My angels!!

[melissayowell]

well it started out great having all the different angels in the tanks they grouped together nicely and all had each others backs... i noticed the smallest angle staying low and hiding and wouldnt eat... i do once a week water changes and so far since he was acting strange i went ahead and did it 2 days early... 2 days has went by and one past away yesterday and 4 today!!!! the crazy thing is its the one that seemed just fine... active and eating and then poof on the bottom dead..i still have 5 and the small one is still alive but acting the same and the others are swimg around normal and eating... my water testing is perfect nothing has changed... i dont know whats going on!! does anyone know?!! HELP
Melissa

[dennysfishroom]

I might suggest you take a sample in to one of the shops to be tested. Ammonia and Nitrites are the most important. Sometimes test kits can get "old" and not be active (even more likely with test strips). How long has the tank been set up? How long have you had the angels? Give us as much info as possible. Denny

[melissayowell]

i did take the water in and had it tested they said it was perfect.. The tank has been up and running for 4 months and i have had the angels for a month. we have live plants in the tank. and a piece of drift wood, we also have 2 dwarf blue gourami, 5 cherry barb, and a plecostomus.. the plecostomus sucked to the side of one the angels and we got rid of him and then thats when everything started happening.. we have an aqua clear 50 filter and a marineland 130 filter and in that filter we dont run a filter we use a media bag and use loose media activated carbon and zeolite crystals.. and we use freshwater aquarium salt.. oh and it's a 55 gal tank

[rpddink]

If you got them from PET_____ , I had the same . Watched the stock and they had problems from the breeder

[dennysfishroom]

Hopefully, you'll make it to our next meeting and we can sit down and talk about it. This is one of those things that could be caused by a hundred different things, but it's just easier to look at problems when you're face to face. Besides that, we'd love to have you. Denny

[melissayowell]

its hard... i know 2 of the biggest ones will probably make it...but the panda is my favorite and he is being slow and not eating so he is next... i actually didnt get them from PET______. lol i dont trust when i walk in and see tiny fish that more than likely wont make it later... but crap im doing everything by book now and its still not getting me anywhere.. i guess it would have been easier just getting a pair...

[mewickham]

we ... use loose media activated carbon and zeolite crystals.. and we use freshwater aquarium salt.. oh and it's a 55 gal tank

I wouldn't bother with the zeolite. It doesn't really add anything-- there should be plenty of bacteria in the system to remove ammonia without it. Besides, salt is how you recharge the stuff. Salt causes it to release the ammonia it has adsorbed. It's better to use the activated carbon alone.

Be aware that angelfish have been problematic for years-- especially if bought from stores that use suppliers that have shipped them in from overseas. There was a time couple of decades ago where everyone was losing angelfish, with indeterminable cause, and the term "angelfish AIDS" was used to describe (though not as an official term or diagnosis). Angelfish are one of the fish that most often need to be medicated.

There are several causes. The primary one is probably inbreeding. Inbreeding is used to create strains, and breeders often use broodstock that are brothers and sisters raised from the same batch of fry. The fish have become genetically weaker as a result. Crowded shipping conditions, especially the long trips from overseas, are highly stressful and make a fish more susceptible to disease. And angelfish can easily catch just about every disease. Treatments are difficult, especially if you don't have a microscope to pin down the cause. That picture of an angelfish you posted recently could have been showing signs of protozoans, bacteria, flukes, or combinations of the above. There are also iridoviruses starting to be diagnosed in certain problematic fishes-- such as dwarf gouramies. I can't say I've heard that one pinned to angelfish yet, though. Viruses are not treatable in any case. The best hope you have is to try some meds and hope. Offering live or frozen foods may get a fish eating that is not touching flakes.

I know I'm not offering a lot of hope, here, but angelfish-- once an extremely hardy species-- have become one of the few problem species in the trade. Fancy guppies and dwarf gouramies are others. If you can find some locally-bred angels, however. You'll have much better luck. You would probably want to wait a period of time to make sure your tanks are clear of whatever is causing the problem.

Finally, note that, even with healthy angelfish, there will be a certain amount of losses to be expected when keeping several in the same aquarium. As growth occurs, the fish pair off and become more territorial and aggressive toward each other. Those at the bottom of the pecking order tend to die off of stress, wounds, or starvation from the bullying-- until a single pair remains in the tank. So it is wise to move know pairs to aquariums without other angels when it occurs. If I recall correctly, your angels are small, so this is probably not yet an issue.

[melissayowell]

that helps me out alot actually... there is 2 left and they have been hiding out together looks like they are brushing against each other? one is probably 2 in. and the other almost 3 in. the smaller one stays at the hiding area ( behind a big piece of drift wood) and is moving back and forth just above the gravel... the bigger one looks like its on watch out mood... (sits close to the top and is acting like he is protecting the smaller one... they are eating but are to determined of rubbing one each other and the gravel + drift wood... everything seems perfectly fine now... out of 12 angels i have 2 left... its weird to me how one stays at the bottom and rubs on everything and the other watches or rubs on it... im sure its not weird to others but one day they act like they just know each other the next day best friends.... After all the others past away... maybe you guys know what they are doing because i sure would like to know lol

[mewickham]

If the 2" or 3" size you mentioned includes fins, these fish are probably still too small to be pairing off. Rubbing on decorations (as opposed to picking at them with the mouth) is a sign of a fish trying to remove an irritant-- usually an external parasite. You might want to hit them with some Clout, an organophosphate that will kill external flukes and protozoans.

[melissayowell]

Thanks... I will be doing to today for sure!