Very Sick Angelfish - Help Needed

[Marve99]

OK, I have a fairly new tank (5 weeks old), which has been going well until this morning.

Angelfish is gasping at the surface, lying on his side and sometimes upside down. He has a swollen stomach, but no sign of scales sticking up. His normally bright red eyes are now off white.

Water stats great - Ammonia-0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - 5 ph 7.0
Tank - 200L planted

Tank mates - Black neon tetrax 12 - all good, Cory x10 (all good except 1 with a fuzzy patch which I have been treating with Myxazin for the last 5 days), rosy tetra x9 (all were lookig fine until this morning, but very lathargic and hiding, whereas they are normally very active and come to feed when the lights go on), Spotted Rapahel catfish (assume he is OK, but I never see him)

No pic yet, but suspect this could be swim bladder or dropsy - any suggestions??

Thanks

 

[Hermithall]

Hard to say, but gasping usually indicates oxygen deprivation. Sometimes this is brought about by gill damage as an after effect from ammonia poisoning - often seen after a fish-in cycle or other circumstances where fish have had prolonged exposure to ammonia. I don't know about the other symptoms though - hopefully someone else can shed more light, hope your fish gets better.

 

[Marve99]

Heres a pic



He seems to be staying in one place for a while, then trying to swim, he gets upright briefly, then falls on side again and rests on plants.

I have not registered any ammonia in all of the time he has been in the tank, and have been testing almost daily, similarly for nitirites. It is a heavily planted tank, and nitrates have never got above 10. PH has been stable between 6.8 and 7.0 since the tank was set up, using API master test kit.

Thanks again

 

[Hermithall]

The pic you've posted will be very helpful for ppl to help diagnose. I'm at a loss I'm afraid, but that swollen stomach looks like the immediate problem. Here's a pic of angelfish anatomy in case it's useful to anyone commenting:

 

[Marve99]

Thanks for that, the swelling would certainly seem to be stomach/intestines. just thought, the angelfish has been eating mostly catfish pellets, could this be severe constipation?

If so, its it to late to treat?, fish not at all interested in food

Thanks for that, the swelling would certainly seem to be stomach/intestines. just thought, the angelfish has been eating mostly catfish pellets, could this be severe constipation?

If so, its it to late to treat?, fish not at all interested in food

 

[Hermithall]

Yes, sounds like a viable explanation, I've heard pellets can make some fish prone to constipation. Have you seen any stringy feces? - that would help confirm constipation.

 

[Hermithall]

Had a look for treatments - feeding peas is a classic laxative cure, but your fish isn't eating, so constipation treatment with epsom salt as follows (epsom salt is available at chemists):

Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is a mild muscle relaxant used when treating moderate to severe constipation. Depending on the severity of the case, a dosage of 1 to 3 teaspoons per 5 gallons is recommended.

I think I would administer this to the fish by way of a 20-30 mins 'epsom salt bath' in a hospital tank using water from your aquarium, just long enough so the fish ingests some of the epsom salts, then I'd return it to the aquarium and wait. That's just me though - I'm no vet!

 

[Marve99]

Yep, has has stringy faeces for a couple of weeks, didn't give it to much thought, I know better now.

 

[Marve99]

At work now, but will give this a try tonight if he's still alive. Appreciate your advice

 

[Hermithall]

No bother, haven't helped much really - good luck with your fish, got my fingers crossed.

 

[Marve99]

Had a Epsom salt bath last night for30 mins. This morning he is swimming the right way round. Still gasping, not eating and abdomen area still swollen. Coloration is still off, eyes slightly red but not as vibrant as usual.

Last night could had sworn he had swim bladder problem (lying on surface, trying to swim down but failing) but seems better today- Can swim bladder issues be intermittent?

 

[Marve99]

Final post (I hope)

All seems well. Swimming, eating peas, color has returned and no swollen stomach.

Thanks for the help. This its the first time I have saved a suffering fish, previous issues have always resulted in death, but with closer attention and careful diagnosis thanks to this forum, my angel fish lives on.

 

[colleen0309]

Congrats! It's a great feeling when you are able to fix the problem and the fish lives!

 

[laura120381]

yeah...it could just have been consitpation. i had a discus that used to do exactly the same every time he ate a catfish pellet. i used to avoid this by feeding in stages. as corys are night feeders (they will eat at any time though) you could feed the pellets at night when you switch off the lights. that way the angel etc will have eaten and the corys will eat their food during the night, leaving nothing for the angels to overeat in the morning!! make sure also you are not feeding too much.

good luck. hope it doesn't happen again!