Who is mauling my angelfish or is it a disease ?

[anewbie]

My angelfish over the last 3 or 4 months have been injured. It started as one of two spots and has grown. My impression is that it might be a bn pleco sucking on the angel but could it be a disease or another fish? The other fishes candidates would be clown loach, yoyo loach, female kribs (there are no males). The spots always show up as large so if it is another fish i suspect it is a pleco. If it it is a disease it doesn't show up on the top of the fish just the side as pictured:

 

[GaryE]

That looks like bite marks from something that really bites hard. I am very surprised that fish is still alive and hasn't developed an awful infection.

She needs to be in her own tank if she is going to survive.

The culprit? I don't think it would be typical for any krib, loach or catfish.

 

[anewbie]

That looks like bite marks from something that really bites hard. I am very surprised that fish is still alive and hasn't developed an awful infection.

She needs to be in her own tank if she is going to survive.

The culprit? I don't think it would be typical for any krib, loach or catfish.

So you think it could be a large BN pleco or L204 ? (these are both small pleco relatively speaking but they are around 6 inches - the male bn is particularly large for a bn).

The clown loaches are around 5 1/2 inches - but the angels show no distress when the clowns come out to eat with them in the morning.

 

[gilpi]

Not a pleco. What other fish do you have in there? Too bad, that is a nice-looking fish, love black angels!

 

[anewbie]

Other angel fishes, zebra loaches, cardinal tetra and previously mentioned clown loaches, yoyo loaches, L204, bn pleco and a few female kribs. I believe that is all the relevant species. Large tank.

 

[Rocky998]

I would get an emergency hospital tank set up OR set up a semi large breeder box... If the spots continue showing up then its a disease of some sort and if they stop then its a fish or some sort of creature in the tank... It doesnt look like a disease that ive seen but it could very well be one. If its bites, I really wonder what it is from

 

[gilpi]

Have you seen any aggression between the angels? I would step back from the tank and watch the action going on, angels can at times be super aggressive toward other angels to the death.

 

[enricosonic]

Other angel fishes, zebra loaches, cardinal tetra and previously mentioned clown loaches, yoyo loaches, L204, bn pleco and a few female kribs. I believe that is all the relevant species. Large tank.

What size is your tank, how many angels and how large are they?

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Other angel fishes, zebra loaches, cardinal tetra and previously mentioned clown loaches, yoyo loaches, L204, bn pleco and a few female kribs. I believe that is all the relevant species. Large tank.

How big is tank (not needed because bio-load, just for territory/aggression). Please don’t say ‘big enough’, because we need the size in gallons/liter! We also need all species, not ones you think are relevant. This angel is in critical condition, and we need all species in the tank.

Without knowing any other species, I would say it’s the Angelfish. Small mouths, and they are cichlids, so are territorial.

 

[anewbie]

Angels beyond bonded pairs are always aggressive to a degree with each other. The tank is big enough - there are 5 angels. 200 gallon.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Angels beyond bonded pairs are always aggressive to a degree with each other. The tank is big enough - there are 5 angels. 200 gallon.

Any other fish not listed?

 

[anewbie]

Any other fish not listed?

Nothing bigger than a dime. Look this is a real problem that I hope someone experienced has seen before - not something that inexperience speculation is going to help solve.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Nothing bigger than a dime.

Then the angels are your culprit, especially because there arent pairs.

 

[anewbie]

Then the angels are your culprit, especially because there arent pairs.

Have you ever seen angels do this sort of damage to each other with the ones you have ?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Caveat....I have yet to own Angels......but....

BN's are known to attach to a slabsided fish on occasions where the chance presents itself, such as a resting Angel, to enjoy the slimecoat. They do it at night when the slabside fish is static/resting. The removal of slimecoat can trigger infection and will inevitably leave open sores which other fish can then nibble at. BN's are very similar to the Chinese Algae Eater in that if the opportunity arises they will latch onto a dozing fish after dark. The more times that the BN latches onto the fish, the weaker it will become and the BN learns that its available without much resistance.

Not every BN will do it but they are known to be opportunistic in that regard. I would not dismiss the BN as the culprit so easily.

The wounds on the Angel are fairly identical in size and shape/depth for a sniper BN slimecoat attack. When the fish loses slimecoat in that way it does leave angry sores which can encourage other fish to tuck into the now open raw flesh.

Definitely do not dismiss the BN. The L204 is purely veg orientated whereas the BN does have carnivorous traits. Dismiss my theory if wished but my money is on the BN doing sniper slimecoat removals at night.