Angelfish Problem

[megan_jones]

I've had this platinum angelfish for around 4 years and never had any problems with it before. Up until 2 weeks ago it was in a Jewel 260 community tank (set up for approx 2 years) with a female angelfish (they are a pair), 9 neon tetras, 4 rosy tetras and 4 silver spotted catfish. They all get along well except for when the Angels lay eggs however they are often gone within a day.

Initially I noticed that it was swimming quite abnormally and had an injury on its left side, however I left it to see if it would sort it out by itself. When it was still having difficultly swimming a few days later I moved him into a 20 litre hospital tank.

Since being moved to the tank I noticed that his left eye which was the same side as the injury was looking cloudy, red and swollen. I have not seen him eat since being moved into the hospital tank and he often just lies at the bottom on his side. I dosed him with Melafix daily for the first week however his conditions only worsened so I discontinued the treatment.

I am unsure as to whether he has a swim bladder problem, an exterior bacterial infection or both. Today I bought swim bladder medication, garlic infused food and an infection medication which i have already dosed into the tank. As I'm not sure what his issue is I'd like to treat both his injuries and his possible swim bladder infection but am unsure if I can treat both at the same time?

Any advice would be really appreciated, I'd hate to lose this fish.


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[Andy Sager]

You need to check whether they have any contradictions if used together. If not, then you can treat for both problems. Sadly, with Angels, you really can't wait to see IF things will get better. More often than not, it doesn't because the root cause of the problem wasn't addressed so the fish just gets worse. If the fish is not eating, getting medicated foods will not help. You'll need to get meds that work through absorption.

It's possible that the issue was the other Angel and by not separating them, the damage was just made worse. The symptoms you mentioned seem more post injury infection more than swim bladder. All fish when under tremendous stress will lay down so that position is not automatically "swim bladder" issues.

For future reference, Melafix and Primafix are more a preventative med more than a curative med. If the fish has an issue, then you need to treat it with more intensive treatments.

Hope this helps

 

[megan_jones]

Thanks for the advice Andy, I changed medication 7 days ago and he's been swimming a lot more actively and not lying on the bottom of the tank anymore, however his infection does not seem to be improving and his stomach is beginning to swell, I've attached a picture do you think you can tell if this is a swim bladder problem at this point?


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[megan_jones]

I think I should add that's he's still very unstable despite being upright most of the time, and I haven't witnessed him eating in about 3 weeks.


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[Andy Sager]

Unfortunately, it looks like a couple of possible issues but the fact that the fish is upright is a good start. You may now need to switch to the swim bladder meds you picked up to see if that will help reduce the swelling. If the swelling continues, I would think it's some form of internal infection and meds such as Kanamycin might need to be used as they are absorbed through the skin so it doesn't matter that the fish isn't eating. Also, as for eating, it's okay that the fish isn't eating as long as it's got that inflamation. Food would probably not be able to be digested anyway so don't force the issue.

So to recap: Finish the entire course of the med you are using and start the Swim Bladder med ONLY IF there are no contraindications between the 2. If there are, you need to finish the first med then switch to the nest one. Unfortunately, swim bladder takes time to heal and not much you do besides keeping good water quality and properly medicating the fish is going to make this heal faster.