Dying Angel Fish

[montejake]

Hello All,
This is my first posting so please bear with me. I have a 44 gal corner tank with angelfish and other tetras. I have some live plants that I planted about 2 weeks before is added any fish. The tank has been running with fish for around 2 months. During the past week, I've lost 5 out of 10 small angelfish. I took one that was under warranty back to the store and they tested my water and said it was perfect. I test for ph (7.0) nitrites (0) and ammonia (0). The water temperature is 78-80 degrees. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong or any suggestions. Thanks

 

[Christmasfish]

There may have been a spike before you took a sample..two weeks is real quick for zeroes across the board.
you really..really should get a test kit of your own. No fishkeeper should be caught without one. Specially while in teh first month of cycling.
Also do you have deep gravel? maybe there is anaerobic stuff developing an d a gas emission killed them (though I really don't think the tank is old enough for that prob yet anyway). And why only ONE under warranty? How many days are tehy guranteed? Or are they bought from different locations?

 

[montejake]

I've had the tank running for two months with fish in it. Previous to that I added the plants and ran it without fish for two weeks. The figures that I got were from my own testing. The fish under warranty was one of four that I added after a month of running with no problems. They have a 14 day warranty.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:4eed5e1602] Welcome to AA, montejake! [/center:4eed5e1602]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your fish. Were all the fish bought from the same place? Perhaps, it is a batch of ill fish from the LFS. Do you QT fish before adding them to the main tank? Did the fish show any signs of illness prior to their deaths?


Allivymar keeps Angels and is great with trouble shooting illnesses. She will come on at some point.

 

[Christmasfish]

Ah-soo, didn't catch the two weeks for plants added was before a time for fish added...
Though two months is still "cycling"

Deep gravel....? 2 months is old enough for gravel kinda problems...
Did you QT your newest arrivals long enough? at all?

With good water and testing at home, I am used up for ideas..
Our resident angel guru AND cycling guru; Alli, is a better bet for your answers.
edit: darn quick reply! bumped out! see...menagerie's suggestions...Alli

 

[montejake]

The gravel is about 2" deep. Didn't QT. I never thought of it. How long do you recommend QT. Doing a partial water change and treating with Kanacyn. Looks like another is on the way out. Setting up a quarantine tank Symptoms before death are swimming very close to surface, then close to bottom. Other angels are attacking it. Trying to isolate it.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya montejake and welcome to Aquariumadvice (I'm here Xmas, Menagerie LOL).

Bummer about the fish How long have you had the angels? Less then 2 weeks? What other fish are in the tank? And how small are they?

Other then the behavioral symptoms, are there any others? Changes in slimecoat, fins, breathing, eating, etc? How quick between symptoms and death? How often do you water change/gravel vac?

I also suspect a bacterial infection but without more info its hard to define it any better. If it IS a bacterial infection, Kanacyn is one of the best antibiotics out there.

I wrote an article on QT tanks; check the article section. It should answer your questions about setting one up and what you need.

 

[montejake]

Hello Allivymar.

Thanks for responding to my dilemma. We started the tank with six fruit loop tetras, added six neons, then added the angel fish. We started with two, added four more a couple of weeks later, then added four more about three weeks ago. All appeared to be well until last Friday. That's when the deaths began. I've now lost six out of ten angels. No other fish seem affected. I spoke to a person with more than 30 years of experience with fish and he tested my water and seems to think that it hasn't cycled yet. I told him that I changed the filter element about a month ago. He said that I shouldn't have done it so soon. He suggested Cycle by Nutrafin to ensure that the tank will cycle with minimal fish death problems. The only other symptom on the dead fish is I noticed is that the long feelers that hang beneath the gills (sorry I don't know the proper term) one of them appeared to be shriveled and the other seemed full and healthy. They seem OK for now. We'll see how they are in the morning.

 

[Menagerie]

Cycle by Nutrafin

This product does not have the correct bacteria. If you can get Bio Spira (I hear it's hard to find because it is so popular and WORKS!)--use it to help cycle the tank.

 

[montejake]

Good Morning,

The 4 remaining angels made it through last night and seem to be doing OK. I fed them this morning and all had a great interest in the food. I put the cycle in the tank yesterday. Should I add the Bio Spira also, or should I wait? I'll try to find some today. Thank you all for your thoughts and advice.

 

[Menagerie]

I have no idea about adding the bio spira to a tank already using cycle--it is two different bacterias....someone with more experience will come along.
You have water tests, what are the numbers for ammonia and nitrites today? How often are you doing water changes?

 

[FishyDan]

I have the same problem with my Angels. I bring them home, QT for a week, put them in the tank, they eat good and live for 1 - 3 weeks, usually start swimming in a flat spin for a day, then die. All other fish fine, water conditins are all good, ?????

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah, there no problem adding BioSpira to a tank that already has Cycle in it. Do know BioSpira is made to deal with rising levels of ammonia and not established; shouldn't be a huge prob in your case as none of the nitrogenous wastes are spiking yet.

In your case Dan, coupla basic questions just to get em out of the way. Do you test the water parameters after each death? How often do you water change? Whats your normal pH/hardness? And do you get the fish from the same place/same breeder (sometimes one breeder will sell to a number of stores)? I have 8 adult angels, 11 fry atm; I've bought all of them (except the babies LOL) from lfs from all over and have been lucky to get pretty healthy fish. But I do know of folks who have had horrible luck getting healthy angels.