Angel having touble eating

[becs66]

Hi,

A few days ago I noticed a small white growth behind the eye of my 5" angel fish which i figured was some kind of fungal infection and treated with interpet anti fungus and finrot treatment. However the fish also now seems to be having trouble eating and although keen to feed spits the food straight back out again. I have tried various foods including blood worms which he usually goes mad for but he can't seem to keep anything down?! Could it be directly linked to the fungus or the fungus treatment???

The tank is a 120l tank and the angel is kept with gouramis, corys, cardinal tetras, and a sucking loach all of which appear to be fine with no symptoms of fungus and are feeding ok. No water parameters have changed (stable at NO2 and NH3 undetectable, NO3 <5 mg/l, pH7, with weekly 20l water change) and no new fish have been addded.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Is he spitting everything out? Or just pieces. Sometimes food is just too big for their mouths. Did he ever do this before?

 

[becs66]

No he's never done it before, and its the same food as he's alway eaten (had him about 18 months). The other smaller fish manage the same food too!?!

 

[becs66]

and yes he spits it all out!!

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Its possible he is still sick. Did the fungus go away?

 

[becs66]

The fungus patch has reduced in size but is still visible (only treated 10/10), but didn't know if a fungal skin problem could affect his eating behaviour in such a way? Have experinced other fish with similar fungal conditions that have not been affected in this way!

 

[KimmyFishy89]

When a fish is sick, no matter what the illness they tend to not eat as much as they do when they aren't sick. Treat it for a little while longer until the fungus is gone. When he is all better he will be the big pig he was

 

[Ob1]

fully agree with all posting, my angle had fungus due to cold water, and he stopped eating for over 3 - 4 days, once the fungus went he started feeding again

 

[becs66]

Thanks for all the help he seems to be starting to feed a bit better today, but it would appear that i was worried about the wrong fish as this morning found silver shark had died, fine yesterday, not a mark on it

 

[Alien Anna]

I don't want to worry you but your "sucking loach" aka "Chinese Algae Eater" is notorious for killing flat-bodied fish, usually by sucking on to them. They can also have the eyes out of other fish.

I've never heard of one killing a silver shark but they are incredibly aggressive. They can grow to 11" long, which is worrying.

 

[becs66]

The loach never really got on with the silver shark, chasing him around at feeding time but they were together for over 6 months with no major problem and he doesn't seem to trouble any of the other fish. He's about 4" long at the moment, so is he likely to get to be more of a nuissance when he gets bigger? Would you recommended his removal from the tank and if so what other fish kind of fish are suitable to be kept with him?!

He was inheritted from a friends tank who gave up keeping fish as he wouldn't have been my choice!!!

 

[Alien Anna]

The loach never really got on with the silver shark, chasing him around at feeding time but they were together for over 6 months with no major problem and he doesn't seem to trouble any of the other fish. He's about 4" long at the moment, so is he likely to get to be more of a nuissance when he gets bigger? Would you recommended his removal from the tank and if so what other fish kind of fish are suitable to be kept with him?!

CAEs get much more aggresssive as they get older, and much, much bigger. When they get like that they can be virtually impossible to sell or even give away - a forum member ended up giving his CAE his own tank because the only alternative was euthanasia.

They can be kept alone with maybe a few, non-threatening dither fish (such as danios who swim near the top of the water), or they can be suitable bottom feeders for African cichlids (with whom they can hold their own). But if you don't want a large, aggressive fish consider giving it away now, while it's still small.

I had a friend with a CAE called Algenon of whom he was extremely fond - like many aggressive fish, they have personality and can form a bond of sorts with their owner. But you have to know what they are and what problems are likely to occur.

It is possible, given your report, that the CAE either directly killed the shark, or the stress of being harrassed by the CAE (along with the stress of being a shoaling fish on his own) lead to your shark's demise. I strongly recommend reading up about this species and considering what your next step should be.