Angelfish With Abnormal Gill

[wheelyfeet]

We have a young angelfish who is about 2.5 inches long. It recently bloated up severely after overeating (my fault). The bloating has gone down after fasting, but we have noticed that the gills are exposed.

Our water parameters are:
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates < 10 ppm
pH 7.4
KH 5 degrees

We change 25% of the water weekly.
The fish is active, has a very healthy appetite, and scales and colors look fine. There are no other sick fish and we have never had a sick fish.

Any ideas?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Did you happen to notice this before the bloating incidents? Does he seem to be breathing rapidly, or scratching against objects in the tank?

 

[wheelyfeet]

Did you happen to notice this before the bloating incidents? Does he seem to be breathing rapidly, or scratching against objects in the tank?

He is acting completely normal. He was breathing rapidly while he was bloated, but is fine now. I think I noticed the exposed gill before the bloating, but I'm not sure if it is a created or real memory.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Your water looks great, he is behaving fine and eating. I think it is a gill defornity. I have one fish that has the same thing. You do need to watch your water quality carefully with him, as he will be more suseptible for infections.

 

[WILDER]

Have you added any new fish to the tank or plants in the last week, do the gills look inflamed and red, or pale, do they look shiny them normal like a mucas build up on them, any laboured breathing, does the gill look like its rotting away in appearance.

 

[wheelyfeet]

Have you added any new fish to the tank or plants in the last week, do the gills look inflamed and red, or pale, do they look shiny them normal like a mucas build up on them, any laboured breathing, does the gill look like its rotting away in appearance.

Everything looks absolutely normal. This angel is even more assertive and active than the normal looking angel. The only fish I added was a platy that was constantly picked on by a very grumpy platy in our other healthy tank. That was yesterday after the bloating incident.

I'm sure the angelfish has always had the exposed gills, but I got really paranoid after the bloating. I found some pictures on the angelfish organization page and it looks like gill deformity.

Thanks for your help. I'll keep an eye out for any symptoms of infection.

 

[wheelyfeet]

Your water looks great, he is behaving fine and eating. I think it is a gill defornity. I have one fish that has the same thing. You do need to watch your water quality carefully with him, as he will be more suseptible for infections.

Thanks for your reply. I think you're right. I'll continue good tank maintenance and watch for infections.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.

 

[Tolak]

Short gill plates are a common angel deformity. The place you bought the fish from should never have been sold, it should have been culled.

The good news is that the fish is more than likely perfectly healthy in every other way, it's usually just a cosmetic defect. I wouldn't breed that fish, but other than that, enjoy your angelfish.