Very sick angelfish - mystery illness

[anna8297]

It's been awhile since I've been on the forum. Glad to see you guys are still going strong. I have a 55 gal planted tank with now 6 angels, a pleco and a clown loach. About two months ago one fish got sick. It was eating, but could not retain weight. Over the course of several weeks the head got more and more pinched at the crown, although the belly stayed slightly distended. She had some white spots, so assuming at first that we simply had ich, we treated with malafix. Nothing improved. We did a pwc and treated with Jungle brand ich clear. This didn't help either. At this point we sought help from our local fish store guru. He suggested the possibility that the fish had an internal parasite causing the wasting. My boyfried bought a medicine from him for this which we treated in the tank directly and medicated some flakes to feed. About this time, the first fish died, and about 4 days later we noticed that another fish was sick. Since then we have also treated with formalin and Jungle brand fungus clear out of sheer desperation. What's really weird is that only one fish at a time is getting sick and its not until that fish dies that another fish gets sick. We have a hospital tank that hasn't been very well maintained unfortunately, and we are working to get it cycled so we can get the fish in it.

We are desperate. I'm posting a picture of the fish which is currently ill. One of the small white nodules on its top fin has a slightly pinkish tinge to it that you can't make out from the picture. Its eating fine, behavior is normal, but it is losing weight and the white spots are multiplying quickly. If there is anything that I have forgotten to include, just ask away! Thanks for any help!

Amonia .5
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
pH about 7.2
:-[

 

[courtnee]

How old is the tank? The tank does not appeared cycled if you have an ammonia reading and 0 nitrAtes. Ammonia at .5 is enough to start making fish ill and if left there can become lethal.

You should have

0 ammonia
0 nitrIte
and some nitrAte (most tanks sit around 20-40)

That ammonia will process eventually into nitrIte and become another issue.......

I would suggest a good sized PWC to get that ammonia level down which will in return help the fish a lot. I will let someone else chime in on how large (assuming 50% right away) and how often to continue the PWC.

Test the water everyday and come back to the forum and let them walk you through this. The people on this forum are amazing and will work wonders!

 

[anna8297]

The tank has been up and running for more about 18 years and this is the first time I've had an amonia reading. I can only assume it is caused by the amount of medications put into the tank and the loss of the good bacteria in the filter. We'll do another pwc today and we are removing the fish to a hospital tank we just set up so we don't keep messing with the water quality for otherwise healthy fish left in the tank.

 

[BillD]

I have lost who;e tanks of angels, that stop eating and show no symptoms aother than staying in a corner or near the heater. They will stay for days or sometime weeks, and just drop dead, one at a time. Generaally only one fish at a time does this. No treatments, I have tried, have worked.

 

[Jarred Darque]

Anna, that sounds kinda simliar to what Ibelieved to be a viral infectioned that destroyed only the angels in my tank a few months agom except what started as white spots turned into massive holes in the fish before they died, and one didnt start showing sick until right before the last one died, this went on through 5 angels, I got one angel out before he showed any signs, but a month later he started showing the same symptons so I euthanized him. I brought them by a very good LFS, and we spent a few hours looking up diseases with no luck, no treatments seemed to have any effect, whichis what led ot the conclusion of a virus

I stil lhave no idea what started all of it either.