angels

[angel_lover]

hello!!!me and my friend made a forum b4 with no replys so im gonna try again.it seems her angels had white spots on them she thought it was ick and got the treatment but it didnt work .now one of the angels fins is gone and it has kinda "moldy" film on it .they have been hiding behind the rocks all the time which is weird because angels are not like that.so basically we just want to know what we can do to get rid of this asap.we are going to the aquarium store today so any input would really help.thanks

p.s ive cheacked the water and its fine

 

[smb]

What did you use and for how long with the ich med? Did you take your carbon out if you use any?

The second symptom you described sounds like it might be velvet if it's just a thin layer all over or fungus if it's patchy and sticking up.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

The best thing to use on Ich/Ick is QuickCure, which at full strength it only takes 2 days of treatment. Also when my angelfish got a case of Ich, i raised the temp up to 87 for a couple of days and then slowly lowered it and it helped speed up the life cycle of the ich parasites.

The first thing i would do is start doing 50%-75% water changes every day. Even though your water params are fine, good clean water can go a long way to help fish recover. If the fish start to get a little better after a few days of just water changes then you don't need to add medication. Otherwise if the fish still loses fins and gets worse then i would suggest MarOxy as a fungus treatment to use.

Both medications that I listed do not kill off good bacteria. Also, IF you don't have any plecos, corys or ghost shrimp in your tank then you might want to consider putting about 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 10 gallons to help relieve stress on the fish. Remeber anything scaleless cannot tolerate salt so be careful.

 

[AquaNut]

Hi angel lover Sorry I didn't see this sooner, I've been preoccupied. Have you seen the fish? Were you able to determine if it was ich in the first place? It sounds like there must be a pretty nasty case of fin rot happening to make an angel lose a fin; that's usually a sign of some pretty nasty water conditions, yet you said you checked her water and it's fine. Does she have anything else in with the angels? Are these your babies, btw? That counts, because we know your babies were healthy, correct? I would definitely add some salt. My angels live in water with a trace of salt in it and I've used it as a treatment for them many times. I would dump some melafix or tea tree oil in there, too. It's a tough call on the chemical med, though. It sounds like you probably need something antibiotic for the fins, but I'd use metronidazole first (General Cure, by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals is avail. in Canada), because it sounds like there's velvet happening, too. If it's fungus, not velvet, the salt will help it. If there's any way you could get a pic to help the diagnosis, it would be a huge help.

 

[angel_lover]

Yes they are my angels so they were very healthy,we used Quick cure and its not working at all .She has a common pleco and some neons in the tank as well but she has another tank they can be moved over for the salt treatment.I'll tell her to start doing big water changes.We were supposed to go to the store today but our ride cancelled

ps Hi Aquanut!!!Nice to see ya!!!

 

[AquaNut]

Hi angel - Forgot to mention that Tetra makes a medicated fish food that's high in metronidazole, too. If she can afford it, I'd get some of that and feed it exclusively until this is past (unless her angels refuse to eat it.. then she should feed them whatever they're willing to eat). You can start with salt treatment, but these guys are definitely going to need some meds. Try to get to the lfs asap.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

If you didn't get rid of the Ich then it sounds like the fish are getting stressed out with the medications/ich and thats why they are developing fungus or velvet.

I don't have any experience in velvet but if its Fungus then i am battling that problem right now. The first mistake i made was when my new baby angel got fungus I went out and bought Jungle meds right away. The meds didn't work and it just stressed out the fish. I was gettin worried because the fins were starting to rot off just like your angels are and the fungus was getting worse.

Is this white fuzzy, cottony or something else? If its the cotton looking stuff then its fungus which is probably the result of stress. When fish get stressed out they are most likely to pick up diseases easier.

I know someone that is helping me out with my fungus case and has years of experience. She told me most of the time when there is a problem, daily water changes can cure the diseases unless it is very bad. Now if your fish is almost out of fin and its that cottony fungus then go out and use some Maroxy with large water changes. I'm doing that and the fin rot has stopped and the angelfish is acting very healthy again.

I'm not sure what medicine to cure velvet but water changes can't hurt and from what i have heard from my friend, they can really help a sick fish more than anything. Salt helps with the stress, and if you have no scaleless fish in there then i would do it.

Also, do you still see white spots on your fish or did it just disappear?

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Just thought of something since you said neons. Did you use QuickCure at full strength or half? I know when using Quickcure with tetra's in the tank, you have to use it at half strength.

And i'm sure you know it but i'm just making sure. Did you take out the carbon of your filters? If you don't then the medication is removed and less effective.

Some people have suggested moving tetras, loaches, plecos, and shrimp to another tank so you could use QuickCure at full strength for the other fish. When you only use half strength, it takes longer and there may be a chance it won't get all of the ich.

Also, remember if you add medications to your tank don't add to many because some medications don't go good with each other and could knock out each others effects.

If you have multiple problems then the main thing is to clean out the water good everyday and try to help relieve stress as much as possible. Try to fix the underlying problem that started it all if it still exists.

 

[angel_lover]

she went to the pet store and decided to listen to the saleswoman rather then the forum,she bought some pills or something to drop in.basically they are gonna die,well i think they are.there goes 2 of my angels and the rest i still have i dont wanna give them up so many bad fishkeepers out there.i dont know what to do

 

[gto_cowgirl]

I'm sorry. I learned myself about salespeople and their advice when i first started fish keeping. I lost a lot of fish until i found the forums.

I'll tell ya one thing, pills sounds like those Jungle products. I have experience and heard from other people from the forums that Jungle products (those fizz tabs) do not work.

Least you know now about that person's fish keeping habits. We all have to live and learn.

 

[angel_lover]

i never listen to sales ppl the only way is if its an aqaurium store and even then i never take anything really serious but i will hear their opinion.just sucks i figured by giving them to a friend they would do well but thats not the case and i still have 5 more i have to find homes for and they are getting big and mommy and daddy are started to get annoyed with them

 

[AquaNut]

Ugh. I'm sorry to hear that angel lover. Good thing you decided to only give her two!! I wish you weren't so far away; I'd GLADLY take your beautiful babies off your hands.

 

[angel_lover]

Well one of them survived and I think he is gonna be ok I was a little upset earlier but its not her fault she has done everything she can for those little guys.I think the fungus came in from a plant or something I'm gonna give it some time,3-4 weeks maybe,and I will probably give her another one.Its not her fault its hard starting out.We all make mistakes

 

[AquaNut]

Aww. You're a sweet friend, angel lover, and you're right. I lost some pretty nice fish when I started in this hobby. I think you're right to wait a few weeks and make sure her tank is nice and stable, then let her try another one. Just make sure she's doing lots of water changes, and things should be alright.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

I'll go ahead and post some information that might help future problems or anyone else. I found a good medicine for Velvet (gold dust on the body) is CopperSafe. It doesn't hurt your good bacteria either.

Here some information about why water changes are so good even when the water params are fine.

Even though the filter is cycled, the water begins to get stale. Bacteria, good and bad, are always present in the aquarium. It is when fish become stressed that they become susceptible to said *bad* bacteria.
Good bacteria being the bacteria that works within the nitrification cycle process. Bacteria, If you don't change the water multiplies/accumulates, water changes are diluting them. Some water has more than others from the tap. As long as your filter has the nitrification cycle going, you can do 100% w/c's and the water may not be *cycled* but the filter is and the water will become cycled.

Here is a link that might help a little...there are so many out there.
http/www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cyclingbasics.html