Floating Angel

[JackDemp528]

My other angelfish died a few weeks ago, leaving one, and this one is a veil angelfish. She was doing fine, until the other day she starting swimming on a tilt, then I did a water change, then it got worse, and I came home to see her floating, then swimming in circles, then floating, and that's all she's been doing, she's perfectly aware, and awake and everything, just can't swim. She's in a 55 gallon with 2 dojo loaches, and 10 white clouds, and 5 cory cats. What do you suggest?

 

[Tolak]

Posting the results of water tests is a good start for others trying to diagnose your problem. Water temperature, what you have been feeding, and maintenance frequency & procedure helps as well.

Sounds like either constipation & bloat, an easy one to treat, or a swim bladder infection, a hard one to treat. Epsom salt in the water usually cures constipation, An antibiotic treatment like Maracyn I & II may help with swim bladder. I would start both at once, using 1 teaspoon epsom per 10 gallons of water, increasing by a teaspoon per 10 gallons daily for a couple more days to a maximum of 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons.

 

[JackDemp528]

All of the parameters are normal, and they get fed once a day, with tetramin flakes, and shrimp pellets for the bottom feeders. And the temperature is around 72 degrees.

 

[Tolak]

72F is ok for the cats, dojos, & white clouds, it's too cold for angels. I keep angels anywhere from 80F to 85F or better, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish with that tank. The problem you have is fish that need 2 different temperatures, corys, dojos, & white clouds like it cooler, 72F is fine for them. Cooler temps slow a fish's metabolism, this can lead to constipation in angels, as well as a decreased immune response to any infection.

Also, angels don't do well on a diet of strictly flakes, they need some brine shrimp, and occasional bloodworms as well. The corys & dojos need something more than shrimp pellets, corys love bloodworms. A happy medium for temperature would probably be around 77to 78F, and a higher protein diet would be appreciated by all the fish in that tank.

I would turn up the temp a little, and add some epsom salt. Epsom salt is different than aquarium salt, it won't harm the corys or loachs. If the angel doesn't make it, you can turn it back down to 72F, that is fine for the other fish.

 

[PaulEbs]

One of my breeding angels started to float on the surface a few months ago, after having a slightly swelled stomach, so I fed it liquifry through a pipette, and the next day it was swiming normally again.

probably something to do with the swimbladder, which can rectify itself again without the need of treatments [in some cases].