Do young Angels die unexpectedly??

[plateletboy]

Today I am mostly sad as my first ever angel fish (Angelina) has unexpectedly died......

I bought it on friday from my LFS for only £3 and about an inch across, but 'fully formed'. She looked beautiful, no tattered fins, etc. I gradually acclimatised her to my well run-in 10g with 3 cardinals and 3 glowlights and she seemed fine - her black stripes were a bit pale to begin with, but were much darker the next day and she was slowly gliding around the tank. She never seemed to eat much until yesterday.

This morning she was flat on her side at the back of the tank, and totally silver

Water conditions: NH3 and Nitrite zero, Nitrate ~40 (I have relatively high nitrates in supply, but the LFS uses it). Water temp 24'. and nice tankmates... little bit of brown algae around, but nowt else.....

So, any ideas why she should just die? Are very small angels prone to unexpected death? Is that why the slightly bigger ones in the LFS were twice the price? She was in a tank with ~10 other small ones at LFS and then on her own. I know she would have needed a bigger tank, i have a 30g tall ready for her.

Any ideas would be much appreciated as im not very good at losing fish for no obvious reasons , all my other loses have been explained - fin nipping, etc (its the logical mind of a scientist!!)

thanks
PB

 

[tstenback]

Angel fish are very poor movers. It often takes them many days to get comfortable in a new environment. Although they usually do nip out for a bite after a day or so. It is odd that the angel did not eat for 4 days. This indicates that the fish although it looked fine had a problem before you purchased it. Do you know how long the fish was in the store before you purchased it? If it wasnt there long it could just be the stress of several moves in a very short period of time. I usually ask the LFS to hold angels for me for at least a week before bringing them home that way i am relatively sure that they are healthy and not stressed from shipment.
Sorry about your fish, but dont quit on angels they are amazing fish to watch. Just make sure they are healthy and strong when you buy them.