Angel Died Today, What Could The Reason Be?

[jenny6165]

one of my angels died today. i noticed yesterday he was hanging around the top of the tank alot, not gasping for air, just about an inch below the surface. hes normally quite active, so i thought id keep an eye on him. anyway, this morning he was still the same, then a couple of hours later he disappeared. i searched high and low for him, sifting through plants etc, then suddenly he reappeared, he was kinda swimming in small circles, with his head facing upwards, so he was kinda swimming sideways. he seemed to be struggling to stay afloat, and again was just swimming in circles all lopsided.

well, i had to go to work for a couple of hours, and hoped perhaps i could help him when i got back, but he was missing when i got home. I had to take out pretty much all the decor to find him, he was inbetween a plant and some of the other fish had eaten his fins.

i gravel vacced the entire tank afterward to make sure he hadnt contaminated it, and checked my water stats which are
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrite 10
ph 7.5 ish

i got him from pets at home a few weeks ago, his partner died within 2 days. he was the last fish i had from pets at home. all my other fish seem fine, however i did lose a female gourami last week. again she was from a bit of a shabby fish store. and a ram i bought from there died too, which ive never found. even after my extensive gravel vac and removal of all the ornaments.

im keeping a close eye on the other fish, but they all seem fine, cept for the other female gourami who seems quite quiet, again from the same shabby shop. perhaps shes just quiet.
other fish are all still active, eating well etc.

just want to make sure theres nothing horrible going on in my tank. im always watching the fish and other than the angel seeming odd and stayin near surface, i didnt notice anything wrong with the others, and nothing noticeable on the angels body to suggest any visible disease.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like swim bladder to me.
What do you feed your fish.

 

[jenny6165]

mostly flake, altho i vary between flake, bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp.
theres also cucumber thrown in for the plecs which my gourami has a go at too.

 

[WILDER]

More veg like frozen peas cooked and less flakes they cause constipation which leads to swim bladder.

http/www.hv3.7h.com/Swim%20Bladder%20Disease.html

 

[black angel]

For a 2 and a half foot tank you have a lot of messy fish, especially all those plecs.
Its hard to say what was wrong, but do you use a gravel vac and how much and how often for water changes? Are you only using a juwel or is there another filter? Also how often and how do you clean the filter out and hlow long has the tank been running for?

 

[jenny6165]

im gravel vaccing perhaps twice a week, which is syphoning out maybe 4 gallons at a time. not entirely sure, about 4 bread bins full, lol.

im using the jewel filter i got with the tank, and the tank has been running since early september. so far ive not changed the filters, cept the white one. i wasnt sure if i needed to leave them to mature for a bit longer or not? and would my stats spike if i needed to change the filter pads?

i also understand i should only change one pad at a time, which one is the most important to change? i have a green one, 2 blues, 1 green, a black and a white.
or should i just be washing one out at a time in a bucket of the tanks water?

 

[WILDER]

Leave the blue sponges alone there your bacteria sponges, the green and black need removing they only last six weeks anyway.
The green one is a nitrate sponge and not proven they work.
The black sponge is for removing meds and that all you need to use it for, just wasting your money otherwise.
You could add another blue soft sponge instead.

http/www.maidenheadaquatics.co.uk/spares...roducts_id=1141

 

[jenny6165]

so should i be cleaning the blue sponges in tank water? or leave them alone altogether?

so do u mean add another blue instead of the green or instead of the black. is the black worth having in there if i ever need to put meds in the tank?

 

[WILDER]

Just replace the green sponge with another blue one, but squeeze some of your blue sponges over it to get it going with bacteria, but wet it in tank water first.
Only time you need to use black carbon is after using fish meds in the tank.
Leave your sponges alone you nitrate reading not high.
Only touch one of the blue sponges at a time, then only slighty rinse in old tank water.