Am I Alone? If Not...Please Share Your Stories & Experiences

[Alyxx]

I bought six juvenile angelfish for my new tank last Saturday, and the last of them died today. Same symptoms as the last time I bought angels from that store almost two years ago. Kind of grout back the heartbreak of losing my angel pair after I added the last ones I bought. I decided not to buy any more fish from that store, which sucks because it is the only fish store in town I go to. The only other pet store in town disgusts me with the way it treats it's animals, and from what I've heard, it's employees as well. They had a seriously mistreated python in there last few times I was there, it disappeared and was replaced with another, and I highly doubt anyone bought Eugene the 8 foot python. Pretty sure he died. So I just don't even walk in there. So now I'm stuck either traveling and finding a new LFS which is hard because my car is broken, or paying out the butt for shipping in fish I can't even inspect before buying. Add to this that my previously stable betta sorority collapsed leaving me with one female, and that my two male Bettas died within days of each other, and you have one discouraged fishkeeper. Not giving up, though. I bought some general anti bacterial and anti parasite medications today and after I remove all of my snails from my 58 gallon tomorrow, which will be TONS of fun because the tank is a full two feet deep, I'm going to start treatment and try to ensure that the tanks free of any residual disease once I figure out where I want to get my new fish.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Alyxx,

I am SO sorry to hear about your losses -- truly I am; I can totally relate. I think about the fantails we recently lost all the time...

Perhaps what you could take out of this is a lesson learned, as I tried to (in my case, it was learning about water quality importance) -- maybe these deaths were the catalyst to drive you to a new source for your fish stock. I totally relate to your situation, because where I live, although just outskirts from a worldwide tourist location, the only stores that sell fish are Petsmart and Petco...and their stock is questionable to say the least in terms of health, from what we have experienced...

At any rate, thank you for sharing your experience and again I am so sorry -- I suppose we're all not alone in this!

 

[Alyxx]

Thanks. Yeah, I love my LFS and the people who run it, but I'm just tired of getting sick stock. I don't think it is anything they do wrong, either. I think it is most likely just poor stock from the distributor. All of the angels I've bought there have died quickly, as have probably half of the guppies I've bought. Oddly enough, my green spotted puffers, which are wild caught and often sickly when first imported, have been very healthy and have done very well for a year and a half now. I'll still go there for ghost shrimp and occasional supplies, but no more fishies. I'm going back to my old LFS in my old hometown, about 45 minutes away.

It is always rough when a tank fails or your fish get sick and die, but all we can do is pick up the pieces and try not to get discouraged. I think one of the best parts about forums like this is being able to share our experiences, both good and bad, and support each other.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

^^

 

[Autumnsky]

Alyxx- you might consider trying a reputable on line supplier, fish delivered to your door, cheaper than gas!

Or I bet there is a Angel fish aquarium society somewhere around where you are and they may have much more beautiful healthy specimens than you could get from the store. And maybe they can give some pointers about pH or salt or any other things you could have missed, as well as putting it out there here on AA for other keepers of Angels. I think stock quality is a BIG factor.

I had poor experience with angels - one killed his two tank mates and then started picking on the other fish, although he was so beautiful, he went back to the pet store.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Alyxx- you might consider trying a reputable on line supplier, fish delivered to your door, cheaper than gas!

He/she said he/she was uncertain regarding fish he/she "couldn't inspect" before buying...

Or I bet there is a Angel fish aquarium society somewhere around where you are and they may have much more beautiful healthy specimens than you could get from the store. And maybe they can give some pointers about pH or salt or any other things you could have missed, as well as putting it out there here on AA for other keepers of Angels. I think stock quality is a BIG factor.

I had poor experience with angels - one killed his two tank mates and then started picking on the other fish, although he was so beautiful, he went back to the pet store.

I had always kept angels when I was much younger as a kid, as my dad and I loved them as tropicals, and we always had the opposite experience -- the angels were always the passive, docile ones that were chased and picked on by the gouramis and others; we lost way too many for me to ever consider mixing them in a community tank again if we went the tropical route. Before we went with goldfish, we were considering doing an all-angel setup, with the belief that they would best be suited by themselves like that, away from all other species. However, I have been hearing horror stories like yours about these discus/chichlids recently, with one member of a forum claiming "chichlids will be chichlids..." when responding to someone's post about their aggressive angels...

 

[tarpon]

One of mine ate around 8 fish before dying of ntd from eating a tetra. The ones I get are always very aggressive

 

[ArtesiaWells]

One of mine ate around 8 fish before dying of ntd from eating a tetra. The ones I get are always very aggressive

Angels you mean?

 

[smomus]

My angel is very peaceful. He is in with some Molly, various tetra and white cloud minnow. He has never demonstrated any aggression I've seen, ever. He is no baby either! Not counting his fins, he is at least 3 in across.

 

[Alyxx]

Yeah, I'm trying to go the delivery route. I just won some baby bristlenose plecos on aquabid and I am looking for angels there as well. So tired of wasting money on poor stock.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

My angel is very peaceful. He is in with some Molly, various tetra and white cloud minnow. He has never demonstrated any aggression I've seen, ever. He is no baby either! Not counting his fins, he is at least 3 in across.

That has always been my personal experience with Angels as well...

 

[Russelmartin55]

I lost many fish to a nitrAte or nitrite I forget what but I lost: 1 blue gourami 2 angelfish and many more I can't remember

 

[Alfredoman]

I watched mi first goldfish die slowly not being able ti do anything cuz we didnt no wat happened

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Funny, I was just thinking of this thread recently and if anyone else had any more stories...

Thanks, ladies and gents...

 

[insecurity]

Had some sort of outbreak yesterday while I was working a 12 hour shift. Up early now and ready to find the culprit. I'm thinking that some of the fish were over-stressed because last week my mom had decided to throw in two guppies without talking to me about it. That, and a combination of minute traces of Ammonia probably did it. Lost one guppy (hate them anyways), nearly all my tetras (might be one or two of them left) and my swordtail.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Had some sort of outbreak yesterday while I was working a 12 hour shift. Up early now and ready to find the culprit. I'm thinking that some of the fish were over-stressed because last week my mom had decided to throw in two guppies without talking to me about it. That, and a combination of minute traces of Ammonia probably did it. Lost one guppy (hate them anyways), nearly all my tetras (might be one or two of them left) and my swordtail.

Sorry to hear that; I have kept the kinds of tropicals you mentioned (swords, gupps, tetras) in the past. Why do you hate the guppies so much, though?

 

[insecurity]

Sorry to hear that; I have kept the kinds of tropicals you mentioned (swords, gupps, tetras) in the past. Why do you hate the guppies so much, though?

I don't hate hate them, I really just don't like them in my tank. Although the one that's left, me and my sister joke that it acts like our mom, haha.
Sister's returning the gourami today, still under the 7 day gaurantee. Don't know if she'll get another dwarf gourami or any fish of equal value.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Whatever you do, try not to keep Angels with Gouramis; from my past experience, the Gouramis are far too aggressive (although there are reports of wildly aggressive Angels out there as well -- they are Chichlids/Discus, after all! -- although I have never experienced one) to mix with the Angels, and many will chase the Angels to death, nipping at their fins and barbs until they are left as just floating torsos in the water...I have witnessed that first-hand.