What is wrong with my Angel???

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flitabout

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
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Pipestone, Minnesota
I can't figure out what is on my angel fish. I did just purchase him and all of the fish in my tank. I don't have a quarantine tank as I just don't have the space for one. Everybody else appears healthy the tank is fully cycled. He is eating well and seems to be swimming well, although he sticks toward the bottom. It has no protrusions like I have seen with columnaris and its not fuzzy. It looks like slime. Anybody have any ideas??? This guy has a ton of personality and I really don't want to lose him.
 
A lot of times with a parasitic infection the host fish will secrete excess mucus similar to what is pictured on your Angel. I see you have a planted tank, research non copper based parasite medications. There are plenty to choose from.
 
Gill Update

Jury is in it is to the best of my research columnaris. I don't have a microscope to test. But I threw all caution (for my plants) to the wind and I treated with clout(it was all I could get my hands on). It did nothing for Gill he started getting worse a few day after treatment so I ordered kanaplex we are on the second dosing and he seems to be improving. I still don't know if he is going to make it because he has gotten very sick since my original post the slime coat increased the white saddle back spot showed up. He started gasping at the top of the tank breathing heavily. Every morning for the last week has been worrying turning on the light to see if he's still alive. Yesterday I finally started seeing major improvement. No more gasping an he ate. Not much but he ate. The spots are receding the slime coat is less. But his fins have been really damaged. Fingers crossed I am optimistic
 

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Be sure to note your treatment proceedures. Columnaris is usually a one way ticket. If your fish survives the knowledge learned certainly would be benificial to others. Good luck.
 
Another medication that is recommended to use in conjunction with kanamycin in cases of columnaris infections is nitrofurazone. kanamycin/nitrofurazone have a synergistic relationship to one another. If you are not seeing improvement, I would recommend you try to locate this medication. The active ingredient (nitrofurizone) is in either API'S Furan2 or Jungle Fungus Cure tabs.
 
Sadly the furan-2 came in today about 20 minutes after we lost Gill. I tried to get his meds locally but the closest lfs is an hour away and none of them carry anything stronger than melafix. So with it being Christmas all of the ones I bought online came in really slow. I did learn a lot trying to save him. So now I am just going to watch the rest of tank closely and pray the rest are ok. They seem that way but only time will tell.
 
Sorry about your loss. Chances are if the remaining tankmates are acting normally, and your water is pristine, things will turn out fine. This sort of thing happens to us all, recently to a lot of us, including me. Lol. Good luck.
 
Sadly the furan-2 came in today about 20 minutes after we lost Gill. I tried to get his meds locally but the closest lfs is an hour away and none of them carry anything stronger than melafix. So with it being Christmas all of the ones I bought online came in really slow. I did learn a lot trying to save him. So now I am just going to watch the rest of tank closely and pray the rest are ok. They seem that way but only time will tell.
Sorry to hear of your loss. :(
 
I would use the Furan-2 chances are there is still gram negative bacteria in the tank.

Best to keep the water as good of condition as possible, vac and clean substrate of any muck.
 
Even after treating with the Kanaplex? I thought that was for gram negative. I just wanna make sure.
I am still at bi weekly water changes my numbers are all spot on (I was really worried with the antibiotics so I have been testing daily). So far so good on my parameters.
 
Even after treating with the Kanaplex? I thought that was for gram negative. I just wanna make sure.
I am still at bi weekly water changes my numbers are all spot on (I was really worried with the antibiotics so I have been testing daily). So far so good on my parameters.

Yes, will treat gram negative. I am thinking of how with Columnaris is often cured by using both medicines. And not always killed out of the tank just using one.

[side bar: I have been having issues with Columnaris or something in a tank and have treated using a variety of things over time and none have fixed the issue. So I just used Kanaplex and should have furan -2 in the mail.to help know if it is true.

I am scared to add my alright looking fish in with the regular tank due to the repeated episodes of out breaks and fish losses. My issue not yours. But at this point in my situation I want to err on the side of caution, as nothing else has seemed to fix the problem. Mine is the slow killing stubborn variety of Columnaris I think, obviously not the fast killing type.]
 
Aut
Every time I've seen Columnaris, there is always some type of white slime on the infected fish. I am aware of the multiple strains of the bacteria, some kill faster than others, but all are usually fatal.
The pathagen in your case might be parastic in nature rather than bacterial, in particular
Oodinium. Weeks prior to a complete Infestation, fish became lethargic, clamped fins, with labored breathing, and might not have noticible spotting. Of course when Oodinium finally takes over, the velvet parasitic coating can be seen under subdued lighting. Might consider treating your QT tank with Cupramine or Coppersafe. That treatment has worked for me. Hope things get better soon.
 
Well crossing my fingers even with my planted tank I did stuff that should have killed my plants they are still ok. I have so far treated with salt, mardel clout, kanaplex and nitrofurazone. All but the one fish that I lost seem to be doing well.
 
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