my angels don't last ... :(

[prettyvacant]

Since I started my 29 gal a while ago, I have tried to keep 3 very small angelfish. (All at different times of course). The first time, I had a marble one. I had him for about a week, and then one day, it just disappeared.
(I made a post about this). The next one i got, was about a month ago. It was a zebra one. I got it on a Saturday, and by the time i got home from school on the Tuesday, it was lying on the bottom, barely breathing.
I went shopping on saturday...the 29th of january and bought an angel.
(the one in my pic here <<<) It seemed fine saturday, sunday, and most of yesterday. Before I went to bed last night, i noticed he was up around where the filter is, at the top of the water near the intake tube...just staying there, not moving much. I moved him to my QT for the night. When i woke up this morning, he was lying on his side on the bottom of the QT.

I would LOVE to know why all the angels i buy don't last.

- tank parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, ph 7.4, temperature around 80-82
- i vaccum the gravel and change the water once a week, every sunday afternoon...
- i always use dechlorinator and the bucket i use for the water never had any chemicals and such in it before.
- all the fish i own have never bothered my angels, never even went near them....
- they all have been eating fine (flakes, bloodworms...)
- when i bring them home, i float the bag for about 30 minutes. Then, i open the bag and add a cup of the tank water... i do that about every 10-15 minutes for an hour...and when i release the fish, i dont let the water from the bag go into the tank.

Seems to me, i am not really doing anything wrong. So if anyone can help me out please... maybe i am doing something wrong/ I don't know. Could it be that the fish from petsmart and big al's aren't well? lol i duno

thanx

 

[Fluff]

I don't know. Your post says you bought them very small. Maybe try getting a larger angel. Maybe the small ones aren't strong enough to adjust to the move. Grabbing at straws here. I'm not in Canada but from reading the canadian forum, I can't remember ever reading anything nice been said about B A's fish. Perhaps that's part of the problem as well. Sorry for your losses.

 

[Menagerie]

If all the angels are coming from the same source, that may be the problem. Also, younger fish (although cheaper) are not as strong as adults.

 

[rubysoho]

I had the same problem, and from what I was told, sometimes it isn't the fishowner's fault. I suggest either going to a different store or finding a different dealer. Also, try to find them when they are a little larger and if you can, wait a week, two is even better, to watch the stock. Then, when you are picking out your angel, ask them to feed the fish. Pick the one(s) who goes after the food. Getting pair might work better too, but I don't know about that.

 

[prettyvacant]

thanks everyone

 

[Bearfan]

I had that problem when my water was too hard. Angels like soft water.

 

[prettyvacant]

mm i read that they can adjust to water from 6-8 ph actually.........................


ANYWAYS... should i keep the fish and bring it back within the next 2 weeks to get my money back?or get another one for the same price? or should i just buy a larger one (more expensive..) ?

 

[prettyvacant]

oops sorry i read too quick and thought it said ph haha

sorry i dont have any way to test the hardness

 

[Bearfan]

I'd get a test kit for hardness. They're not expensive. You need pretty soft water for any angel success.

 

[mitche8359]

I haven't had many problems with Angels and have kept them for decades. When I started keeping fish as a kid, I never kept track of water params, but still didn't have trouble with angels. For you to lose three in a short span, something must be wrong. Sounds like everything so far is ok and you don't seem to be doing anything wrong. I'd test the hardness as suggested and if you don't have a kit, maybe the LFS will test it for you. If your LFS store tests water, I'd have them test it for everything just for comparison. I hope it works out for you, cause angels are beautiful fish, especially the long veiled ones.

 

[dream_bc]

I to have had problems with angel fish. My boyfriend loves the angel fish but they have a better chance when someone else buys them. We have a full testing kit for our 29 gal and the only this that is not where we want it is the hardness in the water. So maybe the person who posted up above is on to something!
We have tried to soften our water with peat but it is not doing too good. There are a lot of very strong opinions on how to soften water so I say just try one until you find one that works... and then let me know!

I had never thought that it might be the hardness of water, and now it just seems logical... hmmmm.

Thank you for asking this question!

 

[Gunnie]

Even discus finatics will say that fish can adapt to the ph of the water they are in if acclimated slowly. I have 7.6 ph water and have had no casualties with my 7 angels until recently. I have had these fish almost a year, and they are all about the size around as an omega one can. 6 koi and 1 sunset blusher. Everything was fine one morning until 2 weeks ago, and then that evening, my sunset blusher was upside down on the bottom of the tank. I discussed it with some folks I trust, including the person I got them from (wrenchpuler). I was told that angels are more susceptible to internal parasites and that may be what killed my angel. It was suggested to buy a small jar of minced garlic from the grocery store, and start soaking flakes and other food in some tank water with a couple of drops of the minced garlic juice. Get them used to the garlic, and slowly increase the concentration of juice in the water until you are using only the juice. Then also add the minced garlic pieces as food. This will keep the internal parasites away. If for no other reason, it's something you could try that wouldn't be a risk to your fish. I have been told that they love the garlic so much, they eat the garlic pieces as much as the fish food!