angel dying

[Guest]

my angel is sitting on his side on the bottom of the tank dying, hes breathing and trying to swim i guess, is he a goner?
can i try to save him or is he the living dead, about two weeks ago the same thing happened to a blood gourami, is this a sickness or are they just dying?

 

[Jchillin]

Hate to say it but most often when angels display this type of behavior, they are ready to go on to the big angel tank in the sky.

This usually occurs suddenly but it is usually noticeable by a few days of not eating or swimming around.

 

[Guest]

if you notice them not swimming or eating then what can you do to help them?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Not much you can do to help them in a situation like that. What are your water readings? Mainly ammonia, nitrite, trates, and pH? How long ago did you add the angel? (And thr gourami too?) if they are new, how did you acclimate?

 

[Jchillin]

I didn't realize I used the wrong smilie in my original post. I've since corrected it.

Angels, like Discus, carry a dormant virus. This virus has been known to skip over several generations and occur suddenly. From what I've read, it is limited to the species and is not transferred to other fish. Once it surfaces, there is very little that can be done.