Angelfish Fin Disease

[CheekyCheeze]

Hi Guys

Looking 4 some help for my Angelfish(Dexter)

Here is as much info as I can give

Tank size: 120x48x41cm
pH: 6.8
nitrate: 8 mg/l
kH: 60 mg/L
gH: 40 mg/L
tank temp: 29

My Black Angelfish's Fin has shrunk and appears to be rotting away maybe, it has a whitish sheen to it. It can still move it's fin. His gill on the side of his fin is white around the edges. It tends to sit at the bottom of my tank rather that swim everywhere, like its angelfish tankmate.

My tank is about 250L and I change the water 20% weekly.

My Filter Media includes Ceramatic Tubes, Filter Floss and Activated Carbon

The Inhabitants Are 10 Black Neons, 2 AngelFish

I put my Angelfish In the tank 4 Days ago and they seemed fine untill now.

I just changed my Filter Floss, might that have something to do with it?

Here is a photo of my fishes bad fin. The Other Fin is normal and healthy.



Thanks Guys!

 

[Tolak]

By changing the floss you may have lost some of your nitrifying bacteria, ammonia will cause fish ti be lethargic, as well as hang towards the bottom. Without having tested for ammo it's impossible to say for sure. I would do a water change, 25% should be good, and get the water tested for ammonia & nitrite.

It looks a little more like clamping with the dorsal than actual damage, which would indicate stress. If you are referring to the pectoral this is tough to say, pic is pretty blurred. I would also keep an eye out for any aggression issues, since switching tanks may cause some territory spats.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish have a mucous coating over their body and when they are stressed by poor water quality they produce more of it. The fish looks like it is suffering from poor water quality. You gave us some test results but not the ammonia or nitrite. I think you will probably find there is an ammonia reading brought about by a change in filter materials.

I would drop your temperature to about 26C. The tetras won't live long in the warmer water.

Your tank is less than 250litres.

To work out the volume
measure Length x width x height in cm
divide by 1000
equals volume in litres.

When measuring the height of the tank measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level. If there are any big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove them before measuring the height.

If you have to clean the filter then rinse out the filter materials in a bucket of tank water. Never wash them under tap water. If you need to change the filter materials then only change a small portion at a time (less than 1/3).

If you have a water quality issue then do bigger water changes (50-75%) using dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature and PH to the tank.

 

[CheekyCheeze]

Thanks Guys!

I'll do a water change and tomorow I will go to my local aquarium and get them to test my water for ammonia and nitrite.
Thanks for the advice.
But If more mucus was forming wouldn't it mean that both sides would be mucousy. There is only white stuff on one side of its body?

Thank you

 

[Colin_T]

sometimes they produce more on one side than the other. Th only other option would be costia or something along those lines but it doesn't normally just affect one side either. It will spread over areas of the body, on both sides. For the whole side to look like it does looks a lot like excess mucous.

 

[Tolak]

Black angels will show any damage much more than any other variety. They get white marks from the smallest scrape, something that would go totally unnoticed on a silver or gold. They also are more sensitive, as plenty of inbreeding goes into getting a black angel, this also means that it doesn't take much for a medical situation to arise. A little damage will cause more slime coat to be produced in the damaged area, and will be more noticeable on a black angel.

 

[CheekyCheeze]

Black angels will show any damage much more than any other variety. They get white marks from the smallest scrape, something that would go totally unnoticed on a silver or gold. They also are more sensitive, as plenty of inbreeding goes into getting a black angel, this also means that it doesn't take much for a medical situation to arise. A little damage will cause more slime coat to be produced in the damaged area, and will be more noticeable on a black angel.

2 days or so I noticed a little silver scrape across the side of his body, bareley noticable. Do you thing this excess mucous could just be the healing process of this little scrape? What should to do to help speed up this process and do you guys thing aquarintine tank would be an appropriate approach?

 

[Tolak]

Increase water changes, and perhaps add a little melafix. If you can do a smaller quar tank, and do 50% water changes daily on the smaller tank it will heal in less than a week if it is a superficial scrape.

You could also remove anything that the angel could scrape itself on from the tank. More rounded, smooth decorations will minimize any marking.

 

[CheekyCheeze]

Yay I can see my fish is healing!
The silver scrape is completeley gone and his pectorial fin is almost totaly back to normal.
Although his dorsal fin is stuck together and looks not so nice...
But I guess the mucous will go away after a few days the it wore off on his fin.
Thanks so much for all the help.

I might put him in a Quarantine tank but he seems fine, I have done 2 water changes this week and it seems to be doing great.

Thanks Again

 

[Tolak]

People are always ready to jump the gun, & hose the tank with medications. Often all that is needed is fresh water, & plenty of it. Water is cheap compared to medications, and more readily available.

Fish in the wild have a constant supply of fresh water, and the stocking rate in the wild is a fraction of that in an aquarium. A good example is larger game fish. Anyone with any experience game fishing has seen or caught a larger fish with someone else's hook or lure, and often a portion of line, in its mouth. This fish heals up and gets by just fine with this little "body enhancement", without any medication whatsoever.