Angel fish on his side

[donttaptheglass]

Whats it mean when my Angel fish is sideways? He seems strong and when he feels motivated to, he can straighten up and swim correctly, but lately he's been . . . .well, sideways. He's not tall and skinny anymore, he's flat and wide. Am I looking at something I need to cure here?

[Zagz]

Have you seen him poo? Any other symptoms at all, breathing rapidly? How long has he been like this? Swimming sideways can sometimes mean swim bladder issues. Try feeding some peas.
I know there is an ailment that affect angelfish and I think one of the symptoms is sideways swimming. Jchillin has more experience with this than I do. PM him if you want the details.

[justrelax]

could it be a new light source? i read once that the direction light enters the tank can effect the lateral positioning of the fish...

[Jchillin]

I'm sorry to hear about your angel DTTG. From what I have gathered, this is the first sign of a possible genetic disorder. A few believe that it is closely related to Discus plague.

I'm also sorry to say that there is no known cure and is almost always fatal. Sometimes a water change can help but it is most often a temporary measure.

[donttaptheglass]

As I sit here typing this and looking at him, he's swimming perfectly normal and upright and he seems to be quite happily chomping down some frozen brine shrimp, but when he stops eating, he kinda goes diagonal a little bit. I have some peas, both frozen and canned. How should I prepare the peas before I put them in there?

I'm not real sure how long he's been doing that because I've had the tank blacked out for a couple of days to help control an algae issue.

As far as a water change, its getting about a 90% water change tomorrow because I have to figure out how to move the tank 3 feet to the left to make room for new living room furniture.

As much as I'd hate to see anything happen to him, I don't guess I need to worry about it spreading to the other fish if its a genetic disorder since genes don't tend to be contagious.

Where can I read about this genetic disorder, JC?

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by donttaptheglass

As far as a water change, its getting about a 90% water change tomorrow because I have to figure out how to move the tank 3 feet to the left to make room for new living room furniture.

Do I hear another tank? hehehe........

Hope the angel starts doing better. As for the peas, just use some boiling water, put in a cup, and put in some peas for about 1 minute. That's how I do mine. Then take the skin off, just put a little cut in the skin and kind of squish, and the pea will come out of the skin. Then squish the pea and drop in tank.

[donttaptheglass]

Do I hear another tank? hehehe........

After what we spent on that furniture, I can't afford a Betta Bowl.

I could have bought the ultimate digital with that money!

Wives . . . . humph . . . you can sell 'em, but you just can't get as much for 'em as you could back in the day.

dttg

[severum mama]

I bought 6 juvie angels last year at the same time, from the same store, and one by one they all began to show these symptoms. Eventually they all died, and I never did figure out why- my perams were dead on. I hope your angel makes it, but IME once they start to have trouble swimming it is unlikely. Maybe mine had that problem that Jchillin was talking about.

[Jchillin]

DTTG - I've seen very little written on this. I only heard about this from Angel breeder's. I was curious as to why one of mine met this fate after having been happy in my tank for several months.

AFAIK, nothing scientific has been done to prove or disprove the theory.

[Andos99]

I recently lost two angels to the same thing. One died after about three months and the other one died a month later. They seemed normal and healthy and then one day, starting swimming sideways......I'm sorry to say, they died only days after showing these symptoms. I've since given up on angels.

[Alshain]

I saw one at the store that was spinning around in circles. He was solid white and very pretty but he didn't look healthy. I only noticed it because I wanted to buy one of the ottos they had in the tank with it. Needless to say, I bought nothing from that tank.

[donttaptheglass]

3 month update on the sideways angel . . . .

He's still alive, eats well, gets around great . . . fed him blanched peas for a while which took some doing because I don't think he liked them, but eventually he caved in. So, after all that he seems very alive and healthy, still hangs out with his "mate", starts fights when he has the mood in him . . . .

and he's still sideways. Doesn't make any sense. Whats the possibility he's blind in one eye? He does have a milky coating over one eye that has been there as long as I can remember.

DTG

[Jchillin]

I'm certainly glad to hear that he is doing well. I'm also quite surprised to boot.