Cure for a sad Angelfish?

[njparton]

I bought a 3/4 grown angelfish about 6-8 weeks ago, as shown here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=72222&hl=

At first it was a very lively character, always first to any food and imposing it's will on my other angels.

However recently it's just not itself. It sits at the sides or in the corner looking very glum and doesn't appear to be eating. In fact I haven't seen it eat for a good 2 weeks now and I'm surprised it's still with us. I've tried dried, frozen and live foods to no avail.

The water paramaters in the tank remain stable and the fish has no physical signs of illness. I've tried adding some Interpet no.5 general tonic to the water and even bought a UV seriliser (was going to anyway when I finally start keeping discus) - but the situation hasn't improved.

Water params are as follows (2 other angels love these conditions): 26C, pH 6.5, NH4 0, NO2 0, NO3 10ppm and I use RO water re-mineralised with Seachem Equilibrium and a little bicarbonate of soda for KH.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[gaya]

I wouldn't be surprised if he's getting picked on by the other angels. Angels can have such varying personalities and if you have more than one male it could pose problems. I have one pair in a tank and they are quite content together but the male will not tolerate another male. I've had to put my other angels in different tanks. If you have another suitable tank perhaps you could move him and see if that helps.

 

[Tolak]

If he hasn't eaten at all in 2 weeks, I think it's more than being picked on. I've had pairs form, tear the fins to shreds on other angel tankmates during the process. When it comes to feeding time, they call a temporary truce. Every time, every tank, every angel. It only lasts 5 minutes at the most, but they all eat.

From what I've seen, this sounds like hex, and I would treat it as such. Set up a hospital tank to medicate, med with metronodazole, sold in shops as hex-out. Mix some with the food after a week or so, even when they just mouth the food & spit it out, they get some meds, and recover quickly after this point.

400 mg. per 10 gallon daily, with daily water changes. Turn up the tank temp over a couple of days from what the fish is accustomed to, to 88-90F. Don't let the temp scare you, I've had adults up to this temp, fry to just shy of 100F, no problem. Make sure you have enough aeration at this temp, warmer water holds less oxygen.

Good luck, please feel free to post any questions!

Tolak

 

[njparton]

Thanks for the advice.

I don't think it's being picked on - it's the biggest angel and before it stopped eating it was doing all the harassing!

I'll look into the Hex treatment.

I've also replaced my pH test kit as I think it was beyond it's life. A new kit measured a pH of 7.5 which is 1-1.5 higher than I'd like.

I'm going to use some very soft water to bring the pH down over the next 2 weeks.