My Angel died.. My fault?

[AJLockley]

He was just fine a few hours ago. When I pulled him out of the tank I checked him for signs of illness or damage. He looked healthy except that he was definitely belly up and dead.

50g Tank mates:
2 dwarf gourami's
7 neons

I did a water test using my strips and here were the results:

Temp: 75 (maybe a tad low)
pH 7.0
Alkalinity 180 (ideal)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-20

He had plenty of hiding places/plants and has been in the tank since Thursday (4days). He usually swam with the flame dwarf gourami and I didn't notice any aggression between either one of them. I do have a bubble curtain that seems to stir up quite a bit of current... could that have been the issue?

 

[Toad]

If he was a new purchase I'd take him back to the store and get a refund or exchange. If you acclimated him right you may have just gotten a dud.

 

[Khuligirl93]

How long has your tank been set up? Was it cycled? What did you use to test your water? I noticed there was no ammonia measurement listed.

 

[AJLockley]

How long has your tank been set up? Was it cycled? What did you use to test your water? I noticed there was no ammonia measurement listed.

The tank has been set up a few years and completed a full cycle between the last stock of fish and this new stock. And when i say full cycle i mean i did a 90% water change, a decent substrate syphoning but used one of the old filters from the previous set up. I tested the water before adding fish and I asked my LFS to test a sample I brought in just for a second opinion. He and I agreed that it was ready.

I used a 5 in 1 test strip. I also noticed my strips don't have an ammonia measurement and i'm not entirely thrilled about that.. I'm planning to pick up an API testing kit after all the bills and holiday gifts are taken care of this month. This is my first real attempt at monitoring water quality.

 

[AJLockley]

If he was a new purchase I'd take him back to the store and get a refund or exchange. If you acclimated him right you may have just gotten a dud.

Yea.. And the clerk said we had 15 days for a refund or to exchange... But I'm pregnant and they say there is this crazy thing called "pregnancy brain" that makes you dumb from time to time. He's already been disposed of . Oh well. He was only a $5 fish but I liked him.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Hmm well it's a mystery, if your other fish are fine I would just assume he probably had an illness or something before you got him that wasn't your fault. You can always try again

 

[mistersprinkles]

You should do something about the high current in your tank. Gouramis and angels do not do well with strong current. Maybe remove the bubbler.

 

[flitabout]

I don't think current was the issue here. I have my turn over at 15 times an hour and my angels play in it. A bubble wall alone isn't going to make a lot of current, just a lot of surface agitation.

 

[AJLockley]

I don't think current was the issue here. I have my turn over at 15 times an hour and my angels play in it. A bubble wall alone isn't going to make a lot of current, just a lot of surface agitation.

I noticed my angel seemed to enjoy the bubbles as well. He would swim in and out of the and hang out some behind the curtain as well. I'll get a gang valve as my pump recommends to be able to control the intensity of the bubbles. I don't know how else to control any output from the filter other than keeping the water level up. I'm not sure if the current was the issue or not but I'm beginning to think it was a fluke. We're definitely going to try again.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I don't think current was the issue here. I have my turn over at 15 times an hour and my angels play in it. A bubble wall alone isn't going to make a lot of current, just a lot of surface agitation.

Fish do not play. That is the territory of mammals and birds. Fish have territorial disputes, hierarchy disputes, and sexual disputes. They also try to swim to what they perceive to be cleaner water (ie, up stream). When a fish is swimming into the filter's overflow or swimming against the filter's current, that's usually what the fish has in mind.