Angel Fish problem

[Ollymoran]

Hi,

I think I have been conned by the pet shop.

I bought a few fish yesterday to add to my aquarium ( 100L ) I bought 5 neon tetras and also 3 Angel fish. Before I purchased them I made sure by asking the shop person if they were ok to live together and he said yea fine no problems as long as you took the small angel fish. So I bought 3. Fish were fine when i put them in gave them some food and everything was ok last night. When I woke up this morning I have noticed one of the neons missing and one of my angel fish is not very well. I fear he has eaten the tetra and its made him ill. He seems to be alive and he is swimming but not normally. I don't want him to die obviously but I don't know what to do. Can they die eating them?

Any Ideas on this? I have a good mind to go and have a go at the store where I bought them, as never wanted any of my fish to die or be eaten.

Please help

 

[Ollymoran]

Update : my angel fish is lying on side at bottom, it's not dead as every time I move it it swims abit

 

[Mebbid]

Larger angels can eat tetras but if they are smaller angels the tetras should be fine.

Keeping 3 angels in a tank that size is highly inadvisable. Two of them will pair off and harass the other to death.


What are the parameters on your tank?

 

[Rivercats]

Actually the tank is borderline too small for even a single angel. I know the angels are small when you get them but they grow and get very large. I have 12 in my 220g 100% planted tank.

Neons can be quite delicate IMO and don't always acclimate well. If one is missing first check around the floor to see if it jumped out and second if it did die in the tank it could still be somewhere in there, under or in something. Fish will often eat dead fish or at least pick at them.

Not only what are your parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, and ph) but did you cycle the tank? How long has it been set up?

 

[Ollymoran]

Larger angels can eat tetras but if they are smaller angels the tetras should be fine.

Keeping 3 angels in a tank that size is highly inadvisable. Two of them will pair off and harass the other to death.


What are the parameters on your tank?

The tank is 60cm by 2ft and has been setup for about 2 months, it was a fished cycle though had a few panda tetras in it.

Test results as of today were:

PH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

 

[Mebbid]

Are you certain that the nitrate test was performed correctly? Also, what test kit are you using for it?

You should almost never have a 0 reading of nitrate in a cycled tank. Usually when a mistake is made during the nitrate test it gives out a reading of 0 so I might try to retest that water and see if it gives a different reading.

 

[Ollymoran]

Are you certain that the nitrate test was performed correctly? Also, what test kit are you using for it?

You should almost never have a 0 reading of nitrate in a cycled tank. Usually when a mistake is made during the nitrate test it gives out a reading of 0 so I might try to retest that water and see if it gives a different reading.

I will re-test just to confirm and double check. I am using my Master test kit. The liquid one with the test tubes API make it.

 

[KevinMT]

Pretty sure neon tetras are natural food for angle fish.

 

[Rivercats]

Pretty sure neon tetras are natural food for angle fish.

They are in the wild so unless you have wild caught angels or Altum angels it can often work if angels are very small when introduced to smaller fish. I have 9 adult angels now down from 12 and all but my yo-yo loaches are small fish. Cardinal (small) and Rummynose tetras, Harlequin rasbora's, Threadfin rainbowfish, and the smallest some Rachovii killifish.

There is always a chance once angels mature that they can go after small fish but when raised around them you have a much better chance on it working.

 

[Ollymoran]

Have checked aquarium this morning and all is well. My black angel died last night but all others are ok.

Have checked my nitrate again and I think I did it wrong to get that reading as there is 2 solutions u need to add. The reading I got this time was 10-20ppm

What would you say:

 

[jwh0818]

Have checked aquarium this morning and all is well. My black angel died last night but all others are ok.

Have checked my nitrate again and I think I did it wrong to get that reading as there is 2 solutions u need to add. The reading I got this time was 10-20ppm

What would you say:

I would say more towards 20 to 40 ppm which is a bit high. Id do a 25% water change. Take the angels back because your tank is waaaaay to small for 2 let alone 1. Im sorry about your other angel

 

[Ollymoran]

I am gonna take them back and have a go at them. They said they would be ok with tetras and they knew the size of my tank cos they asked me.

 

[Ollymoran]

Have done a 25% water change and its got worse. What's going on ?

 

[Rivercats]

A dirty filter, dirty substrate, overfeeding, a still cycling or mini cycling tank are all reasons nitrates can rise. Plus not doing the test right can give you varied readings. You have to follow the shaking times of 30 seconds for the 2nd bottle before using and 1 minute of shaking vigorously after the 2nd bottle solution is added. Then be sure to read it at the 5 minute mark of sitting.

You need to do a 50% WC, wait a couple hours, retest nitrates, then do another 50% WC if they are still over 20ppm.