Bloated Angelfish

[rust81]

Hi, I have a 4 month old angelfish in my community tank. The tank is 130L with a mix of fish inc 3 angels. Over the past week i have noticed that the largest of the 3 angels has not been as active as usual. This has been followd with a loss of appetite (it no longer rushes to the surface when I feed). This has also coincided with he/she becoming increasingly bloated. I know that the angel isnt egg bound as she (if it is a she) isnt showing any of the normal signs that I have seen in my other angels that I had (spawning pair).

Tank stats are perfect and I am running 2 filters (internal & external) Tonight I have moved the angel to a hospital tank and added some epsom salts to try and relieve the bloat. Any other ideas anyone?

 

[LauraFrog]

It could possibly be internal parasites. It's more normal to see emaciation and good appetite - the fish eats. And eats. And eats. But the parasites use up all the nutrients so it becomes skinnier and skinnier and starves to death. You also sometimes see a parasite that grows so large it makes the fish look bloated and makes it so uncomfortable it won't eat. You see it with african children (the pot bellied look despite having stick arms and legs).
Feed a pea (get a frozen pea, drop in boiling water, cool under the tap, remove shell, feed to angel). Worth a try, but it might not eat it. Failing the pea and epsom salts I'd try treating with pyrantel, praziquantel or trichlorforon (antiparasitic) and if it is a parasite problem that will fix it.