Angel problem?

[severum mama]

A few minutes ago I went to check on the tank at work (I'm at work now) and found one of the angels stuck to the filter intake! 8O I immediately turned off the filters and he swam away, and then I turned them back on. I don't think there is anything wrong with the angels, they are all eating like pigs and they act like they are ok. The one that was stuck is one of the smallest ones (all are juveniles, I have 6 and am waiting for some to pair off). Do you think I have too much current in there? The tank is 55 gallons and filtered with 1 Emperor 400 and 1 Aquaclear 200. The angel was stuck to the Aquaclear. I haven't tested the water in a few days but last time I did, ammonia and nitrite were 0 ppm and nitrate was 10 ppm. Would it help to add a sponge prefilter? Has anyone else had this happen? :?

 

[Fluff]

How big are your angels? If they are teeny tiny yet, it may be having trouble fighting the current. :?

 

[Jchillin]

I agree with Fluff. If there is no sign of health issues, he may just be to weak to fight off the current. I've had it happen to one of my albino BN's when I first got him. Found him in the same predicament. Since I use the same filter (AquaClear) HOB) with the current already as low as possible, I figured the pre-filter would help. I just used a piece of nylon to cover the intake and haven't had a problem since.

 

[severum mama]

Hmmm.... maybe I will cut down the flow of the AC and cover both intakes with a prefilter. And yes, the angels are all pretty small, with the one in question being the smallest at about the size of a quarter (minus fins). Thanks!

 

[greenmaji]

Is there a chance that the Aqua Clear might be oversized for the tank? How many cycles per hour is the filter producing?

 

[mr86mister]

yeah all i think you really have to do is cut down the flow of the aqua clear filter.....if you have two filters then it should be fine to slow it down a bit so this accident doesnt happen again

 

[severum mama]

The tank is 55 gallons and filtered with 1 Emperor 400 and 1 Aquaclear 200.

The AC filters 200 gph and the Emperor filters 400 gph so no, I don't think the AC is oversized for the tank. I overfilter all my tanks 10x per hour or more since I just use HOBs and no canisters (yet).

When I came back the same angel was stuck to the other filter, so I figured it was time to make an emergency move. I'm at work so the only place to put the angel was in my 5 gallon hex. It looks pretty weak but at least the betta is leaving it alone. I know this is far from ideal, but I'm working atm and this is the best I can do.

 

[Fluff]

Actually, a quarter size angel is a decent size fish. I wouldn't think one of that size can't fight the current unless there are other issues. Perhaps he is just a weakling. It happens. I have five albino that one is smaller than the rest and I didn't expect it to make it but, it's doing great now. I think you did the best thing for him in your situation. Perhaps some prefilter sponges will help. Good luck.

 

[FishHugger]

i have to agree get the sponges for the filter intake tube, i plan on getting a small one, just big enough so that the Fry wont get sucked up in my tanks

can you just buy a sponge and put that on the intake? or do you have to buy a special one?

 

[severum mama]

The angel in question died yesterday afternoon. Then I found another one stuck to the filter as well, and I moved it to my 5 gallon like I did with the other one. It had also died by the time I got to work this morning. Both the angels that died were the smallest in the tank, and both were the same variety- gold marble I believe. I have 4 remaining, 2 black ones and 2 "chocolate marble" (cross between a chocolate and a marble I guess). The others are fine so I hope this was just a fluke.

 

[Jchillin]

Sorry to hear about this Severum. A "runt" or two is surely the case. Usually, a fish that cannot escape the current and sticks to the intake is certainly weak (as I noted earlier). You did everything you could. This is not unusual by any means. Since the others are obviously stronger, you shouldn't have any problems with them.

BTW, you gotta post some pics...I've yet to see the "chocolate" variety.

 

[Fluff]

Sorry for your loss Severum.

 

[TomK2]

Bummer. Sorry to hear of it. I would agree that any quarter sized angel that can't stay off a filter intake is sick. sometimes this happens in angel communities. A rash of deaths even tho water quality is good, till just one or two are left. The first time I saw this I found references to an "angel fish plague" a number of years back. I read on websites speculation that some angels have different immune systems and pathogens, so that a rash of sickness can appear. I don't think the phenomenon has really been adequately explained. But once you are down to a number of survivors that are healthy and getting big, they will be hardy fish from then on. Makes it a little scary to think about adding more angels to the system tho.

Hope there are no more problems!

 

[severum mama]

Thanks guys. I just don't know why they stuck it out in there for 3 months and then got so weak, I would have thought they would just die if they were weak.

JC, I don't have any good pics of them because they are in a tank at work and I don't take my camera there very often. I got a couple shots of them a while back so I'll check them out and see if you can even see the chocolate marble ones. I didn't get the "chocolate" variety because the small juvies were like $15 at my LFS, twice as much as the other varieties. The ones I got are "chocolate marbles", from a chocolate and a marble that spawned. I don't know anything about angels (except how to care for them of course), is it frowned upon to have different kinds breed with each other? I mean, I know they are all the same species and are therefore not hybrids, but would these guys offend the purists? They are really beautiful, and I love their red eyes.

 

[severum mama]

Tom, I don't think I'll be adding any more angels. The ones I have are growing and getting along and they seem healthy, why push my luck, ya know? I did just add more fish to the community though, we'll see how everyone does.

 

[TomK2]

Tom, I don't think I'll be adding any more angels

Thats smart. I had four juveniles, added some adults. I never really saw the juveniles picked on much. just an occasional chase away. They seamed happy, ate well, were different colors from the new adults. Things looked ok for them. Then they started dying one by one over a week or so (smallest one first), about 3 weeks after the bigger ones were added. Most of the adults died too. At first I thought it must have been harassment. I did have one bully adult. I did see the adult bully harass other adults to illness, but not much attention was paid to the juveniles. I blamed all the deaths on the bully. I seperated the bully, still had juvenile death. Now I wonder if it wasn't disease or pathogens instead of the bully. Or a combination. Lost about $60 in livestock.

Bottom line, from my experience, is get all the Angels you want at once, plus one or two. As they grow you may lose a few, if not, give a few back to the LFS. Just don't try to add to the population later.

BTW, I am left with two very pretty Angel adults out of 4 adults and 4 juveniles original stock. (yikes, 75% mortality!) For a 55 gal, This is probably appropriate. I had hoped to have 4 adults in the end, but like you, no way I am going to upset the balance now!

 

[Jchillin]

The ones I got are "chocolate marbles", from a chocolate and a marble that spawned. I don't know anything about angels (except how to care for them of course), is it frowned upon to have different kinds breed with each other? I mean, I know they are all the same species and are therefore not hybrids, but would these guys offend the purists? They are really beautiful, and I love their red eyes.

I've become somewhat of an angel nut Severum...hence my desire to see the chocolate (I've seen almost every other variety).

I don't know if you were aware but I recently lost one of my angels. It happened so suddenly (overnight actually). I had him/her since Christmas. I postulated that it was due to the change from the 30 gal to the 75 gal and the beginning of maturing of all of them...possibly he/she was always weak.