Flame Angel

[macman7010]

My flame angelfish is showing several signs of illness, although none point me in the direction of what it may be.

1. He has some small lesions around his head - they are yellow in color in contrast to his orange exterior. I thought maybe it may be HLE , although after some research I think that he is scratching his head on rocks in my tank when he swims. These lesions are not typical with HLE, and dont seem to get worse or effect the lateral line.

2. Cloudy eyes. His eyes seem somewhat cloudy, he can see ok from observation. He swims normally and is eating well.

At this time I have not administered any treatment other than the feeding of New Life Spectrum Thera A - Anti Parasite food.

any ideas?

 

[quarryshark]

Need a bit more information, please see here
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=35591
If possible, a pic would help too.

 

[fishfirst]

I would say a bacterial infection, if they are cuts on his head you need to treat it so he doesn't get infection anyway... and the cloudy eyes point me down the bacterial path... I'd get some melafix and qt him in a 10 gallon using water from the tank... you may have some problems feeding him in this 10 gallon (considering the tank isn't established)... so maybe some live rock from the main tank would aid for constant grazing. Also frequent water changes... bacterial infections are due usually to water quality... what are your main tank parameters???

 

[srgetz]

feeding of New Life Spectrum Thera A - Anti Parasite food.

any ideas?

That is a very good food from what I have read.

It does sound bacterial as they stated. I would not qt him yet, but do 3-4 large water changes with mixed (24hrs) and aerated sw (check ph, temp, sg) - do one every few days for the next few weeks. Also clean any filters or areas that may collect waste. You can also run activated carbon or a polyfilter to help expedite things (cleans the water of stuff bacteria thrives on). Just keep the water quality extra high by these water changes and he should heal on his own. Medication is only a last resort for infections, and never put it in the display tank. This is easier and safer than going the QT route; it also addresses the root cause. A skimmer is also good going forward (if not being used already).

 

[macman7010]

Well after a near tank tear down I knetted the little bugger and put him in quarentine. He is being treated with Copper Safe - Freshwater Bath daily - and Mela Fix. Hope it helps.

 

[fishfirst]

Holy meds! Every med you put in the tank stresses the fish... especially copper safe... he showed no symptoms of paracite infection! Freshwater dips are risky... you need to make sure the parameters are the same (pH, nitrate, temp) in the dip, before you dip... even then it puts more stress on the fish... Melafix is what I suggested... melafix ONLY.