Why is my angelfish swimming sideways?

[Dianam2598]

We have a large fish tank at work filled with a variety of fish. Two angelfish being among them. Unfortunately one of them started swimming sideways like this, and we removed him to avoid the other fish attacking. What could this be and what can we do? I did notice a small cloudy spot on his body.

 

[AmyKieran]

Could be swim bladder
Do you have your water parameters?

 

[Dianam2598]

Could be swim bladder
Do you have your water parameters?

I don’t… we have someone who comes in a and takes care to the fish tank. I just want to know if there is anything that I could do. Is isolating him okay? I’m afraid he’ll suffocate

 

[AmyKieran]

I don’t… we have someone who comes in a and takes care to the fish tank. I just want to know if there is anything that I could do. Is isolating him okay? I’m afraid he’ll suffocate

A general treatment is using salt (rock salt or aquarium salt) but until you know what it is I wouldn’t do anything else. What size is your quarantine tank? Does it have filter, heater etc?

Don’t use salt if you have snails in tank the angel is in

Also how often does the tank get water changes?

What size tank is it and how many fish?

 

[Dianam2598]

A general treatment is using salt (rock salt or aquarium salt) but until you know what it is I wouldn’t do anything else. What size is your quarantine tank? Does it have filter, heater etc?

Don’t use salt if you have snails in tank the angel is in

Also how often does the tank get water changes?

What size tank is it and how many fish?

The quarantine tank is just a regular glass fish bowl. Not big at all. There are no snails in the original tank and the fish guy comes maybe once a month. The tank I want to say is approximately 50 gallons, could be bigger but I’m not sure my guess is about 20 fish.

 

[AmyKieran]

The quarantine tank is just a regular glass fish bowl. Not big at all. There are no snails in the original tank and the fish guy comes maybe once a month. The tank I want to say is approximately 50 gallons, could be bigger but I’m not sure my guess is about 20 fish.

And what fish are in it?

 

[Dianam2598]

And what fish are in it?

I don’t really know. There’s so many. The only kinds I know are in there are the two angelfish, clown loach and a pleco.

 

[AmyKieran]

I don’t really know. There’s so many. The only kinds I know are in there are the two angelfish, clown loach and a pleco.

Well, I know you want fix to your current angel but it’s important to identify a cause

Having that many fish and changing the water once a month is nowhere near enough.

Your water needs to be changed (as much as possible) every week for water parameters to be good for fish, otherwise the nitrate will be too high and cause health problems. This may be the reason for your angel being I’ll.

Could you not do water changes yourself?

Even just do water changes yourself every week and let the fish guy do other things like gravel clean and glass clean every month?

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

Also, to answer your question yes the angel will suffocate/die soon in a jar that tiny, if not from suffocation than ammonia build up. It needs a proper quarantine tank with a filter and heater. Currently it has zero room to move which will only stress it out further and make it sicker because of that stress. If you can't get another tank then a better option would be to use a large breeding box/net in the main tank and put the angel in it to protect it.

 

[Back in the fold]

Aw man ! That's a nice Angelfish. I like those speckledy marbled ones. If I had to venture a guess , his days may be short. That's a shame.