fresh water enthusiast

[RickInKC]

I have had fresh water aquariums constantly for over 60 years, except 5 year break for college (starting with a round bowl as an early grade schooler). I have had my current 35-45 gallon tank since the early 90s. I prefer community community fish found on sale at local stores. My current tank has mostly tetras and the like, and 4, 5-year old angels, that have dwindled to currently two angels. They are about the size of the palm of a teenagers hand, (excluding tales; got them when they were quarter sized). About two months ago, they lost their stripes. Chemistry was off a little; I changed about 75-80 % of the water (city well water). Chemistry is now very good. One has regained its stripes; one has not. At least one laid eggs about 6 weeks ago (I did not try to harvest / protect the eggs). The one without stripes is swimming / eating normally (Tetra tetramin flakes; they are not interested in other types). The one with stripes, all of a sudden, one day, about a month ago laid on the bottom (stripes will come and go, but good, dark black, now). I almost got rid of it, but did not. It comes up for food now and then, but lays on its side on the bottom appearing to be dead; it does not swim around at all except for food. Chemistry, tested weekly, by me and the petshop is good. Any suggestions / thoughts / ideas? I have had angel fish in this mixed tank for decades but have never seen this. Have used occassionaly, API Algeafix, but not extensively. I always treat water when changing; never lost any fish when doing so. Temp in the mid to low 70s. Thanks for any input , rick

 

[Andy Sager]

I have had fresh water aquariums constantly for over 60 years, except 5 year break for college (starting with a round bowl as an early grade schooler). I have had my current 35-45 gallon tank since the early 90s. I prefer community community fish found on sale at local stores. My current tank has mostly tetras and the like, and 4, 5-year old angels, that have dwindled to currently two angels. They are about the size of the palm of a teenagers hand, (excluding tales; got them when they were quarter sized). About two months ago, they lost their stripes. Chemistry was off a little; I changed about 75-80 % of the water (city well water). Chemistry is now very good. One has regained its stripes; one has not. At least one laid eggs about 6 weeks ago (I did not try to harvest / protect the eggs). The one without stripes is swimming / eating normally (Tetra tetramin flakes; they are not interested in other types). The one with stripes, all of a sudden, one day, about a month ago laid on the bottom (stripes will come and go, but good, dark black, now). I almost got rid of it, but did not. It comes up for food now and then, but lays on its side on the bottom appearing to be dead; it does not swim around at all except for food. Chemistry, tested weekly, by me and the petshop is good. Any suggestions / thoughts / ideas? I have had angel fish in this mixed tank for decades but have never seen this. Have used occassionaly, API Algeafix, but not extensively. I always treat water when changing; never lost any fish when doing so. Temp in the mid to low 70s. Thanks for any input , rick

Hi Rick. Welcome to the forum. Nice to have another " old timer" here. ( I'm creeping up on year 61 this year. )
Angelfish colors are mostly dictated by the lighting and mood. You actually MAKE stripeless Angels by having the lights on all the time when the fish are young. So the coming and going of the stripes is not really a concern. The lying on the bottom with a 5 year old fish is usually a sign of either a swim bladder issue or old age. Today's Angelfish sadly do not last as long as the fish from the old days. When you read that Angels live 12-15 years, that's for wild fish with great genetics. Sadly, not many of the Angels on the market have " great" genetics anymore. Today, you can get 4,5, even 6 different phenotypes from a single pair. They have been too mixed for too long and it has weakened the genetics of the fish in the hobby. As long as the fish is eating and your water quality is great, there is not much really I would do for this fish. You can't repair a swim bladder and medicating blindly has little success. What you could try is to place this fish in another tank and raise the temp to 78-80F and feed a medicated fish food for internal bacteria but other than that, there's nothing more I would do. You can't stop aging.

Hope this helps.