Black Freshwater Angel Fish Not Eating!

[Dawson14]

Hey everyone,

I recently moved my Angelfish from my house to my dorm. When I put him back into the tank he acted distressed. That night he had formed a layer of whitish slime on his entire body. In a day or so he pretty much shed most of it off his body. But now his skin is still discolored a bit and his eyes look cloudy? (maybe Im just paranoid). His black skin is whitish patches still (definately NOT ick....its almost like someone spread some bleach on his body) but its not slime. HE WONT EAT. He hasnt eaten in 3 days. Ive seen him take a bite once or twice but has spit most of it up. Im afraid he cant last any longer. He acts sluggish in the day, but is still very quick if he gets scared. When ever I open the lid he darts away and hides. He has been transported before and have never had this problem. Maybe this trip was a little more rough on him than before?

I have put in melafix for 3 days in a row.
Ive lowered the pH since it was a little high
And I put in another medication that is supposed to combat different types of fungus.

Should I buy some blood worms for him to see if he'll eat that? Also, I introduced two smaller angelfish a week before the transport and they are completely fine. He is just having problems. What should I do. How can I get him to eat.

Here's a picture of him....BTW that black moor isnt in there anymore. I was just fish sitting for my sister.

 

[Dawson14]

Anyone? Please, it needs to eat. I dont know what to do.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like ph shock to me get you some info.

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

 

[Dawson14]

I used the all the same water when transporting. I sucked the water out and put it back in upon arrival. Now there is slime trails that look like they are coming from his gills. He also has white slime just on the top of him above his eyes and runs down to his mouth.

Could the ph be changed by transporting the water?

 

[WILDER]

How much water was he in then, and how long was the journey.
How he acting is he flicking and rubbing on things.

Water stats would be good too.
Cloudy eye is a symtom of a desease not a desease in its self.
Bad water quality, parasites, bacterial, old age, irratation, bad diet, it quite endless.

 

[WILDER]

Or the fish good be suffering from parasites.

 

[Tolak]

An adult angel can easily go two weeks without eating. It could be stress from the transport, pH shock, difference in tank temperature, numerous things. The best thing to do is a water test. post the numbers here. Have the shop write down the numbers for you if you have a lfs test the water.

I would guess pH shock, as you stated you added something to adjust the pH. These are something to be avoided.

 

[bjmagik]

I think your angel may have some kind of fungal infection due to the stress of the move. I had an angel with the same condition. It was covered in a hazey layer of white slime and it had it around its eyes aswell. I treated it with pimafix and it cured up in 2 days. This might be an option for you.

 

[Dawson14]

Thanks for all the replies guys!!! I had the water tested when I first noticed something was wrong.

Nitrates were all 0
pH was 8.2
KH... (hardness) was 12

So the water was too alkaline and hard, but I adjusted for that. The 2 smaller angelfish were fine except for the bigger one.

The trip was a little over an hour long, and he was in 2 gallons of water.

I called the local fish store and the guy (even though extremely rude to me) suggested that I get quick cure because the white slimey film and the trails of slime coming from his gills were a sign of a protozoan parasites. So I added that. The temperature is on an automatic heater that keeps it 78, so unfortunately I cant increase the temp...Unless I put some of the fish water on the radiator and heat it? Would that work?

BTW, PIMAFIX is the only thing I havnt tried. Melafix first, Rid Ich, then Quick Cure. If this doesnt work then Ill do PIMAFIX. Ill keep the water tests going though and supply you guys with numbers and such. Thanks again.

Ill get the pH right now and see what it is and post.

 

[Dawson14]

The pH was still way to high. I put some more pH down in so we will see if It comes down more tonight.

 

[Tolak]

Adjusting the pH of tap water is tricky at best, and lethal at worst. With water that hard you may get the pH down, but it will rebound. This is way bad for fish. The angel will adjust to a pH of 8.2, the main thing is keeping it constant.

 

[Dawson14]

Ive never added tap water before, nor well water. Ive always bought spring water with no additives like calcium. How do I get the hardness down. And yea, the pH down is not doing much for the 10 gallon tank. It looks like the pH is staying the same after several days of treatment.

 

[Tolak]

I use straight tap for all my angels, breeders, fry, you name it. My water is gH11, kH6, pH7.7, tds around 210. I see from another topic that you are a few hours south of me, there are breeders in Champaign that do the same as I do with tap water. Save your money, get the fish slowly acclimated to tap water, and add nothing but a good dechlorinator.

 

[Dawson14]

Is there anyway to get the hardness down? What do you use to do that?

And yea, my sister uses straight well water in hers. She has like 45 guppies now and they wont stop having babies. She has never had ick either. Just a bad algae problem. lol


Update: Angelfish still wont eat. Its been 4 days exactly since hes last eaten. I did two treatments of quick cure today. Hopefully I will see an improvement in the morning.

 

[Dawson14]

Looks like the angelfish has mouth fungus now so Im continuing treatment of the Melafix. Its the 4th day of melafix treatment and 2 day of quickcure. The Quickcure got rid of fungus on the top of his head but the mouth fungus has gotten worse. His top fin is now folded down and condensed instead of spread out and extended. I dont know what that means, but Im guessing its not good. He seemed perkier this morning but looks worse tonight.

pH still will not go down, but I dont think thats the problem.