My Angel Fish are having some issues

Daibills · Jan 19, 2022

Hello to the forum
My angels are experiencing issues but im not sure exactly what it is. A few days ago my tank had gotten a bad leak so I had to switch them into a new tank. I know thats bad because of the whole bacteria thing. They were doing pretty well though. I had changed the filter about 4 days after and thats when things started to get bad. I checked on them the next day and they were red along their fins and they were clamped as well sitting on a bottom corner of the tank. I started doing some water changes and things started to get better. Fins back to normal little to no red. White is swimming around more and acting close to normal but will not eat. Neither of them will eat. The other is still on the bottom of the tank and seems to be breathing pretty hard. Something I noticed today is the slimy looking stuff coming off of white in the 3rd pic. I also had 4 algae eaters and 3 have died by the day. Please help

Slaphppy7 · Jan 19, 2022

Welcome to TFF

You need to be testing your own water, get one of these ASAP, and run tests for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte, and report those results here

API® | FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT

The API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT measures the 4 most important levels in freshwater aquariums quickly and accurately, including pH, high range pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

apifishcare.com

Colin_T · Jan 19, 2022

Hi and welcome to the forum

The problem is due to you replacing the filter media/ material. The filter media contains good bacteria that keep ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm. If you replace the media, you get rid of these good bacteria and then you get ammonia and nitrite readings that cause the above symptoms (excess mucous, breathing heavily, red lines in the fins).

It will take about 4-6 weeks for the filter to recover. During this time you should reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week. Don't worry, the fish won't starve.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This will remove most of the ammonia produced by the fish eating. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite and do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

----------------------
In future when you clean the filter, just squeeze out the filter media in a bucket of tank water. Re-use the media and tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn. But don't clean the filter for the next 6 weeks because you can upset the bacteria that is trying to settle on the media.

If you have a filter that contains pads/ cartridges, these get cleaned as above. If they start to fall apart, replace one with a sponge from a different brand of filter. You can buy various types of filter sponge and use a pr of scissors to cut them to fit in your filter. Sponges last for years and only need replacing when they fall apart.

Daibills · Jan 19, 2022

Colin_T said:
Hi and welcome to the forum

The problem is due to you replacing the filter media/ material. The filter media contains good bacteria that keep ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm. If you replace the media, you get rid of these good bacteria and then you get ammonia and nitrite readings that cause the above symptoms (excess mucous, breathing heavily, red lines in the fins).

It will take about 4-6 weeks for the filter to recover. During this time you should reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week. Don't worry, the fish won't starve.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This will remove most of the ammonia produced by the fish eating. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite and do a 75% water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

----------------------
In future when you clean the filter, just squeeze out the filter media in a bucket of tank water. Re-use the media and tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn. But don't clean the filter for the next 6 weeks because you can upset the bacteria that is trying to settle on the media.

If you have a filter that contains pads/ cartridges, these get cleaned as above. If they start to fall apart, replace one with a sponge from a different brand of filter. You can buy various types of filter sponge and use a pr of scissors to cut them to fit in your filter. Sponges last for years and only need replacing when they fall apart.

Okay so to be exact. Everytime I feed them (should that be mon,wed,fri?) do a 75% water change after 4hrs. & you said they will not starve. Its been about 2 days since theyve ate. Is it true that they will die after 3? I am going to buy a testing kit asap to make sure the water is chlorine free before added

Daibills · Jan 19, 2022

Slaphppy7 said:
Welcome to TFF

You need to be testing your own water, get one of these ASAP, and run tests for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte, and report those results here

API® | FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT

The API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT measures the 4 most important levels in freshwater aquariums quickly and accurately, including pH, high range pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

apifishcare.com

Okay thank you I will try to buy asap

Colin_T · Jan 19, 2022

Yes you can feed them Monday, Wednesday and Friday and do a 75% water change 4-8 hours after feeding. I use to feed in the evening and do a water change the following morning. Or you can feed in the morning and do a water change in the afternoon. Whichever is easiest for you.

The fish won't starve. Unlike mammals and birds that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used for growth and movement. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and not suffer any major issues from that.

More fish die from poor water quality caused by overfeeding, than from starvation. In fact, most captive aquarium fish are overweight because they are fed too much.

------------------
If you use a dechlorinator and mix it with some tap water in a bucket for 5-30 minutes, it will remove any chlorine/ chloramine from the water and make it safe for the fish.

If you have chloramine (mix of ammonia and chlorine) in the water supply, most dechlorinators recommend using a double dose for chloramine and a single dose for chlorine.

Daibills · Jan 26, 2022

Colin_T said:
Yes you can feed them Monday, Wednesday and Friday and do a 75% water change 4-8 hours after feeding. I use to feed in the evening and do a water change the following morning. Or you can feed in the morning and do a water change in the afternoon. Whichever is easiest for you.

The fish won't starve. Unlike mammals and birds that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used for growth and movement. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and not suffer any major issues from that.

More fish die from poor water quality caused by overfeeding, than from starvation. In fact, most captive aquarium fish are overweight because they are fed too much.

------------------
If you use a dechlorinator and mix it with some tap water in a bucket for 5-30 minutes, it will remove any chlorine/ chloramine from the water and make it safe for the fish.

If you have chloramine (mix of ammonia and chlorine) in the water supply, most dechlorinators recommend using a double dose for chloramine and a single dose for chlorine.

Ive been doing things as instructed. The fish started to look normal again. I did a water change yesterday and today One of them had little bubbles on his fin and his fins are V red.

Colin_T · Jan 26, 2022

Daibills said:
One of them had little bubbles on his fin and his fins are V red.

Are you referring to the round things on the edge of the dorsal (top) fin?
These look like excess mucous but might be air bubbles if you just did a water change and the new water was a lot colder than the tank water.
It's not a disease though so don't worry about adding anything to treat it.

A few more pictures and a 1 minute video might offer more information about it.

Daibills · Jan 27, 2022

Yes the dorsal and he has sort of stopped using his pectoral fins to swim around. Using more of his tail. Its not letting me upload a video

Colin_T · Jan 27, 2022

upload video to YouTube, then copy & paste link here. we can view it at YouTube.

it still looks like mucous or calcium deposits in the fin rays but they normally take a while to grow.

is the water quality ok (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH)?

if the water is ok, maybe add a bit of salt. use 1 heaped tablespoon of rock salt for every 20 litres of water. keep salt in there for 1-2 weeks. see if it helps.

Daibills · Mar 4, 2022

Hello! Update here lol The water is fine. The fish look nice and back to normal, all fins have grown back fine, no mucus. But they still have no eaten. Im not understanding that part. Its been nearly 2 months. They havent eaten anything

Naughts · Mar 4, 2022

What do you feed them? How do you check if they're eating it?
If you are not using live foods you could try them, fish rarely resist the chase.
I might suggest brineshrimp or microworms but it has been many years since I had angels. @Uberhoust or @Wills would know what is best for angels.

Byron · Mar 4, 2022

Daibills said:
Hello! Update here lol The water is fine. The fish look nice and back to normal, all fins have grown back fine, no mucus. But they still have no eaten. Im not understanding that part. Its been nearly 2 months. They havent eaten anything

Two months seems a long time without food...how are you assessing that they haven't eaten anything?

Daibills · Mar 4, 2022

Naughts said:
What do you feed them? How do you check if they're eating it?
If you are not using live foods you could try them, fish rarely resist the chase.
I might suggest brineshrimp or microworms but it has been many years since I had angels. @Uberhoust or @Wills would know what is best for angels.

I put the food in and watch them. I put flakes that they used to like. They just look at them and swim away. Ive tried bloodworms that they used to love and they dont go towards those either. They just float to the bottom and end up eaten by corys

Naughts · Mar 5, 2022

Persevere with different varieties of live food. You can wean them onto frozen by mixing it with the live once they have regained their appetites. It is worth trying some foods soaked in garlic.

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