Angelfish sick/fin rot?

[Dsudnick]

Hey all,

Been awhile since I’ve posted here but I’ve run into a bit of a problem. As of a few weeks ago my 55 gallon tank consisted of…

2 Angelfish
2 Younger Pictus Catfish
1 Adonis Pleco
6 Priscilla Tetras



Starting about 3 weeks ago one of the Catfish died.

A week after the other catfish died.

Last week the Pleco died.



I do regular weekly water changes between 35-50% keeping the nitrates anywhere from 20-40 ppm.

Tonight my angelfish started to act funky. Resting at the bottom of the tank which they do sometimes but barely moving.

I have a yellow and a black one. My black one kept flipping upside down and now he’s fine. While inspecting him I noticed he has red around his nose and hose side fins look like they have no webbing, maybe one just paranoid but do they usually look like that?

Water parameters are:

PH was yellowish on my test indicating it was around 6. I just added some PH neutralizer.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-40ppm

What do y’all think is going on?

 

[Andy Sager]

If you can post a picture of the fish and your tank setup, that may help.
As for the other fish, how long did you have them?
What size is your tank?
Do you clean your gravel when you do water changes?
What kind of filtration do you have?
Did the dead fish show any signs of illness before dying?
Do the fish that are still healthy show any signs of hyperventilating? , Stay close to the top of the tank? Eating food vigorously?

Let's start there.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish spinning or having trouble remaining buoyant (upright) usually have an infection in the brain.

A red area around the sinuses and in the skull is also an infection in the brain. Both of these issues can be from bacterial, viral or protozoan infections and usually occur in dirty tanks, or overcrowded tanks.

Treatment normally involves big daily water changes, gravel cleaning the substrate and cleaning the filter. However, we need more information (including pictures) to confirm this.

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We need pictures of the sick, dead (if you took any) and remaining live fish to check them for diseases?

Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

Did you add anything new to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

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You want to try and keep nitrates below 20ppm at all times. A 75% water change and gravel clean each week should help keep it lower. Floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) or Duckweed can also help keep nitrates down.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

A pH of 6.0 shouldn't be an issue for the fish because they naturally occur in soft acidic water. If you do adjust the pH, you only want to raise it 0.2 every few days. If you raise it too fast, you can cause alkalosis and kill the fish.
eg: the pH is 6.0. Use some water with a higher pH to raise it to 6.2. Wait a few days and raise it to 6.4. etc.
Doing bigger or more frequent water changes will raise the pH safer than using a chemical to raise the pH. You can also add limestone, shells or dead coral rubble to the aquarium to help buffer the pH and stop it dropping too much.

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BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Post clear pictures and video of the fish so we can check them for diseases.

 

[Dsudnick]

If you can post a picture of the fish and your tank setup, that may help.
As for the other fish, how long did you have them?
What size is your tank?
Do you clean your gravel when you do water changes?
What kind of filtration do you have?
Did the dead fish show any signs of illness before dying?
Do the fish that are still healthy show any signs of hyperventilating? , Stay close to the top of the tank? Eating food vigorously?

Let's start there.

Thank you for responding, I have a 55 gallon tank, with a filter that hanging off the back with white filter media rings, charcoal, and some sponge.

When I do water changes I siphon out the gravel and before the fish started dying they all showed signs off lethargy and uninterested in food.


On just ONE of the 3 that died I saw a red spot on their nose. My black angel fish has red on his nose too.

 

[Dsudnick]

 

[Dsudnick]

Thank you guys for all that input, my phone is dying so I’m going to charge it and take better pictures of anything.

Question tho, as far as cleaning the filter. I know about the filter media but should I clean the filter housing too? And how? Just wipe it down of gunk?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Every month or 2 i take my filters apart, rinse any hard filter media, squeeze out the sponges, and clean any moving parts. Like the impeller, impeller shaft, impeller cap. Moving parts get worn and getting rid of any gunk extends how long these parts last before they need replacing. I usually give the housing a wipe down with a paper towel at the same time and run a pipe cleaner through any tubing as they get filled with gunk and over time lose flow rate. I find the moving parts tend to need replacing every 18 to 24 months depending on the make/ model of the filter. Some filters are made to last longer than others. When it starts to rattle no matter i do, this is usually a sign things are getting worn and need replacing. Impeller blades are the first things that get worn and it loses balance and starts to wobble a little and rattle against the housing. Once it starts to do this wear will accelerate. You can usually buy a maintenance kit that contains all the parts you need to periodically replace.

 

[Colin_T]

Gravel clean the tank, do a big (75%) water change every day for a week, clean the filter and add some salt. If there's no improvement after a few days of water changes and salt, post more pictures.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.