Angelfish issues

[Reily]

Morning everyone,
Recently in the last couple days my angelfish has been acting weird. Symptoms include: fin rot, nose pointing straight up, not producing fecal waste, not very much movement besides gills. I’m wondering what’s wrong. Constipation? Swim bladder disease? I need some help. I put him in a quarantine bowl last night and he’s currently having an epsom salt bath. Could this be poor water quality? There are other fish in my aquarium with fin rot as well (my plecos have it except 1 of the 3). Any answers would be helpful as I’m not really sure what’s happening and I’ve already had several of my angels die off starting with fin rot then just slowly powering down to death.
Thanks,
Reily

 

[Wills]

Hi can we get more details about your main tank please - size, species in there, last time you added fish. Do you have a water test kit? If you can give us your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that will help. Just tell us everything and we will be able to work out what to do.

If your whole tank has fin rot though I would leave the angel in there as in an unfiltered bowl the ammonia will get up quickly and bowls are known for low oxygen - I imagine temperature in California is fine though.

Wills

 

[Slaphppy7]

Fin rot is usually the result of poor water conditions...how long has the tank been set up? Is it cycled? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte, using a liquid test kit?

That fish won't live in that bowl for long

 

[Reily]

Hi can we get more details about your main tank please - size, species in there, last time you added fish. Do you have a water test kit? If you can give us your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that will help. Just tell us everything and we will be able to work out what to do.

If your whole tank has fin rot though I would leave the angel in there as in an unfiltered bowl the ammonia will get up quickly and bowls are known for low oxygen - I imagine temperature in California is fine though.

Wills

Hi Wills,
My main tank is 75 gallons. The tank has been setup for 3 months now or so and is cycled. Ammonia reads 0ppm. I’m not sure what levels the nitrite and nitrate read as I don’t have tests for that. Will get some today. It’s been about a month since I added any fish to the tank. There are 3 other angels, 3 plecos, and one zebra looking catfish I can’t remember the name. I only see fin rot in 2 of the 3 plecos. No other fish besides those 2 and the angel show that. But the angel has different symptoms.
Thanks

 

[Slaphppy7]

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

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hi Wills,
My main tank is 75 gallons. The tank has been setup for 3 months now or so and is cycled. Ammonia reads 0ppm. I’m not sure what levels the nitrite and nitrate read as I don’t have tests for that. Will get some today. It’s been about a month since I added any fish to the tank. There are 3 other angels, 3 plecos, and one zebra looking catfish I can’t remember the name. I only see fin rot in 2 of the 3 plecos. No other fish besides those 2 and the angel show that. But the angel has different symptoms.
Thanks

I strongly recommend a liquid test kit like the one Slaphappy linked rather than the dip strip tests, since we really need accurate results and the liquid ones tend to be better for accurate results when done right. They might seem expensive compared to dip strips, but along with the accuracy, you get many more tests out of them than you do the dip strips.

Questions:
How long ago did you last lose an angel fish to the same symptoms? how many have you lost?
Water changes - How often do you do them, and how much of the water do you change at a time?
How often do you clean the filter, and how do you clean it? Rinse the media in old tank water, or rinse under the tap?
Photos of the tank and the other affected fish please?

Before answering any of the questions though, please, please get that angel out of the bowl and back in the tank. No point in QT it now, and that bowl is ridiculous and will kill it much faster than anything else plaguing the fish.

 

[anewbie]

Morning everyone,
Recently in the last couple days my angelfish has been acting weird. Symptoms include: fin rot, nose pointing straight up, not producing fecal waste, not very much movement besides gills. I’m wondering what’s wrong. Constipation? Swim bladder disease? I need some help. I put him in a quarantine bowl last night and he’s currently having an epsom salt bath. Could this be poor water quality? There are other fish in my aquarium with fin rot as well (my plecos have it except 1 of the 3). Any answers would be helpful as I’m not really sure what’s happening and I’ve already had several of my angels die off starting with fin rot then just slowly powering down to death.
Thanks,
ReilyView attachment 165801

Other than a few minutes for a picture you cannot keep an angel in that bowl - not even for qt or medical treatment. Very clean water is the best fix and maybe a touch of salt but it would depend if you have something large enough for just him or the other fishes in your aquarium. I would not use meds. there is something else wrong with that fish and it looks rather deformed but it is not a great picture and there are too many details lacking. Also it is unclear what condition you keep the fish - temp - water hardness - and so forth.

 

[Colin_T]

Post some pictures of the other fish.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a week of salt and daily water changes, or if they get worse before then, post more pictures.

----------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[Reily]

Post some pictures of the other fish.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a week of salt and daily water changes, or if they get worse before then, post more pictures.

----------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

I did a 75% water change this morning and cleaned the filter as you recommended. pH levels read 8.2 so I went ahead and dropped those to around 7.0. Nitrate reads 0ppm, nitrite reads 0ppm, ammonia reads 0ppm. Everything seems alright? Maybe high PH is the culprit for the fin rot and death of some of my fish?

 

[itiwhetu]

pH is simply too high for Angels

 

[itiwhetu]

What was the nitrate level before the water change?

 

[Reily]

What was the nitrate level before the water change?

I’m not sure. I didn’t have the test kit until after I changed the water. The ph is at 7.0 right now. The fish seem to be happy. I had 4 angelfish die in the last couple months with the same symptoms: starting with fin rot, then decreased movement and just overall deterioration of everything then death. They were all junior angels except for the one today which was one of my 4 adults (now 3). The other 3 seem to be doing just fine and have been since I got the tank. The plecos on the other hand have had the fin rot for a while but seem to be doing just fine. I had 3 Cory cats as well but two died off and I had thought all 3 died but I happened to find one still alive and well about a week ago. My thinking is the pH is simply too high for all the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

I did a 75% water change this morning and cleaned the filter as you recommended. pH levels read 8.2 so I went ahead and dropped those to around 7.0. Nitrate reads 0ppm, nitrite reads 0ppm, ammonia reads 0ppm. Everything seems alright? Maybe high PH is the culprit for the fin rot and death of some of my fish?

You don't want to drop the pH that fast if there are fish in the tank. It can kill them.

 

[Essjay]

If the natural pH is so high, what is the hardness of your tap water? Angels and the other fish are soft water fish; if you have hard water that will also stress the fish.

To find your hardness (GH), look on your water provider's website; or take a sample of your tap water to an LFS and ask them to test; or buy a GH tester. Make sure you have a number rather than words.
Strip testers sometime only test up to 180 ppm GH, so if it's higher it still reads 180.