Angel Not Doing Well

[snowboarder99886]

I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 angels 6 neon tetras, 5 platies, and a common pleco.

My 2 angels are usually activley swimming around the tank. But i have one of them now in the back looking like hes/she breathing hard not moving. i dont see any physical charitaristics, like mold or ick on it. Anyone have any ideas. I also have good water adn did a water change yesteraday. Tested it today. I did have a little water temp flexuation yesterday becasue my heater went wild and went up to 86 and now its back down to 80 where i usualy keep it at.

 

[Tolak]

Please post the results of the water tests. Is there white feces, and refusal to eat with this behavior?

 

[snowboarder99886]

7.0 PH, Nitrate and Nitrites are both at zero, amomonia is less then .5. Nothing is wrong with the water. He kind of eats, wont eat flakes, but will take some blood worms. He is sitting in the back still in the corner behind the heater.

 

[Tolak]

Any ammonia is not good. The abscence of any nitrates leads me to believe this tank is newer, and hasn't cycled, or is going thirough a cycle. Are you using test strips, or a liquid test kit.

How long has this tank been running, what do you use for dechlorinator, and what do you do for maintenence & how often? Have you added any new fish, or had any die?

Suggesting meds won't help if it's a cycling problem, you will actually be throwing money away without accomplishing anything.

 

[snowboarder99886]

The nitrates are at 20, the tank has been set up for about 3 months now and the angels have been in their for about 2 months with no sign of problems. I did a fishless cycle with bio spira and put platies with it. I still have the orgianl platies i used with the biospira. I had one neon tetra die but it was awhile ago so i dont think that it was the cause of it. I use aquasafe to dechlornate waters and take out metals. I also do a 20% water change every week. My water has been stable for the last two months.

 

[Tolak]

Sounds good, I don't mean to sound picky, just want to rule out any water issues. Angels will often behave this way if ammonia is present, they hang near the surface if there are nitrites.

I've had angels with this problem, I have one that started acting thay way yesterday. It will go into a 10 gallon tomorrow. It's caused by an internal protizoan that is common in cichlids, most often in discus & angels.

Put the angel in a quar tank, I usually use a 10 gallon. Increase the temp over a day or so to 90-94F. Treat daily with 40 mg/gallon metronidazole, with 50% water changes daily. If the fish isn't eating, don't feed for the first 3 days. After 3 days, get some frozen brine shrimp. Take a portion about the size of a few match heads, and sprinkle on some metro. You have to eyeball this one, make the shrimp look kind of like a tiny powdered donut. Once it thaws, mix it in & feed. Sometimes they still don't eat for a few days, but once they start to mouth the food & spit it out, the meds seem to get in their system real good. Continue medicating the water & food for 7-10 days.

Metronidazole is sold as flagyl, het-a-mit, and a few other names I can't recall offhand, used to treat hexamita & hole in the head. They usually suggest 20mg/gallon, this often isn't enough. Metro deteriorates in 8 hours, so you could do twice daily water changes. I've done this on the weekends when I have time.

I've also added epsom salt while using metro, this helps with any constipation issues, cleans out the digestive tract. I start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water, increasing by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons You will have to adjust how much you use when doing water changes. You may want to give this a try.

Don't let the high temp scare you, angels can handle higher than that. I've had them as high as 98 due to a broken heater. Just make sure to have only angels in the tank at that temp. Make sure to have plenty of aeration also, as warmer water holds less O2.


Btw, I just saw your other topic concerning this fish. A pic would help, Could be normal coloration of a stressed angel, or could be septicemia. Much of it depends on the coloration of the angel, and the pattern/location of the redness.