Sick Angelfish--help! What do I do?

[Kasei]

I've been treating for ick in my freshwater tank for the past 5 weeks now (that's not what this thread is about though, so please don't stop reading!) and am entering the (hopefully) final week of treatment. Yesterday I changed meds from a solution that contained formaldehyde to one that uses copper sulfate.

Today I noticed a number of white bumps on my angelfish much larger than the ick spots on his fins. They almost look like whiteheads and they have some fuzzy film hanging off of some of them. He keeps swimming slowly and sitting at the bottom of the tank. Earlier he was sort of rocking back and forth. I am worried that he is having some sort of reaction to the medication change. I thought about doing a water change but the label on the ick meds said to be sure to repeat treatment every 24 hours and did not suggest a water change unless there has been an overdose of the meds or the fish appear stressed. He also has had a very swollen tummy for a while now and I think he may be constipated--if so this could be adding to his stress and making whatever he's got worse. What should I do? None of the other fish appear to be too stressed, though I do have one phantom tetra that is acting a little twitchy.

 

[joy13]

I don't use medications that much because I have cories in my tanks

Did you do a major water change to get the most of the first medicine out before adding the other medicine?

For ich I usually just increase the temperature of my tank, increase PWC and the amount of air going into my tank. It has been years since I have had to treat any of my tanks for ich.

Looking at your list of fish I am not for sure how your pleco and your pictus will handle the medicine.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Sorry to hear about your problems. It sounds like Columnaris to me, but I couldn't be positive. It can definately be brought on by water quality issues and/or stress. I think mixing two meds is definately not a good thing to do. To start and to help the real experts here you need to post your water parameters and if you can, post a photo. That will help in making any kind of diagnosis.

 

[Kasei]

Yes, I had just done a 50% water change prior to treatment. And when I bought the new meds I brought the old bottle with me and made sure to ask the guy there if it would be okay to use with remnants of the first in the tank and also made sure to tell him that I had some scaleless fish--he said it would all be fine and that it was what they used on their own fish.

The old meds required that I do a 50% water change after each treatment so I've been doing that every three days for 5 weeks now--the water conditions should be fine, but I'll get back to you all with exact measurements asap. I'll also try for a photo, though my camera isn't so swell for that kind of thing, heh.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Forgot to address the bloating. Not sure if that is a symptom of Columnaris. One thing you can try is a pea. I take a frozen pea or two and pop them in the microwave for about 10 sec I think (just long enough to thaw it). Remove the outer skin. Inside the skin is the part to use and cut that up as best you can into very small pieces. A few pieces per fish is what I feed. Won't hurt other fish, keeps 'em regular.

 

[Kasei]

I'll definitely have to try that pea thing--is it okay if I freeze canned peas or do I have to buy them already frozen? I know that sounds dumb, but I dunno if there's something in frozen peas that makes them special, hehe...

Okay, my water results are as follows:

PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm

Also, the angelfish appears to not be freaking out as much, though he does still have a bump or two (albeit in different places than before) and the little flecks of ick on his fins and tail are still there. The only other fish acting noticeably is the phantom tetra--he keeps staying in one place and sort of twitching. He'll swim around for a bit but more often than not he'll be swimming in place.

 

[joy13]

The frozen peas don't have any salt in them, if the fish has dropsy the salt will make it worse. I have never gotten my angelfish to eat any type of vegetables so if he doesn't that doesn't mean he is sick, he just thinks they don't taste good.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

It's kind of funny one of my bettas had ich and as a last resort i put salt in her tank, in a few days she was better in fact shes in the spawning tank right now! EXCITING!!!

 

[Kasei]

It's kind of funny one of my bettas had ich and as a last resort i put salt in her tank, in a few days she was better in fact shes in the spawning tank right now! EXCITING!!!

That's great, congratulations! I would do a salt treatment for my tank in heartbeat--but for the fact that I have a pictus cat and a pleco. :/ Oh well; meds it is!