Angle Fish Just Sits On The Bottom Of The Aquarium.

[Brownrusty]

Hello,
 
     My name is Josh.  I have a large black angle fish in my 30 gal freshwater aquarium.  he shares the tank with the following:

 
4 neons
5 silver tetra (sorry dont know there proper names)
3 loaches
1 albino
3 Harlequin Rasbora
and a couple of ghost shrip
 
The plants are real and have been spreading nicely
 

 
the tank reads normal results on all chem tests.
 
The tank used to have more neons but we lost 3 to a white growth on there faces and tails.  I have done a lot of research about ick and it does not fit the description.  Here is a pic I took before they died.
 

 
 
 
So far I have taken the following steps to try to fix the angle fish and the tetra...
 
7 day treatment of PIMAFIX
5 25% water changes (added stress coat + to all new water)
Raised temp from 78 to 82 (wrapped the tank with a blanket to help temp stay more even througout the aquarium)
Added 4tbsn sea salt for 3 days (just in case it was ick)
I also bought them a new canister of food, in case that was the issue.
 
The angle still gets up and swims around a bunch...
 

 
but he always ends up back at the bottom of the tank.  He has a white spot that you can see in the picture right by his eye,  this arrived around the same time he became lethargic and the angle fish got the growths.  This spot does not protrude and does not appear to be flesh eating or anythying.  It is also not furry or textured oddly.  He has a few of these spots. 
 
I have considered isolation, but I do not have a second set up and certanly not one that has cycled properly.
 
I feel really bad for him if he is suffering, but when he gets up and swims around he looks pretty normal.  any suggestions you guys can offer would greatly be appreciated.  Thanks!
 
Josh

 

[Ninjouzata]

to TFF! Hope you enjoy it here and hope someone can help you with this.
 
Can you give exact readings? Are you using strips or a liquid test kit? How long has the tank been set up? Did you add anything recently? Was it cycled? When did you get the fish that are affected?

 

[Brownrusty]

Mariah,
 
   Here are my test results...
 
Nitrate between 0-20
Nitrite 0
Hardness 25
Alkalinity 125
pH 5.5
 
I used the sentry 5 in 1 test strip.  The tank has been set up for almost 2 years.  Many of the fish are original.  The most recent addition was the angle fish and we got him about 4 months ago.  I'm not sure the exact steps involved with cycling, but I did treat the water with declorinate and let it sit with filter running for a couple of weeks before putting the first fish in.  We have had a few casualties since we got the tank, but not very many.
 
Thanks so much for your response!
 
Josh

 

[star4]

Hi, sorry your having a spot of bad luck. The neons look like mouth rot = bacterial infection, I am guessing this is also what is going on with the angel. Bacteria does not show up on test strips unfortunately. When was your filter last cleaned out? this maybe due a clean, also when you did your water changes did you also move all the decor and gravel vac under it? I would suggest a good clean of the tank over a week, one day the filter, then a good gravel vac, also wipe over all the glass. Do small daily water changes for a week, then do every other day for another week then every 3rd day and so on until you get back to your weekly water change, this should help.
 
 
Your tank would be cycled now after this amount of time.

 

[Brownrusty]

Thank you Mr. or Mrs. Fish Gatherer.
 
    I have done a 25% change 5 times in the last 7 days.  I also replaced the filter, removed all of the decorations accept the drift wood and cleaned them all with hot water (no chemicals).  I have also been scrubbing the walls with every change.  I have cleaned the substrate as thoroughly as I can with a siphon suction tube like the one below with every water change as well.
 

 
I was afraid of the constant water changes being to much stress on the fish...  if you guys think it wont hurt them to change the water so much, I am willing to try it.
 
Josh

 

[star4]

So long as you are using dechlorinator each water change you should be fine. You could also try feeding the fish brine shrimp with garlic & omega 3 BCUK do these in frozen blister packs which should be available from your LFS, another product I could recommend to help boost the fish's immune system is Vitazin which is made by waterlife, it is a liquid that you soak food in, it contains extra vitamins to boost the fish and help fight infections, it is also good at getting picky fish to eat. Bacterial infections can be hard to deal with but you just have to keep on with the water changes, nothing works better than clean water IMO.

 

[Brownrusty]

Thank you so much... I will continue with water changes and look into the brine shrimp Vitazin.

 

[Brownrusty]

So today I tried to get my hands on the items you suggested... I found these instead:
 

I soaked a chunk of the shrimp with the vitamins and dropped it in the tank... the fish really really like it.  The angle is at the bottom so he did not get any with this first feeding, but I will try again later.
 
Josh

 

[Brownrusty]

So I have switched to brine shrimp and have been adding the recommended doses of vitamins which i think has increased his appetite because he is eating more but he still just lies at the bottom of the tank and his beautiful black scales are getting more pale.  This has been going on for a few weeks now and I feel awful for the fish.  Do you guys think there is any chance he could recover?  I don't want to put him down if there is any chance he could recover but I also don't want him to suffer unnecessarily.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks for all your help so far!
 
Josh