Angel Fish Emergency!

[Ciaramichelle95]

Hey everyone I'm new here! I have a year old angel named Stanford who's not doing so well.

I have switched him to the quarantine tank because he has been laying and sitting in the corners of the main tank and hiding. when it's feeding time he swims to the top

Levels in main tank:
Nitrates 40-45 (I know a little high I skipped a couple water changes)
nitrites: a solid 0
hardness: 100
alkalinity :120
pH: 7.2
I ran out ammonia tablets and am going to get more tonight.

His tank mates are another angel (his girlfriend)
two balloon mollies
4 platy
And a pleco.

They are all HEALTHY. Nothing different amongst any of them.

so here's what's been happening. He will swim up to the top when it's feeding time but he does not eat. He swims around like he has a lead tail. Then he just falls to the bottom after poking at top of the tank. There's nothing physically wrong with him. The female has always picked on him but when he started getting sick she was always hovering and "protecting". I took him out today and he mainly just lays or sits there but gets up to swim when I walk past.

The quarantine tank is a 10 gallon, 2/3 main tank water and 1/3 fresh water. I added 2 tbl salt in there hoping it would help something. Have not attempted to feed him since I took him out at 730 pm.
Please help I'd hate to lose him.

 

[Akasha72]

have you noticed any stringy white poop? 
 
Angels are suseptable to something called Hexamita. It is a bacteria that lives in their gut harmlessly but sometimes this bacteria over grows, the fish stops eating and starts hanging around in corners and passes stringy white poop. After a few days they die. Stress is nearly always a factor in Hexamita.
 
I have successfully treated Hexamita last year in my tank - but only after I lost two baby angels, my bolivian ram pair and a couple of tetra's. 
 
What they need is an anti-biotic. I used Waterlife's Octozin but I see you are in the States and so there are far better anti-biotics available. I would treat the whole tank. I would also arm yourself with some Epsom Salt (easily available at your local drug store). You can help push some of the bacteria through their guts using the Epsom Salt. To do this you need to add 500ml of water (tap water is fine) to a jug and add a tablespoon of Epsom Salt. Mix well cos it takes a bit to dissolve. Then add some of the fishes food to your net and dunk it in the salt water a few times then just add the food to the tank. If you do this for around a week to 10 days any other fish that is harbouring the bacteria will pass it through.
 
If this Hexamita then I have to say - once a fish has got to the not eating stage then it's often too far gone to save it. 

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

How big is your community tank? That sounds like a lot of fish. My dwarf gaurami used to do the same thing. During a fungus break out with the other fish, the gaurami was constipated very badly... We treated the tank, but the gaurami wasn't pooping and when he was it was very thin stringy transparent poop that was barely visible. We tried feeding him peas but he didn't touch it at all. All he would do is stay in the corners near the bottom, he would not eat or even get excited like he normally would when there was food present. We think it was the freeze dried blood worms we fed him. A lot of fish foods in stores will expand in the fishes belly and cause constipation. I've been feeding him small chunks of OmegaOne veggie rounds and he's doing a lot better! Like completely back to normal. I think the veggie rounds helped pass the waste.
But if your tank is over crowded that can trigger diseases, especially if you added water from another pet store. I had an overcrowded tank and a major fungus break out happened killing all three of my mollies, my twinbar platy and all my shrimp.

 

[Ciaramichelle95]

It's a 35 gallon. I'm rehoming the pleco soon because he needs a bigger tank. He has a little stringy poop. All my other fish are 100% perfect. I agree with you rainbow Bacon I was feeding the the freeze dried blood worms and he ate them way faster than the other fish. It's been a few days and not on other fish has shown any other symptoms. He's doing a little better but still staying at the bottom. Tho I frequently have seen him swimming about. I have the veggie rounds that I feed to my pleco I will try and give him a few I'm about a day or two. He stopped eating yesterday so I'm trying the fasting method and then will try peas and veggie rounds. Thank you for the advice.
Also I havent gotten any new fish in months so it isn't a dieseas out break. I always quarantine new fish and treat with melafix.

 

[kazfishdog]

Since you're in the US you can get metronidazole, this is unavailable in the UK.  Seachem sells it as Metroplex, a quick Google will find many suppliers.  A 10 gallon is a good tank to med an angel in, this with a good heater capable of getting the tank to 88F & a filter or air supply to provide aeration are all you need.  Dose the tank with 40mg of metro daily with a 50% daily water change while bringing the temperature to 88F over a day.  On the 3rd day try feeding some metro sprinkled on a bit of frozen brine shrimp, even if they taste the food & spit it out it'll start to get where it's needed.  Continue for 10 more days.

 

[Ciaramichelle95]

Thanks so much! Yes I am actually thibking my fish shop I got him from sells that. I will go in tomorrow.

I have the temp at 86 right now and put in two airstone to help with oxygen since the temp is so high.

I attempted to hand feed him peas but he wasn't having it. Will definitely try the metro tho. Thanks so much. Will keep everyone posted!

 

[Ciaramichelle95]

So wait a sec 40 mg a gallon, that's like 8 times more than they suggest on this bottle

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Metro really needs to be fed to be effective. If the fish is not eating it will be of little help. There are other meds that will be more helpful. At best Epsom might help, but it has some other considerations that mean it can cause problems. For one, it makes water much harder and the angel will not like this as it is a softer water fish. If the fish will eat then you can buy metro medicated flake at these sites:
http/www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/fish-medication/medicated-food.html
or get the Antiprotozoan Fish Flakes here http/angelsplus.com/FlakeMedicated.htm
 
My med of choice when fish are not eating is Flubendazole. I get this here if you are interested http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ The directions for it are here http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleTreatment.pdf (I prefer the vodka method for making it dissolve. The vodka may also be used for stress reduction in adult fishkeepers. 

  )
The angel site also sells Fenbendazole flake (Deworming Flake). This is similar to flubendazole, but I prefer the flub over the fen.

 

[kazfishdog]

So wait a sec 40 mg a gallon, that's like 8 times more than they suggest on this bottle

 
Depends on what's the ingredients in the bottle.  Often they'll suggest 20mg/gallon, this often isn't enough.  You can take it up to 50mg/gal, 40 allows for a bit of margin for errors in measuring.  I've done this many times over the years.