Angel Fish Problems

[badbart]

I had six angle fish in my 75 gallon for the past year no problems. Then one developed hole in the head and died about two weeks ago. Now two more have bloated bellies and are almost dead and another has what looks like two bite marks on each side of his belly. I have the sick ones in isolation treating then with salt and antibiotics. last week I treated the tank with Metronidazle hoping that might help.
The strange part is I've have not added any new fish in months my water parameters are perfect and none of my other fish have problems, Clown Loaches, Bala Sharks and Gourami's.

 

[dkpate]

As angelfish age, they become more aggressive. Do you think they are fighting and biting eachother?

 

[badbart]

As angelfish age, they become more aggressive. Do you think they are fighting and biting eachother?

I don't think so, I've never seen any aggression. One of the bloated fish died last night and the other bloated fish seems ok for now. I isolated the fish in a bucket and I'm treating them with salt and antibiotics.

The strange thing is I can't figure out hole in the head in one fish, bloating in two other fish and open soars on another fish. And all the non angle fish are healthy. Could feeding then live ghost shrimp be causing some disease?

 

[dkpate]

Have you googled hole in the head disease? I know it affects oscars usually, but I would check that out and see if it's something you think may be going on. I would also change the water and keep it really clean, so they can heal faster.
I have never heard of the shrimp causing something, but I could be wrong.

 

[WhiteDevil]

it effects larger fish more, oscars are just the more common carriers in the pet trade but cichlids are 100% at risk for this disease.

food source can cause this.

 

[badbart]

You guys might be right I read secondary symptoms and it looks like that's whats happening. The problem now is to figure out what is causing it. I don't use carbon, the water preamiters are always great, their diet consist of flake food, frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp and ghost shrimp. I'll start changing the water everyday and add my UV sterilizer and see what happens.

 

[dkpate]

I wish you luck!

 

[bs6749]

Metronidazole isn't going to help with bloat, though it may help with the secondary infections caused by heximita on the outside of your fish. You will need to treat at a rate of 500mg per 10 gallons every 12 hours for 5 days and the temperature should be kept at 90 or slightly higher.

Bloat could be from a number of things, I recommend doing an epsom salt bath to purge the fish that way.

I see that you are feeding frozen foods... have you had any thaw out and then fed those to your fish?

Diet looks okay, so if it's not that then I'd suspect water quality, i.e. not enough water changing going on. What is the nitrate level in the tank?

 

[badbart]

Metronidazole isn't going to help with bloat, though it may help with the secondary infections caused by heximita on the outside of your fish. You will need to treat at a rate of 500mg per 10 gallons every 12 hours for 5 days and the temperature should be kept at 90 or slightly higher.

Bloat could be from a number of things, I recommend doing an epsom salt bath to purge the fish that way.

I see that you are feeding frozen foods... have you had any thaw out and then fed those to your fish?

Diet looks okay, so if it's not that then I'd suspect water quality, i.e. not enough water changing going on. What is the nitrate level in the tank?

I change at least 20% of the water every week and I thaw the foods in water before I put them in the tank. I just found my canister filter flow was terrible and I cleaned the intake and sponge inside the canister, now flow is great. All water peramiters have been spot on for the life of the tank, no nitrates, nitrites or ammonia. I has a heavily planted tank and I think I going to have to clean the canister filter every two weeks instead of every 4 weeks. I'm not sure if bad flow might have contributed but its worth a shot.

The two angles look better, I've have them in a bucket and I'm treating them with salt and antibiotics.