Angelfish with clamped/twisted fins

[pcam86]

Hi i've got 4 angelfish and 3 of them are healthy and have nice untwisted fins. One of them has his fins clamped down and his dorsal fin is also twisted slightly. There are no problems with my water quality what so ever so i'm kinda lost on what could be the problem.

2 days ago he seemed to have slight cloudy patches on his tail and a little white patch on his dorsal fin which weren't there before so i gave him 2 salt baths throughout the day and they have now disapeared.

Any helpful info on how i can correct this problem would be great!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Can you post us your recent ammonia, nitrate and nitrite stats none the less though even if they seem ok- it helps us build a clearer picture of your situation?
How many gallons is the tank they are in and how many and what other fish do you have in it including the angels?
It sounds like to me the angels are having a slime coat disorder in reaction to somthing in the tank...

 

[pcam86]

ok well when i said my water was fine i mean EVERYTHING is at zero.

its a 180 litre (47 gallon) tank. I have 4 corys, featherfin syno, clown plec and 4 angels.

It's only happend to ONE of my angels, the others are fine.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Actually if everything is at 0 not everything is fine. Yes ammonia and nitrites should be 0 in a matured tank but you should be at least showing some nitrates as these are a sign the bacterial cycle is working properly- have you been using any ammonia/nitrite/nitrate removal chemicals recently or been using any meds?

 

[pcam86]

i recently used methylene blue and white spot treatment but his fins were clamped before that.

I can't tell that they're EXACTLY at zero because my testing kit has a range of like 0-0.25 etc etc so there may be some. I'm just telling you they're all low.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would do a 40% water change ASAP, whitespot meds can be very string stuff and the angels fins may be clamped in discomfort from the meds you have been using- i would also find out wether your meds are compatable with each other as many meds aern't and can kill off the filter bacteria.

 

[pcam86]

ok well it appears that there hasn't really been any effect on my bacteria as my water hasn't really got any problems.

P.S the angels fins were clamped before i added ANY meds to my tank, thats why i'm confused about what could be wrong.

 

[WILDER]

Could be bacterial or parasite, any laboured breathing or flicking and rubbing, you have had whitespot and they can be prone to bacteria infections with parasites, through the parasites biting the skin which can become infected causing fungus to grown on dead tissue sometimes, i would try some melafix for now.

 

[WILDER]

not the writer of this information.

Clamped Fins- The most common reason a fish will show signs of clamped fins is when the water quality is poor. Especially if the pH has crashed! Parasites can also cause this. If your water checks out fine you might consider treating with Fluke tabs. Check for ammonia, pH, and nitrites

 

[pcam86]

ok there's no scratching etc from the fish and my ph is at 7 right now which i'm gradually changing over the next few weeks.

today i noticed his clamped top fin wasn't as clamped but its quite short as if its had been bitten maybe.

 

[MogoMadness]

A good place to start would be by providing the numbers from your tests. It would be wise to test your pH, KH and GH as well as the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Information about your maintenance schedule would also be useful, and a brief tank history (ie: new fish, how long the tank has been established, filtration)

The more information you provide the better equipped someone will be to try and figure out where your problem is coming from.

You mentioned you gave the fish a couple of salt baths, what was your method, type of salt, concentration and duration of treatment?

 

[Tolak]

Meth blue will affect the nitrobacters in your bio filtration. Wht do you want to change your ph, 7.0 is fine for angels? Unless your water is extremely soft, changing it with chemicals is a losing battle, ph swings are a bad thing for any fish, angels in particular. My ph is 7.7, angels do fine with it.

If you are serious about changing the ph, start with r.o. water, it's the only safe way to go about it.

Tolak

 

[cyprinut]

I wouldn't mess with the ph either. That will only cause more stress.
IME when introducing multiple angels to a new environment there will be territorial issues and sometimes severe aggression betweeen them as a pecking order is established. Stress can also cause an angel to clamp down like that, and you mentioned that one looks nipped on. Sometimes a male angel just will not let another male exist in the tank with him, and will mercilessly chase and nip him. Remember they are cichlids. (peaceful? ha!) In addition to the advise from others, I'd make sure that there are plenty of places for a weaker fish to hide out in.
Regards,
cyrinut