Angelfish not eating for a week!!!- any help would be appreciated

Navfish · Oct 15, 2022

My angelfish has not been eating for a week and had white poop. I thought it was internal parasites and treated for it with paracleanse the day after he stopped eating and showed white poop. However, treatment didn’t work.

Important to note: I only saw him pooping white 2 times at beginning of treatment but haven’t seen it since.

He has been more lethargic and hiding in the corner and not eating anything. psychically he’s looking fine.

I was told to wait 2 weeks before starting levismol with Expel P but I don’t think he will be able to survive that long if he’s not eating! (It would be three weeks without food if I did wait for next treatment)

Could I possibly try vitachem from aquarium co-op to get him to eat again?? Or will I just have to wait it through?

Temp: 80
Ammonia Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 10

Finished paracleanse treatment yesterday and did water change (50%).

Any advice?

Byron · Oct 15, 2022

Before turning to any medication which will add stress and thus may be worsening rather than improving, let's consider the tank and the food. What are the other fish in the tank? And what have you or were you feeding? And was the angelfish "mouthing" any of the food?

The temperature may be an issue, once I know the other fish. The temp is not causing this for the angelfish, it is just another issue that may be involved in the general well-being of the fish in total.

AdoraBelle Dearheart · Oct 15, 2022

What are the ingredients in paracleanse? I can't find an ingredients list online. Who or what told you to wait two weeks before using levimisole? I used prazi right after using levimisole, then did the second round of levemisole right after the prazi, without ill-effects.

But when a fish has stopped eating, that's usually a very bad sign.

Navfish · Oct 15, 2022

Byron said:
Before turning to any medication which will add stress and thus may be worsening rather than improving, let's consider the tank and the food. What are the other fish in the tank? And what have you or were you feeding? And was the angelfish "mouthing" any of the food?

The temperature may be an issue, once I know the other fish. The temp is not causing this for the angelfish, it is just another issue that may be involved in the general well-being of the fish in total.

I have candy cane tetras and neon tetras and a snail in the tank

I feed tropical tetra fish flakes and occasionally frozen bloodworms.

It’s actually 79 not 80 degrees in the tank. I just checked it.

He used to eat the flakes with no problem.

Navfish · Oct 15, 2022

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
What are the ingredients in paracleanse? I can't find an ingredients list online. Who or what told you to wait two weeks before using levimisole? I used prazi right after using levimisole, then did the second round of levemisole right after the prazi, without ill-effects.

But when a fish has stopped eating, that's usually a very bad sign.

It has both praziquantel/metronidazole which are also in general cure. I asked on a different fish forum and they said to wait.

So what should I do now?
-should I order Prazipro or Expel P and should I start treatment as soon as I receive it?

Byron · Oct 15, 2022

Navfish said:
I have candy cane tetras and neon tetras and a snail in the tank

I feed tropical tetra fish flakes and occasionally frozen bloodworms.

It’s actually 79 not 80 degrees in the tank. I just checked it.

He used to eat the flakes with no problem.

Bloodworms is not a healthy food, regardless of the fact that most fish gobble them up. Was the angelfish eating these, and now willnot eat them? I want to be clear on this, because many if not all fish will grab a chunk/flake of food, and after a few seconds appear to spit it out, causing the aquarist to assume they are not eating. But they actually bite off tiny bits and slowly eat the food. Any info you can provide on this will help.

As for the flake, I would change to Bug Bites made by Fluval. They come in various sizes, and given the tetras (they will do much better on these) and the angelfish, thee micro size will be OK. This is the most natural food for almost all carnivorous or omnivorous fish, which is what you have here. The angelfish may go for these.

I am staying out of the drug question, as I am not someone who uses any of these until all else fails, and then assuming someone with considerable knowledge of disease in fish has advised it. This is just my approach for over 10 years now.

Navfish · Oct 21, 2022

A little update: It's been 14 days since he has been feeling sick.
I have isolated him and put tannins in (10 gallons).

It's been a week since I've started PraziPro and will continue to treat him until he gets better and starts eating fully.

Good news: while I still see white poop, he is getting his appetite back

.....sorta
-He still refuses to eat flakes, Fluval bug bites, etc. Only bloodworms; but even then, he is sort of hesitant to eat them and will inspect them closely before eating. I know it's not good for his health but he wasn't eating anything and this was my only option.

Guyb93 · Oct 22, 2022

I’m shocked he hasnt ate all the neon tetra lol

GaryE · Oct 22, 2022

Before I developed an allergy to bloodworm, I used it here for years with no problems. It shouldn't be a central food as it's low in proteins and amino acids, but it is an effective food that fish go for. I would have no qualms about keeping the angel eating with it. But you'd need something as palatable to the fish to ease the transition back to feeding it a few times per week. To me, that's the problem. Frozen foods are very limited.
In outdoor tubs for daphnia, I often get bloodworms sneaking in.

They used to sell tiny neons, and yes, adult angels ate them. But over the years I've kept a few lots of wild angels, grown to full size, and they never bothered adult cardinals.

Navfish · Oct 22, 2022

GaryE said:
Before I developed an allergy to bloodworm, I used it here for years with no problems. It shouldn't be a central food as it's low in proteins and amino acids, but it is an effective food that fish go for. I would have no qualms about keeping the angel eating with it. But you'd need something as palatable to the fish to ease the transition back to feeding it a few times per week. To me, that's the problem. Frozen foods are very limited.
In outdoor tubs for daphnia, I often get bloodworms sneaking in.

They used to sell tiny neons, and yes, adult angels ate them. But over the years I've kept a few lots of wild angels, grown to full size, and they never bothered adult cardinals.

Should I try Frozen Daphina? Would that work for now while I ease him back to normal foods like you said so that the angelfish doesn't have to eat bloodworms every-other day?

And no my angelfish, when he was in the main tank, did not eat them. It was only during feeding that the angelfish would try to swim and attack them. But the tetras always managed to swim away. Besides, the angelfish is still a juvenile! We will see when he gets older

GaryE · Oct 22, 2022

Daphnia aren't that good frozen. Brine shrimp tend to break into mush as they thaw. I wish there were better options for smaller fish generally available.
I like using bug bites, but not pellets.
I used to make a food with a stick blender, frozen shrimp (not fish food ones), white fleshed fish, pureed carrots and peas (baby food), avian vitamins and gelatin to hold it together. My wild caught angels thought highly of it, and you could sneak meds in via that food, in the extremely rare cases you had to.

AdoraBelle Dearheart · Oct 22, 2022

I don't know about where you are, but if you happen to have a container in the garden that's collected rainwater, there are still mosquito larvae appearing here, which make great live food. It's illegal to deliberately cultivate them in many places, but I store my fish buckets outside since there's no room indoors, and sometimes find mozzie larvae in them, which happens to make a great and very appealing live food. Since we don't want to risk mozzies spreading disease, I make sure to collect any larvae I find and feed them to the fish, or freeze them so they can't turn into adult mozzies!

Back in the fold · Oct 22, 2022

It doesn't happen often but sometimes a fish will go on a hunger strike for no apparent reason and then start in eating again . Figure that one out.

anewbie · Oct 22, 2022

Guyb93 said:
I’m shocked he hasnt ate all the neon tetra lol

If he fits in a 10 he is either not fully grown or a runt but either way won't be eating neon. This same thread is on another forum from my reading this is not likely to be a parasite problem and white poop is not always caused by parasite. Can't comment of parasite meds are harsh on the fish but as a general rules using meds without a need is not good for the fish.

With angles i tend to keep the tank warm when they are not feeling well - 82 or 83 - but the exact temp doesn't matter. The recommendation of fluval bug bit is excellent (blue is small and red is a bit larger); i have a couple of angels that will only eat wardley shirm pellets (not a good food; but they like it since it breaks down quickly in water) or flakes and others that love bug bites. For flakes i feed omega-one but i don't like flakes as it is messy (bad for water quality); but i still put a little in for the tetras (i keep serpae with my angles and NO they do not nip; they have never nipped).

Anyway more to the specific of your fish; I think there was a problem with the blood worm and i would not feed them again to the fish. While not necessarily common they do carry diseases and other issue as well as not being great food. If you want to give them a treat try live brine shrimp or black worms (again these have to be from a reliable source or they can contain diseases; and in truth are best raised by the person feeding them to the fish). There are several other live foods. I'm not sure frozen ex-live food is any better than dry food from a reliable source (i consider northfin, nls, fluval-bug bite and omega-one 'reliable source'). The negative to northfin (beyond price) is that it contains too much garlic and some fishes won't touch it - also there has been some indication that garlic is not healthy for fishes. NLS also has garlic; not quite as much as northfin but too much imho. I *think* you can get nls without garlic.

In all honestly my young angles would eat an apple if i fed it to them - they are not picky eaters - only the adults develop an attitude.

Navfish · Oct 22, 2022

anewbie said:
If he fits in a 10 he is either not fully grown or a runt but either way won't be eating neon. This same thread is on fishlore from my reading this is not likely to be a parasite problem and white poop is not always caused by parasite. Can't comment of parasite meds are harsh on the fish but as a general rules using meds without a need is not good for the fish.

With angles i tend to keep the tank warm when they are not feeling well - 82 or 83 - but the exact temp doesn't matter. The recommendation of fluval bug bit is excellent (blue is small and red is a bit larger); i have a couple of angels that will only eat wardley shirm pellets (not a good food; but they like it since it breaks down quickly in water) or flakes and others that love bug bites. For flakes i feed omega-one but i don't like flakes as it is messy (bad for water quality); but i still put a little in for the tetras (i keep serpae with my angles and NO they do not nip; they have never nipped).

Anyway more to the specific of your fish; I think there was a problem with the blood worm and i would not feed them again to the fish. While not necessarily common they do carry diseases and other issue as well as not being great food. If you want to give them a treat try live brine shrimp or black worms (again these have to be from a reliable source or they can contain diseases; and in truth are best raised by the person feeding them to the fish). There are several other live foods. I'm not sure frozen ex-live food is any better than dry food from a reliable source (i consider northfin, nls, fluval-bug bite and omega-one 'reliable source'). The negative to northfin (beyond price) is that it contains too much garlic and some fishes won't touch it - also there has been some indication that garlic is not healthy for fishes. NLS also has garlic; not quite as much as northfin but too much imho. I *think* you can get nls without garlic.

In all honestly my young angles would eat an apple if i fed it to them - they are not picky eaters - only the adults develop an attitude.

I tried the fluval bug bits and everything you could think of!! If he doesn’t have parasites I’m confused on what he does have.

He is also a juvenile, so yes he is small.

He is hiding most times…but I still see white poop..and him not eating so that’s why I’m assuming it’s parasites

Will stop bloodworms.

This is what he looks like:

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Angelfish not eating for a week!!!- any help would be appreciated

Navfish

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