Sudden death of Elephant nose

Question
Hi Chris

I have had tropical fish for about 5 years now and I recently bought 2 Elephant nose fish (I wanted 3 but they were not available). These fish were fully grown and doing very well in the 160l tank with (2 adult clown loaches, 1 adult Angel, 2 Juv Giant Blue tetras? 2 x Adult 4" pleccos).
Yesterday one of them died suddenly and I am baffled as to what caused it becasue all the chemical were OK (ph ~6 - slightly acidic)I done a 25% water change a week ago.

Any ideas?  

Answer
Hi Tom;

I'm so sorry you lost him. Elephant nose can be pretty delicate little guys. They also shouldn't be with other elephant nose or other fish in the mormyrid family on a long term basis. Being terretorial, there will be one stronger one who will bully the rest. They are also known for having parasites and don't always eat well. Fish can also suffer from dieases and maladies that people get too. Heart attacks, cancer, embolisms, etc. There are so many possibilities, you may never really know what happened. I hope the other one continues to do well.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins