Dead Angels

[TN Discus]

Hello All,

In the past month I have lost several angels due to unknown reasons. They are all eating healthy and swimming actively. The thing i am noticing is my angels bellies look like they are about to explode and those are the ones that are dying. I checked my ph and it is at 7 and the ammonia levels are neutral. The temp is 80f. can someone plz tell me what I should do to keep the rest of my angels from dying. I bred and raised them myself and I want to save them. any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tolak]

What are you feeding them, and how often? How many are there, what size tank, and how often do you do water changes, and what amount? What is there actual age? Is this a bare tank, or is there substrate? What are you using to treat the replacement water? Describe your weekly maintenance procedure, the more details the better. Please post the results (numbers) of nitrite, nitrate, kH, and gH. How long has the fry tank been running, or the filter been cycled for?

Sorry for all the questions, but sometimes it's one simple thing that is easily overlooked that can be causing a bacterial or protizoan issue.

***Edit to add***

I see you have a similar problem with a betta. This can be traced to bacterial issues with the hatching of bbs, or protizoal issues from live food. At times it can be the type & quantity of food fed as well.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

My guess would be the food you are feeding them, or an internal parasite.

 

[TN Discus]

Tolak, when I posted about my betta, which is located in a complete seperate tank and about 45min from my main tanks at home with the parents. I have a betta in my dorm. The angels are no longer fry! They are kept in a 125g community tank and most are a year old +. They are all very large and I know this is an issue but the tank has too many tank mates and I am aware of that. There used to be 70 of them to be exact untill I sold most of them to family and friends. they are kept with substrate and the tank is cleaned once per week. 75% of the water is drained each time and the filters are cleaned every 3-4 weeks. Prime is used to treat water in all of my fish tanks when they go through w/c. I have two filters on this system and one is a Magnum canister, one is a AC 500. I feed them flakes from ken's fish that I ordered in bulk. 5 lbs to be exact. They are feed once a day by my father and whenever i come home to visit they get some frozen brine shrimp as a snack. I didnt measure the Nitrate or nitrite levels today before I changed the water and can not measure it untill my next visit home. the filter has been cycled for over 2 years.thanks for helping so far

My guess would be the food you are feeding them, or an internal parasite.

i also think its an internal parasite but i have no clue wat it is or how to treat them.

 

[Tolak]

Sounds like you have a handle on the filtration & maintenance end. Most breeders, including myself, will stock beyond the 10 gallon per adult, 5 gallon per potential breeder guideline. With plenty of water changes, which you are doing, and overfiltration, which you have, you can double that stocking. Beyond that you have to have a backup plan, and be able to use it fast.

While Ken's fish is a good outfit, selling quality food and such, a diet of mainly flake food will cause some digestive problems. Frozen brine shrimp is an excellent food for adult angels, as the roughage keeps their digestive system moving. Angels are prone to intestinal protizoans, even more so with overstocking adults, as the close confines and pairing of adults can cause stress. Stress lowers any fish's immune response, the internal protizoans are considered a normal part of many cichlid's digestive flora.

What to do? Metronidazole sprinkled on some frozen brine shrimp will clear out the internal protizoans to a point that the fish's immune system will be able to deal with any remainders. Since it sounds as if they are having a bit of constipation issues, which may be increased by the killing of the internal protizoans I would add some epsom salt to the water. I would start with the epsom salt, one teaspoon per 10 gallons, on the first day. Bring it up to two teaspoons per 10 gallons the second day. On the third day, mix some metronidazole in with thawed brine shrimp. Since it sounds like you have quite a few angels, 100mg of metro per one tablespoon of frozen brine shrimp should be fed. I would feed this for several days in a row, along with having the epsom salt in the water. Feed once daily, and don't feed anything else.

Seachem sell metronidazole, nice little vial with a 100mg scoop included. Metro is something most all angel & discus breeders keep on hand, as this is a fairly regular issue with these fish. National Fish Pharmacy sells it in bulk; http/www.nationalfishpharm.com/products3.html

Once this clears up, feed less flake, and more frozen brine. Unless you are conditioning breeders or are working with a breeding pair fasting one day weekly helps to keep their digestive tract cleared out. Since they seem to be having a bit of a problem I would fast for two days in a row once weekly.

 

[TN Discus]

Sounds like you have a handle on the filtration & maintenance end. Most breeders, including myself, will stock beyond the 10 gallon per adult, 5 gallon per potential breeder guideline. With plenty of water changes, which you are doing, and overfiltration, which you have, you can double that stocking. Beyond that you have to have a backup plan, and be able to use it fast.

While Ken's fish is a good outfit, selling quality food and such, a diet of mainly flake food will cause some digestive problems. Frozen brine shrimp is an excellent food for adult angels, as the roughage keeps their digestive system moving. Angels are prone to intestinal protizoans, even more so with overstocking adults, as the close confines and pairing of adults can cause stress. Stress lowers any fish's immune response, the internal protizoans are considered a normal part of many cichlid's digestive flora.

What to do? Metronidazole sprinkled on some frozen brine shrimp will clear out the internal protizoans to a point that the fish's immune system will be able to deal with any remainders. Since it sounds as if they are having a bit of constipation issues, which may be increased by the killing of the internal protizoans I would add some epsom salt to the water. I would start with the epsom salt, one teaspoon per 10 gallons, on the first day. Bring it up to two teaspoons per 10 gallons the second day. On the third day, mix some metronidazole in with thawed brine shrimp. Since it sounds like you have quite a few angels, 100mg of metro per one tablespoon of frozen brine shrimp should be fed. I would feed this for several days in a row, along with having the epsom salt in the water. Feed once daily, and don't feed anything else.

Seachem sell metronidazole, nice little vial with a 100mg scoop included. Metro is something most all angel & discus breeders keep on hand, as this is a fairly regular issue with these fish. National Fish Pharmacy sells it in bulk; http/www.nationalfishpharm.com/products3.html

Once this clears up, feed less flake, and more frozen brine. Unless you are conditioning breeders or are working with a breeding pair fasting one day weekly helps to keep their digestive tract cleared out. Since they seem to be having a bit of a problem I would fast for two days in a row once weekly.

Tolak, thanks for all of this great info. I will have to start treat ment very soon...