I feel like ending its misery...

**Nick_Pavlovski** · 11-17-2007, 02:18 AM

Wow!
Online autopsy photos and help? Cool!

My dad was a doctor, he's got a nice microscope but he won't let anyone unworthy borrow it

No autposy for me.

I thought it was just bloat, but there seemed to be something unusual about it. Anyway, I have removed it from the pond, the other 7 are still zooming around and were really hungry this morning due to the upcoming storm, so at least it seems to be an isolated incident.

Thanks all!

**cocoa_pleco** · 11-17-2007, 04:07 AM

if the other fish are acting normal, i dont think a autopsy is necessary. only if all of the other fish act weird is a autopsy needed.

mainly, autopsies can tell you if the disease is gram-negative or gram-positive disease, which is good enough to know which meds you need.

**Incredulous_Ed** · 11-17-2007, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by cocoa_pleco

if the other fish are acting normal, i dont think a autopsy is necessary. only if all of the other fish act weird is a autopsy needed.

mainly, autopsies can tell you if the disease is gram-negative or gram-positive disease, which is good enough to know which meds you need.

noooo!!!! This is starting to sound like biology!

**Nick_Pavlovski** · 11-17-2007, 09:14 PM

I was watering the garden this morning - and a storm was abating - the other 7 were zooming around, mating and looking for food...

I think it was just his time.

**cocoa_pleco** · 11-17-2007, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Incredulous_Ed

noooo!!!! This is starting to sound like biology!

lol, i hate school, but bio was the only science course i aced, i SUCK at chemistry.

i read how to do a fish autopsy a few years ago out of boredom and somehow its stuck with me since then. lol