Thoughts?

[Hale81]

This is one of my Angelfish, bout a year old, and is actually male of a mated pair! But was looking for people's thoughts on orange tint on upper body! Rest of my angels kinda have it too, but this one seems little darker orange and spotty! Seems really healthy, didn't know if this was normal or not? Thanks in advance!

 

[Andy Sager]

Since this color variety is not natural, you would need to know the genetic makeup of the fish to know, for sure, that this is not a "Normal" color. From the picture, it appears to be just a new color coming out on an older fish. ( That happens many times with age). Unless you see disease (like Velvet) on the fish, I wouldn't be concerned but keep an eye out for any more changes. FYI Velvet is more a rust color and will appear ON the fish NOT within the fish's color. Use a magnifying glass if you can't tell with your naked eye

Hope this helps

 

[Hale81]

Hmm well it does seem to be a rusty color, and seems to be on fish not within!

 

[Hale81]

Turned all lights off and used flash light to look at, and seems all fish have a gold/rusty look to them! Starting to think is Velvet!

 

[Andy Sager]

If it's velvet, the best meds I know of are copper and darkness. Velvet uses light for a photosynthesis like process so darkness will help kill off the parasite but darkness alone has not been totally effective in my past. Since Velvet is a parasite and I am not familiar with newer meds that might be available for treating it, I go back to my old standby. (Just to let you know how effective copper is against velvet, back in the 1960s, we used copper pennies to successfully treat for velvet which was common on Rasbora hets at that time. In the 1980s and on, we used Copper Safe. Today, I'm sure there are copper based meds available at your LFS.)

Don't wait too long to treat, Velvet is contagious.

Hope this helps

 

[Hale81]

Ok thanks for info! Before I treat thought I give my full story! My dad has always had tanks when I was growing up and still does, so bout 30 years of keeping fish! So been something I've always been interested in! Lil over a year ago my dad helped me get a 29 gallon up and running! We added some angels and a Pleco! After bout 2-3 months they started getting that rusty tint to top part of body, I was worried called dad, had him come over to look, he thought they were ok, so I never really worried bout it! Then 3-4 months ago pair my angels been laying eggs and fertilizing them bout every 15 days! Bout 6 months ago we decided we wanted to expand and got a 55 gallon tank, dad told me when I set it up, that when I do a WC on my 29 gallon put 5 gallons of dirty water out of it into 55 gallon to help cycle process(which now I'm thinking I infected 55 gallon! But not thinking of it at the time slowly added some platy's, dwarf Gourami's, and Dalmatian Mollies! Then about a week ago notice one of the mollies started getting that rusty tint on some of its fins! This made me start worrying again! I do 20% WC on both tanks every 2 weeks! I don't have my aquarium log on me right now to give specific numbers, but in my area we have high hardness water and higher ph levels! Ask guy at LFS said that wouldn't worry bout said today fish adapt well to deferent water parameters! So thoughts? Like to get this taking care of if it is velvet! Looking forward to trying to get some successful babies from my mated pair sometime! Thanks

 

[Andy Sager]

Well I almost hate to admit it but I have your dad by about 18 years. I have had fish for 48 years now. lol. Doing the math, your Dad may remember the old penny trick as I don't think there were many copper meds available when he first started.
Anyway, back to your situation: Since you now have the same situation in 2 tanks, with different fish, in both tanks and the Angels haven't been in the 55, it's unfortunately really sounding like it's Velvet It is a parasite so I would definitely not let it go too much longer. If you have a smaller tank you can use as a hospital tank to treat them all in, it may save you some $$ on meds. But before you go through all this, check out this article: Freshwater Velvet Disease and confirm that it's velvet. Your fish should be flashing or scratching on something if it's velvet. Is this one of the characteristics of your fish?

 

[Hale81]

That's awesome 48 years! I wasn't trying to say my dad knows more or anything like that! Was just getting my story out! 48 years is awesome tho, dad always telling me how people give up with aquariums with one little problem! I know I'm still learning a lot but I love every part of it! And no I've never seen them rubbing or scratching on anything! And when the orange/rusty look started on angels was 9 months ago and never really acted strange or deferent! And I read Dalmatian Molly's can get orange on them but seems to look exactly like Angels! Ill do some more research tho! Thanks

 

[Hale81]

Here is another pic

 

[Andy Sager]

That's awesome 48 years! I wasn't trying to say my dad knows more or anything like that! Was just getting my story out! 48 years is awesome tho, dad always telling me how people give up with aquariums with one little problem! I know I'm still learning a lot but I love every part of it! And no I've never seen them rubbing or scratching on anything! And when the orange/rusty look started on angels was 9 months ago and never really acted strange or deferent! And I read Dalmatian Molly's can get orange on them but seems to look exactly like Angels! Ill do some more research tho! Thanks

No offense was taken or intended It is just such a rarity these days to find people who have kept fish for even half the amount of time that I have. Your Dad is right about people giving up too easily. Unfortunately, it's mostly through the problems that one learns the proper way of keeping and/or breeding fish. I also made tropical fish my vocation so also went into commercial fish breeding, importing/ exporting, collecting etc so I have a wide range of experiences to add to my training, which was from a certified Ichthyologist. (He actually taught me the penny trick for velvet. )
Before I can say for sure what this is, it's got the makings for a velvet outbreak but without the scratching, it becomes more of a head scratcher. The problem is that you said all the Angels came down with this color, it's on the fish but not in the fish, fish from another tank that shared the same water also came down with something similar, all sounds like velvet. But the lack of irritation leads one to believe that it's meerly coincidental as I believe the dalmation Molly is an offshoot of the gold dust molly which is orange/ rusty colored. ( I know the farmer who created those Gold Dust Mollies ) So I would pose this possible solution: Instead of going crazy and treating all the fish, why not take a 10 gal and treat just one or two Angels with the copper med and see if the orange goes away. If it does, treat the rest of the fish. If it doesn't I'd just keep an eye on the fish for more color changes and for signs of it being an irritation.
Wish I could be more definite but the pics are not up close enough for me to really see what is making that color. Just going by description at this point
Hope this helps

 

[Hale81]

Ya that sounds like a great idea to set up a 10 gallon and treat one of the fish! If I get a better, close up pic ill post it! But really appreciate the advice! Thanks

 

[Andy Sager]

No Problem. Glad to help

 

[Alyxx]

Sounds like a good plan to try treating one fish first. I just wanted to add that I'm only 23 but I've been keeping fish for about 15 years already now!

 

[Andy Sager]

Sounds like a good plan to try treating one fish first. I just wanted to add that I'm only 23 but I've been keeping fish for about 15 years already now!

That's what I like to hear, someone who has stuck with the hobby. I started about the same age as you Alyxx. I was 7. By the age of 9, I was so hooked on fish keeping that I was breeding fish for my mentor's store. He couldn't believe how much I was into fish. lol That led to an over 40 year career working with fish (Both freshwater and saltwater.) That career gave me many opportunities that I would not have had if I weren't in the fish biz.

My goal here on AA is to inspire those who are interested in fish keeping and are serious about their fish. It can be a fascinating career choice. It's time for us fish keepers to take back the hobby

 

[Alyxx]

Yup, I've only taken a break for about 3 years when I was living in dorms and fish were not allowed. The last year of those 3 I ended up with a few bettas in small tanks since that dorm allowed up to one gallon tanks. Part of the reason I was so eager to get an apartment was the ability to have tanks again. And having a kitchen.