Blue face angel sick??

[huma-huma]

My blue face angel is hiding and pretty much stopped eating this morning. Ive also noticed that when she does venture out, she seems to tip sideways a few degrees, then corrects herself. Lvls are as follows
Amm-0
Trites-0
Trates-20
Sg-1.026
Temp-81
Ph-8.1
Diet consists of spectrum and hikari pellets, purple and green algae sheets, PE mysis, emerald entree, chopped squid and frozen krill.
Also use selcon food booster as a soak

 

[huma-huma]

day 3 of this d*** stupid ordeal. heres a photo of the angel. she seems to be just resting against a pvc pipe. I have copper power and API triple sulfa on hand, but don't know what to treat or even if those would help. any input please?????

 

[Gregcoyote]

day 3 of this d*** stupid ordeal. heres a photo of the angel. she seems to be just resting against a pvc pipe. I have copper power and API triple sulfa on hand, but don't know what to treat or even if those would help. any input please?????

Nix the copper, it doesn't look like external parasites. The sulfa might help,as a last resort, but I would QT the fish before trying that.

 

[huma-huma]

Yeah shes been qt'd since yesterday. I work 5-11 so when i get home if she looks any worse im going to attempt the triple sulfa. I hate to treat without knowing for sure but i know she is going to die if i dont do anything. So trying something is better than nothing at all

 

[Gregcoyote]

Yeah shes been qt'd since yesterday. I work 5-11 so when i get home if she looks any worse im going to attempt the triple sulfa. I hate to treat without knowing for sure but i know she is going to die if i dont do anything. So trying something is better than nothing at all

What does the rest of the forum members think? Is sulfa a good last ditch effort?

 

[huma-huma]

Thats what this would be. Just cant sit here and watch her die with no action to save her. Symptoms are in this order, hiding, stopped eating, developed a slightly top heavy swim habit, then red gills, then discoloration in the body

 

[Gregcoyote]

I think the lesson here is that you should raise easier fish in the first few years of building the reef. Give yourself a break. Like a coral beauty if you want an angel. Once those fish are thriving for a extended period, you can try a harder fish. There is a learning curve for you and the reef needs to mature to the point sensitive fish can survive.

 

[huma-huma]

Yeahi def jumped into angels too quick. Lesson learned the hard wy

 

[carey]

I hope your fish gets better, its terrible to watch a fish just die on you. :-(

I'm not one for chemicals for curing stuff, I have zero experience with that stuff, sorry....

I had a similar experience a few years ago when I lost most of my tank, the fish started hiding and then the skin got a coating of some type, looked like burns. It killed everything within 24 hours of the first symptom. I suspect velvet got them but I never did find a definitive cause. I left the tank alone for 3 months and didnt have any issues after that.

 

[Hondatek]

I'm leaning toward some kind of bacterial infection effecting the swim bladder causing the bit of bloat and the fish not to be able to stay upright . If it were me I would try erythromycin before any harsh meds.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I'm leaning toward some kind of bacterial infection effecting the swim bladder causing the bit of bloat and the fish not to be able to stay upright . If it were me I would try erythromycin before any harsh meds.

thats a real good suggestion.

 

[huma-huma]

Shes dead((

 

[Hondatek]

Crap . Sorry to hear that .

 

[mr_X]

Thats what this would be. Just cant sit here and watch her die with no action to save her. Symptoms are in this order, hiding, stopped eating, developed a slightly top heavy swim habit, then red gills, then discoloration in the body

Red gills? Ammonia poisoning? What else causes red gills? How long have you had this fish?

 

[huma-huma]

Ammonia was 0. Tested by me and confirmed by lfs. This is prob the worst experience ive had in my sw venture next to the tank failure a few years ago

 

[huma-huma]

I must give a huge thanks to hondatek and gregcoyote. You two took time out of your days to help me and i appreciate it

 

[Gregcoyote]

I must give a huge thanks to hondatek and gregcoyote. You two took time out of your days to help me and i appreciate it

Didn't do you much good as it turned out. Red gills means something inflamed them. Whatever it was killed the fish fast. I may not have been anything you did, but I would drop back and punt for a spell. Keep the water quality up and then try something easier the next time.

 

[Hondatek]

Anytime huma . Wish we could have saved it . I don't believe you could have done anything different and you did the right thing by not blindly treating . Even if it was a bacterial issue by the time it shows itself it is more than likely than not too late to reverse it. I agree with Greg let the tank settle in for 6 months to a year before giving it another go .

 

[huma-huma]

Anytime huma . Wish we could have saved it . I don't believe you could have done anything different and you did the right thing by not blindly treating . Even if it was a bacterial issue by the time it shows itself it is more than likely than not too late to reverse it. I agree with Greg let the tank settle in for 6 months to a year before giving it another go .

Im not attempting an angel anytime soon. Im going to work on getting it perfected and settled in like mentioned and go from their. I will prob end up with a longnose hawkfish or 2-3 chromis. Something warm colored. But that wont be for awhile.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Im not attempting an angel anytime soon. Im going to work on getting it perfected and settled in like mentioned and go from their. I will prob end up with a longnose hawkfish or 2-3 chromis. Something warm colored. But that wont be for awhile.

Hawkfish are escape artists, but pretty bullet proof. Chromis can be difficult. They die unexpectedly on me. Clown fish are great and really hardy. Gobies and wrasses are also pretty hardy. If you like angels, the coral beauty and the black tail are both easy and don't seem to have the issues flames currently seem to have. Everybody needs a gold Midas blenny. So there are hundreds of fish to choose from that won't break your heart like the angels did.