sick angel fish

[moochie60]

:

1~What type of fish is afflicted? A black angel fish. Fish shows no physical signs of illness but scales look a bit faded. Fish is not eating and has been sitting by the filter for the day although has now moved into the log (usually not a good sign)

2~What are your tank parameters Nitrate 20 nitrite0 alkalinity 80 hardness 80 ph 7.6 temp 25c (77f)

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
I believe its around 70 gallons not 100% sure, its been set up since August of this year

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number
I live in Morocco there there's not much choice here...no name is written on the filter. Although when the tank was set up I was told it was in excess for the tank. I worry that that causes troubles.

5~How many fish are in the tank?
2 standard goldfish
2 silver dollars
1 black molly
1 swordtail
1 platy
1 pleco
2 angel fish (zebra/black)
2 bottom fish (fish store didn't know their name, look like cross between catfish and shark, silver about 3 inches long)

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel?
I do 1/4 water changes every month last change was 3 weeks ago. No gravel vacuums here....

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish isnew, how did you acclimate it/them?
I have had the fish for about 4 weeks. I had a second zebra angel fish that died about a week after the new angel fish came in.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Nothing new

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
I bought the fish some tetracolor granules from the US which the rest of the fish love but both angel fish are refusing to eat, both angel fish are also refusing to eat their old flake food. Although the zebra angel fish will at least eat blood worms. Food is new as of Jan. 1st.

 

[mfdrookie516]

ok, so a few other questions/statements... what test kit are you using and what is the ammonia reading? Judging by the parameters you listed, im assuming youre using strips? If so, you need a liquid test kit to get accurate readings.... Just by your description of whats going on, sounds like the fish is stressed. The goldfish are not compatable with those fish, "standard" goldfish im assuming means comets? They like colder water and can sometimes be aggressive to other fish. Water changes, imo, need to be done weekly. The first thing i would do is a 50% pwc and keep them up until the fish seems better. The best cure for sickness is clean water. Im doing 50% pwc's in my 150g right now every day because im battling columnaris. Its a job, but its worth it for the fish's sake. Also need to be doing gravel vacs... It is very important to clean the detrius out of your substrate. Not doing gravel vacs can cause issues with ammonia and nitrates. BTW, welcome to AA

 

[dkpate]

I don't know if you should do that big of a water change right now, if you haven't changed any in 3 weeks. You could possibly shock your fish to death.

 

[moochie60]

ok, so a few other questions/statements... what test kit are you using and what is the ammonia reading? Judging by the parameters you listed, im assuming youre using strips? If so, you need a liquid test kit to get accurate readings.... Just by your description of whats going on, sounds like the fish is stressed. The goldfish are not compatable with those fish, "standard" goldfish im assuming means comets? They like colder water and can sometimes be aggressive to other fish. Water changes, imo, need to be done weekly. The first thing i would do is a 50% pwc and keep them up until the fish seems better. The best cure for sickness is clean water. Im doing 50% pwc's in my 150g right now every day because im battling columnaris. Its a job, but its worth it for the fish's sake. Also need to be doing gravel vacs... It is very important to clean the detrius out of your substrate. Not doing gravel vacs can cause issues with ammonia and nitrates. BTW, welcome to AA

Thanks!
Yes, I am using test strips, which I not too thrilled with. Results aren't very clear. My ph test however is a liquid test. I've also realized that I don't have an ammonia test. Unfortunately for me there are very few things available for fish here. It mostly relies on whatever can be smuggled into the country so it might be awhile until I can find that gravel vacuum lol
I was actually unaware that the water needed to be changed every week. How much is usually changed each week?
I googled comets and thats what they look like. They are my oldest fish actually. I've had them for a year but previous to August they were in a little bowl. So far they seem ok, they're peaceful with the other fish. It would seem too cruel to put them back in the little bowl. Maybe they need their own tank?
Well, my poor angel fish has taken a turn for the worst so I've moved it to a floating container in the tank to at least keep it from being bashed around...
Thanks for the advice, hope your fish are doing better!

 

[mfdrookie516]

well at least youre doing what you can for them with the resources you have available... the comets are really just not a good aquarium fish... they get really big and require huge tanks, bowls are not suitable at all. All that aside, theyre probably not the reason your angel is sick, so dont even worry with that right now. As far as water changes go, it really varies from tank to tank. I do a 50% weekly in all of my tanks, mainly for precautionary measures, but also just to keep everything healthy. IMO, 20-50% should be done weekly, unless there is something going on and more need to be done. Some people only do 10-15% and have no issues, but i would just rather be safe than sorry... Right now, clean water is going to be your best friend... Just do lots of water changes, because with no visible signs of disease, and no way to read ammonia, its really hard to diagnose whats wrong