Angel breathing issues

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense that the cause would be poor stock at this point. The only med was the Gen. Cure though, and that was already after he was showing signs of sickness. I just dosed the prazipro after seeing him on his side. If it's a swim bladder issue I don't think the prazipro will help. Perhaps it was aggression coupled with the stress of moving him, but I just don't understand why I can't keep angels. Usually they die within a few months. I've had this problem since I started keeping fish. It's disheartening because they are one of my favorites. Thanks for the reply, I'll offer a pea, but he won't touch a thing.

Sorry you have and such bad luck with angels.. They are my favorite fish in my tank i would be distraught also if they got sick.. yeah i would probably agree it's most likely stress related as you said it was looking good and eating until placed back in the main tank then stopped eating and got sickly again.. yeah it may be the size of your tank coupled with the temperament of your dominant angel that is causing new angels god i.e... that and the stock your getting may be bad to start with..

In my 36 i only have two angels that have been raised together and they get along ok some chasing but both healthy.. and active.. i know with the temperament of my angels i can't add anymore b/c they probably wouldn't make it.. that kind of sounds like it may be part of the problem with your keeping angels..may be best to stick with just 1 or 2 that get along!

 

[Reygan2]

Another thing that concerns me is that even in a year and a half, this angel never seemed to reach near adult size. I'm not sure what the growth rate is, but my others also stayed on the small size. I feed a varied diet of NLS flakes, NLS pellets, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen daphnia, occasional frozen beef heart, Repashy and recently frozen bloodworms. This brings me back to the breeder that Petsmart buys these angels from. I was told they bought them from a local breeder. Probably not the issue, but this is so troubling. Like I posted earlier in the thread, I keep cardinals, threadfin rainbows, GBR's, and other sensitive fish so I really don't understand this.

Get this, I found one of the twin silver angels dead. It was in the 40b, perfectly fine yesterday. What tha???

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Another thing that concerns me is that even in a year and a half, this angel never seemed to reach near adult size. I'm not sure what the growth rate is, but my others also stayed on the small size. I feed a varied diet of NLS flakes, NLS pellets, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen daphnia, occasional frozen beef heart, Repashy and recently frozen bloodworms. This brings me back to the breeder that Petsmart buys these angels from. I was told they bought them from a local breeder. Probably not the issue, but this is so troubling. Like I posted earlier in the thread, I keep cardinals, threadfin rainbows, GBR's, and other sensitive fish so I really don't understand this.

Get this, I found one of the twin silver angels dead. It was in the 40b, perfectly fine yesterday. What tha???

Wow now that is very strange just dead no previous sign? parasites? you said they were never fully grown after 1.5 years.. that's strange.. i wander if it is some type of virus or parasites.. could cause chronic symptoms like.. lack of full growth and eventual death ..? how is your remaining one doing? i'm stumped on that one.. i would probably don't buy anymore angelfish from that supplier.

 

[Reygan2]

Yeah, it's got me stumped too. I have had several angels throughout the last couple of years, all from the same source, that never grew very large and died within 8 months to a year. It certainly sounds like something's going wrong on my end, but then how can my other fish be fine? My remaining angels are perfectly ok.

Except of course the poor guy in the qt tank. I'm tempted to euthanize him soon. He's not showing any signs of improvement. As a matter if fact, his body looks bent, like he's turning his head and looking to one side. He can't seem to straighten it. He's completely upside down at times.

 

[Reygan2]

See how his body is bent? That's how he stays now.

 

[Delapool]

Another thing that concerns me is that even in a year and a half, this angel never seemed to reach near adult size. I'm not sure what the growth rate is, but my others also stayed on the small size. I feed a varied diet of NLS flakes, NLS pellets, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen daphnia, occasional frozen beef heart, Repashy and recently frozen bloodworms. This brings me back to the breeder that Petsmart buys these angels from. I was told they bought them from a local breeder. Probably not the issue, but this is so troubling. Like I posted earlier in the thread, I keep cardinals, threadfin rainbows, GBR's, and other sensitive fish so I really don't understand this.

Get this, I found one of the twin silver angels dead. It was in the 40b, perfectly fine yesterday. What tha???

No change in the tank at all? Anything - even minor? It's all pretty puzzling. I assume nitrates are still below 20 and everything else is good and stable?

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

yeah that's crazy i can honestly say i have never seen anything like that.. he dosen't look so good.. if it was me i would probably euthanize him/her. it looks miserable.. that goes without saying i probably would wait a month or so make sure your other angel/angels are ok and def try buying from a different source if you do angels again..

 

[Reygan2]

No change in the tank at all? Anything - even minor? It's all pretty puzzling. I assume nitrates are still below 20 and everything else is good and stable?

I added root tabs and we recently switched to well water. Either could be a potential cause I guess, but I've been closely monitoring the ph in the tank and I've added root tabs many times with no issues. Plus, since this is an ongoing problem with angels since before I ever started root tabs I'm not convinced that's the problem, mainly because I think the cardinals would be the first go if it was a parameter issue. Surely I'm not stunting the angels by keeping them in a 40b? I've never had one grow larger than a silver dollar. Bad genes? Parasites that are exclusive to angels?
Oh, and nitrates stay below 20.

 

[Reygan2]

yeah that's crazy i can honestly say i have never seen anything like that.. he dosen't look so good.. if it was me i would probably euthanize him/her. it looks miserable.. that goes without saying i probably would wait a month or so make sure your other angel/angels are ok and def try buying from a different source if you do angels again..

I agree with what you stated earlier. Maybe keeping one or two angels is a better idea. Here is a pic of one of my remaining ones. I bought this one when I bought the one that's dying. I bought them from Petsmart, from the same tank, and they were the exact same size. You can see that a year and a half later this is a small angel when you compare to my little cardinals in the background.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

yeah that one def looks healthier though a little small but overall pretty good! It makes me wander if its either bad genes or if your healthy angels is a carrier for some type of virus or some type of disease that targets angelfish.. from my knowledge i'm not aware of a parasite that just targets angelfish but that's not saying a whole lot! maybe someone else out there may be able to impart a little more knowledge on that than me

 

[Reygan2]

I'm just not ready to give up on this fish. I'm going to try an Epsom salt bath. He was getting better in the qt tank until I started feeding bloodworms. He could just be constipated. He's still floating around upside down sometimes, but no heavy breathing, no clamped fins. It's worth a try. 2 Teaspoons of salt in a gallon of water for 10 minutes?

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

I'm just not ready to give up on this fish. I'm going to try an Epsom salt bath. He was getting better in the qt tank until I started feeding bloodworms. He could just be constipated. He's still floating around upside down sometimes, but no heavy breathing, no clamped fins. It's worth a try. 2 Teaspoons of salt in a gallon of water for 10 minutes?

Yeah the epison salt dip is def worth a try their is ton's of different sources out there on how much salt to use for the dip and every one i have found is a different amount i think for the dip the general consensus is about 1 table spoon dissolved in 1 gallon in a bucket and place in dip for 5-30 min remove if looks very stressed or soils himself.. with as stressed as your fish looks i would probably go start lower than that maybe start with half a tablespoon in a gallon and see how he tolerates and just watch him for 10 to 30 min maybe tonight or tomorrow increase the dose slightly

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

oh just saw that yours said 2 teaspoons in a gallon ha thought it said two tablespoons in a gallon.. ha yes 2 teaspoons or 1 and a half teaspoons would probably be a good starting point for your fish.. it may be helpful or it may be to stressful and kill him.. but at least it's something to try rather than just letting him/her die..

 

[Reygan2]

Well, just did the Epsom salt dip for 20 minutes and he made it though fine. Did a wc in his qt tank while he soaked. I'm going to do a Maracyn 5 day treatment this time, but I still don't know if that's what he needs. I wish I had access to antibiotics or at least something that would be more effective against a bacterial infection. I'll ask my lfs owner tomorrow if she has something on hand. Normally I'd simply accept something like this and do the seemingly humane thing and put him down, but for some reason I can't this time. I'm going to fight this!

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Well, just did the Epsom salt dip for 20 minutes and he made it though fine. Did a wc in his qt tank while he soaked. I'm going to do a Maracyn 5 day treatment this time, but I still don't know if that's what he needs. I wish I had access to antibiotics or at least something that would be more effective against a bacterial infection. I'll ask my lfs owner tomorrow if she has something on hand. Normally I'd simply accept something like this and do the seemingly humane thing and put him down, but for some reason I can't this time. I'm going to fight this!

Well sounds like you got a plan! good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Reygan2]

Well sounds like you got a plan! good luck and keep us updated!

Will do! I'm determined to try anyway.
Change of subject for a sec, I just checked out your profile and noticed your angelicus botia. I have 2 and I absolutely love them! I plan to get a few more because if I'm not mistaken they do well in groups. They are such a fun fish to watch, not to mention gorgeous

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Will do! I'm determined to try anyway.
Change of subject for a sec, I just checked out your profile and noticed your angelicus botia. I have 2 and I absolutely love them! I plan to get a few more because if I'm not mistaken they do well in groups. They are such a fun fish to watch, not to mention gorgeous

Yes i have two at the moment.. all my Local fish stores had.. but those and my angels are probably the favorite fish i've owned.. both are growing like fast the one in the pic was malnourished when i got it.. you can probably see the bone sticking out at the top near it's head but he has almost doubled in size in the last month(picky eater will only eat frozen foods and freeze dried blood worms).. but their awesome to watch i have even gotten one to eat out of my hand.. pretty cool fish

Yeah do yours hang out together..? i've herd also they like a group of at least 3 but my tank is pretty stocked right now i don't know if it could handle another even if my LFS had some

 

[Reygan2]

Yes i have two at the moment.. all my Local fish stores had.. but those and my angels are probably the favorite fish i've owned.. both are growing like fast the one in the pic was malnourished when i got it.. you can probably see the bone sticking out at the top near it's head but he has almost doubled in size in the last month(picky eater will only eat frozen foods and freeze dried blood worms).. but their awesome to watch i have even gotten one to eat out of my hand.. pretty cool fish

Yeah do yours hang out together..? i've herd also they like a group of at least 3 but my tank is pretty stocked right now i don't know if it could handle another even if my LFS had some

I think 3 may be an ideal number, something about curbing aggression issues. Mine "play" a lot, or at least I hope that's what it is lol. My newest one is active and eats well, but it doesn't seem to be fattening up or growing like my other one is. It's really slim, which is starting to concern me. I've had it for several months now. I QT'd it for about 3 weeks. I hope it will be fine. Both of mine have huge appetites and eat anything I throw in.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

I think 3 may be an ideal number, something about curbing aggression issues. Mine "play" a lot, or at least I hope that's what it is lol. My newest one is active and eats well, but it doesn't seem to be fattening up or growing like my other one is. It's really slim, which is starting to concern me. I've had it for several months now. I QT'd it for about 3 weeks. I hope it will be fine. Both of mine have huge appetites and eat anything I throw in.

yeah their awesome mine so far just play they seem to enjoy each others company and haven't seen any aggression yet.. one will not eat my omega 1 flake food or blood worms.. and will only eat the marine land shrimp wafers.. the other pretty much will only eat frozen foods and he just recently has started growing a ton and he was tiny for about a month.. i doubt he has eaten at all at the LFS, but just yesterday he ate some flake food i was pretty proud about that maybe the other will follow.. but they are diggers at least once a week they dig a route under my large piece of driftwood

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

how many did you say you have? do yours get along with all your other fish? were they bi or small when you got them?