Angelfish laying on side

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

My poor female angel just won't swim and is laying on her side all day. I've had her for nearly a year now. A 55 gallon tank, water parameters haven't changed at all. All she does is sink. Ive done a full coarse of api meds for internal parasites, bacteria and fungal. I have no clue what to do and really don't want to euthanize her Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Back in the fold]

Well, that sounds exactly like what happened to my male Betta today. It came on fast. He started acting weird, laying on the bottom and exerting himself vigorously to struggle up for his surface air. Today he was on his side and just now perished. Like you, nothing changed and everything seems perfect. I'm as baffled as you are. I guess it's just one of those things. Wish I could help you.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Does she look bloated? It could be swim bladderdisease. Try feeding her some peas.

 

[Fishmanic]

Too many meds at the same time is not good. Do a 75% water change daily with dechorinated water till he seems to improve. Are u doing regular water changes? How much do u change and how often?

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a picture and short 20 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

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How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How long has the fish been laying on its side?
Have you added anything new (fish, plants, ornaments, etc) to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
What medications did you use and when did you use them?
Do you add anything else to the tank (plant fertiliser, buffers, etc)?

What is the water temperature?

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

I do 50% water changes every week , have not added anything to aqurium , she is not bloated, I was very careful with meds and waited a week in between each different type. Temp is 80* Thank you very much for replying!

 

[FishGuest5123]

Well, that sounds exactly like what happened to my male Betta today. It came on fast. He started acting weird, laying on the bottom and exerting himself vigorously to struggle up for his surface air. Today he was on his side and just now perished. Like you, nothing changed and everything seems perfect. I'm as baffled as you are. I guess it's just one of those things. Wish I could help you.

I’m so sorry.

 

[Back in the fold]

Same thing as with this Angelfish. It's a drag when they get sick and die. I try to tell myself it's just a fish but that doesn't cut it. A guy really wants to see his fish grow and thrive and be vigorous and healthy. We all do everything we can to make that happen. The hobby is great when everything works right. When it doesn't work right we learn things. In my case I think I got a runt and he wasn't strong to start with. All the posts I read mention, at some point, the desire to rescue every fish you see. You can't do that. Culls make it past the breeders and some fish don't survive the shock of being shipped. Their maladies show up right away and sometimes later. When I read about people being perplexed and agonizing over "just a fish" I am happy. I know that the right people are watching the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a short 20 second video of the fish?
If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

The tail and fins are frayed, which could be from other fish picking at it, or a bacterial infection.

If the fish has stopped eating and can no longer swim, then I would euthanise it.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

I thought bacterial infection when I saw the frayed fins too, but I dosed erethroymycin and general cure. Also she can still swim around but just doesn't do it very often, and when she stopped swimming she sinks really fast.

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish sinks when it stops swimming, then it has a problem with its swim bladder. There are no treatments for damaged swim bladders and most fish die shortly after it happens.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

That's the thing, she has lived for almost 2 months now.