badly hurt coral beauty angel

[rancidpetals]

My coral beauty angel has been badly hurt. Somehow, SOMETHING in my tank has cut his lips OFF!! I don't know if he has gotten them caught in my powerhead, or if my coral banded shrimp did it, as she is getting very aggressive towards her tankmates. Skittles (the angel) still comes out for feeding, as he did before, but he cannot pull the food into his mouth. This happened last friday, almost a week ago, and i am worried do death. How much time does he have left? Does anyone think the shrimp did it?

[enjoyfish]

Well that's interesting, Lips riped off. Did this happen over night, If not, there is bacteria that will eat away at fish over time, kind of like a human getting gang green.

[rancidpetals]

it happened, well, one minute he was swimming with lips attached, and the next, well maybe a couple hours later, they were gone. I'm thinking the shrimp did it, because she is getting meaner and meaner by the day. He still tries to eat. You can see the muscles working, opening and closing when he breathes. its sad.

[enjoyfish]

Well i assume you know that this angel cannot be kept with other angels. or other looking species . the smaller one will loose, Is there other angels

[rancidpetals]

no. he is the only one. i had a half black, but he mysteriously died a few weeks ago.

[melosu58]

It could be various reasons. PH you mentioned or shrimp. Could be a disease. All we can do is guess unless we get more info.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Did this happen before, or after, you added the Lionfish?

[rancidpetals]

this happened after i added the lionfish, like, two days after. the rest of my fish are thriving and doing as well as i could imagine they should be doing.

[Gloomisboy]

Did ur fish lips look like these?



Cause my clown went through something similar couldnt move lips to eat. Would lay on the sand listless. It got progressively worse way worse than the pic. Would want to eat and caught food at times. Came to a point where i really thought it was a gonner. Then it bounced back. At first i thought physical injury but as time passed it would go away then all of a sudden come back leading me to think fungal or bactirial infection.

[rancidpetals]

oh no. his lips are completely gone. i do not exaggerate when i say this. i will try to get a pic taken of him to post in this thread.

[cmor1701d]

I don't think the shrimp could do that. It would have to hold the larger/strongerangel long enough to do that kind of damage.

Please post a pic asap.

[mwilliams]

I think it might have been the Coral Banded Shrimp. I had one and he or she was extremely mean. Even caught one of my fish by the tail with his claw and the fish had to pull away from it. I will never have another Coral Banded Shrimp in my tanks.

Sincerely,

Mary

[rancidpetals]

my other angel fish has been dead for a few weeks. this just happened a week ago today, last friday.
i think the shrimp did it too, she is extremely fast and probably wouldn't have to hold him that long to do that kind of damage.
i cant get a good pic of him. he wont stay still and my camera isnt that great. he stays in the rocks a good amount of time, but that is his normal behavior. i will try, thou.
i am planning on getting rid of my shrimp.

[rancidpetals]

here he is

[rancidpetals]

this is the best picture i could get. its almost like he knows what the camera is, and decides to hide as soon as i hold it up to the tank......
lemme know what you think. thanks guys!!

[cmor1701d]

Is it able to eat anything? If not, it will die of starvation in another week and your clean up crew will get to work on it.
If possible you should try to move it to a QT tank and treat with antibiotics for secondary infections that may start.

[rancidpetals]

im not sure if he is able to eat anything. i am hoping that he is. my LFS told me that if he could eat, he would be fine. he comes out at feeding time, and he tried so hard to get food. he could possibly be getting food from elsewhere in the tank, small pieces that have stuck to my live rock. i dont know. its been a little over a week and his behavior hasnt changed any.

[Idaho-Tank]

Dang that looks bad - to bad, looked like a nice fish. Can't imagine it will make it through that - I agree if at all possible get him out of your tank and into a QT tank.

[rancidpetals]

yea, it looks awful. i know. i dont have a QT tank, not unless maybe i get him ((if i can catch him....)) and take him to my LFS. im sure he 'd hold on to him for as long as i need him to. but catching the fish is the problem, and i am not tearing down a 70 gallon tank to get one fish.

[cmor1701d]

Take a look at:
Get Out of My Tank! Fish Removal Tips & Tricks by Steven Pro