Had to take fish home from work aquarium, they aren't doing well...

[TheNix]

I take care of an aquarium in my workplace which was recently shut down due to the coronavirus for at least 3 weeks. Because the heat in the building was going to be off, and no one would be around as often I had to take the fish home. There also might be renovations during or soon after our closing so this was an inevitable situation, just didn't expect it this week so it was a bit of a scramble.

The work aquarium was a 50 gallon tank, and I managed to get a 55 gallon tank set up at my house.

In an effort to not shock the fish, I moved everything including most of the water from my workplace tank. I took 20 gallons of water from their tank in jugs, and another 20 gallons of fresh, treated, water like I would use for water changes. I then went back and got all the fish, the filter, the heater the plants, literally everything but a couple decorations and moved them to the new tank.

The fish I am most concerned about is one of the two angel fish in the tank, it developed red streaks around all it's fins which I read can be stress induced. It's now sitting on the bottom upright breathing very rapidly, though the redness is reduced. They all did get a little cold in transport, (I think down to about 68 which I know is way too cold, but it was difficult catching and bagging all of them quickly in an unheated building) and I've been slowly bringing them back up to 76-80 like they're used to. All the fish are obviously a little stressed as this was quite an ordeal...

There's a fair amount of stresscoat+ in the tank as I use that for water changes anyways and did put 20 gallons of fresh water in. I did end up having to put in about 10 gallons of water from home in the tank as well (also treated) but I hoped this small amount wouldn't shock them in any major way. The water at my house is well water and I've always had great success with my personal tanks in the past; though I've never had a tank even close to this size in the home. (biggest was a 20) I've also never had to deal with angelfish until this tank at work, my tanks have always been live-bearers, barbs, tetras and small community fish.

Any advice? Right now they're in a dark room and I'm making sure the temp gets back to where it needs to be. It's at 73 now but I'm taking it slow because I don't want to shock them even more. I've transported this angelfish before (family in town was moving and gave it to us) and it did not have any issues at all so I'm worried something about either the temp or that I didn't take into account with a "new" tank even with all the water and equipment is causing a problem.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Test you water and post the results here.
Do you have an air stone in the tank? It sound like the fish is struggling to breath.
Do a 75% water change every day until the problem is identified or fixed.

 

[TheNix]

No air stone, I can run out and get that tomorrow. not sure that’s the issue because other fish do seem ok but it can’t hurt
Was never one at the office. I left the test strips I had at work but I don’t think it’s a water issue since it’s the same water they were already in but I’ll bring a sample over to get tested when I get the air stone.

Will definitely do the water changes but is 75 too much? I was planning on doing 25 several days this next week and a 50 at the end of the week so they could better acclimate to my well water. If I were still at work I wouldn’t question it but im afraid my well water is going to shock them more because it’s so different.

I just checked on them again and the angel of concern does seem to be doing better. Off the bottom so I think it’s moving in the right direction as the temp warms up. It’s up to 74 -75 now. Fingers crossed that’s all it is but will definitely get the air stone as this tank does have less surface area and less surface agitation.

 

[JuiceBox52]

M

No air stone, I can run out and get that tomorrow. not sure that’s the issue because other fish do seem ok but it can’t hurt
Was never one at the office. I left the test strips I had at work but I don’t think it’s a water issue since it’s the same water they were already in but I’ll bring a sample over to get tested when I get the air stone.

Will definitely do the water changes but is 75 too much? I was planning on doing 25 several days this next week and a 50 at the end of the week so they could better acclimate to my well water. If I were still at work I wouldn’t question it but im afraid my well water is going to shock them more because it’s so different.

I just checked on them again and the angel of concern does seem to be doing better. Off the bottom so I think it’s moving in the right direction as the temp warms up. It’s up to 74 -75 now. Fingers crossed that’s all it is but will definitely get the air stone as this tank does have less surface area and less surface agitation.

I dont think the lack of air is the issue but it will maybe help them get through this

 

[JuiceBox52]

How different is the water?

 

[Munroco]

A 75% water change every day seems way over the top to me. Especially as we don't know if there is a problem with it. I wouldn't be doing any water changes yet.
An air stone is only useful if there isn't enough water movement from a filter to provide gas exchange at the surface.

The redness could be ammonia poisoning but I wouldn't have thought it likely as the fish have only been in the tank for a few hours and you used mature water. Assuming you have hooked up the old filter then your tank should be cycled. You seem to have done everything correctly. You may be right that it is the stress that has caused this problem for your angel.

 

[JuiceBox52]

@Colin_T @Deanasue @Retired Viking
@essjay

 

[Naughts]

Like Juicebox said, we need all the water parameters and test results.
Also photos of the sick fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Too much to read and this new forum makes my life difficult.

If you have fish that aren't doing well, increase aeration/ surface turbulence and do the following.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until you work out what is going on. The water changes will buy the fish some time for you to figure out what is going on.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.
Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.

Test the aquarium and tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

Post pictures and short video of sick fish.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Instead of having your water tested or buying those expensive test strips - purchase a basic test kit from API and test daily for a while. It takes you more time, but you will save a LOT of money in the long run and have 100% better test results. If you have high ammonia readings make sure to add Prime (by Seachem) - it wont change your ammonia readings but will inactivate the toxicity of the ammonia in the tank. Add one capful every 48 hours. You may have just no longer have a cycled tank - if so the readings from the test kit (about $20 and good for about 80 tests) will give you a clue. For example if you have high ammonia readings but no nitrites then that tells you that you are lacking the bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrites. If that's the case then purchase a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus (the one with bacteria in it) and add a capful or two each time you do a water change. Eventually this will build up your bacteria levels. Do this until you get a near perfect reading from your test kit.

Personally I would do all the testing before you start a 75% water change so you know what you're dealing with. If it's lack of bacteria then the water changes may make it worse (unless you add the Safe Start with each water change). If your water tests are normal (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and a low level of nitrates) then you'll know your tank is cycled properly and go ahead with the water change - I'm deferring to the others on this forum, personally I don't think you need to do daily water changes of 75% unless there is a problem with your testing - in my opinion a once a week water change (that includes cleaning out all the debris) is good enough if your test values come back OK. Unless there is some reason you think your water is toxic or has parasites or an illness just don't see the point of daily water changes especially if your water is OK.

The KH and GH test kit is separate from the other API test kits. It's possible that your GH and KH values are different with your home water than with the water you had at work - but personally I wouldn't give it a priority right now because you already have the fish. Should you get more fish make sure you know the GH and KH values. But there isn't anything you can do about KH and GH right now. It is what it is.

I would go ahead and raise the temperature to at least 78 degrees - don't worry about shocking them when you're already at 75 degrees lets just get them warm. Look up the temperature required for angelfish - for all I know they may need a 80 degree tank, in which case more your heater to 80 degrees - your other fish should be OK with that - but leaving them all this cold isn't doing them any good.

My guess is that the angelfish is stressed and very cold, get that temperature up. And get a test kit so you know if you lost your good bacteria with the move. Post back with the results and get some more guidance.

 

[Essjay]

Please don't add Prime to the tank unless you are doing a water change. It should only be used to treat the volume of new water going into the tank and should not be added to a tank at any other time.

 

[Munroco]

I am dumbfounded, people are advising daily 75% water changes for a tank that for all we know is running perfectly (if a little cold at first). The guy has a tank of fish that have just been moved and one is looking a bit dodgy, the rest presumably seem well. I think this "cure" is way over the top and unnecessary unless we learn differently. I would guess the angelfish had a problem with the stress of moving , combined with being a little chilled and having to adjust to new water parameters. "Do no harm" is the first rule of medicine, maybe it should be the rule in this case too.

 

[Colin_T]

We don't know if the tank is running well tho. The filter might have crashed during the move, or something else could be wrong.

Until the water is tested, a big daily water change will help to dilute anything bad that might be in the tank, be it ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, a chemical or a disease.

Water changes won't hurt and might help. This is why I recommend them until we work out what is wrong.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

No, I definitely don’t suggest a 75% each day. I agree with @Munroco, that’s way over the top.

 

[Retired Viking]

Since this is a short term event (3 week shut down) may I suggest just adding Tetra SafeStart Pus to the tank. I have used it on a 20 gallon tank and it worked just fine and the small bottle will work for up to a 60 gallon tank.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/tetra-safestart