Nose Down Angelfish

[Matt75]

Hi all,
 
I've got a problem with one of my Angels (2 in the tank - only found that wasn't ideal post purchase / growth). Its mature and has developed a bulge at its rear, near the tail which protrudes on both sides. It is also spending a lot time swimming nose down in an unplanted area of the tank, near to the filter in / out. 
 
Tank is a Roma 240L (i.e. 4 ft long), base drilled model, running of a large pump (sorry, name escapes me), pump media upgraded with alpha grog. Its planted out, on a sand base. Pump was cleared through for veg matter about 2 weeks ago using stored waste water from the tank. Tank is nice and mature - I've had current setup circa 2 years. No changes in chemical treatments / ingoing water protocols in that time either (i.e. same water safe, fertilizer for plants - all tetra). 
 
They are fed wafers and flakes, occasional blood worm blocks for variety. 
 
Rest of the tank is calm, the two angels do sometimes pick on each other. Only recent loss being a neon 4 weeks ago.
 
Water tests report normal findings - we have high tap levels of nitrite (I think it is) here, but the fish have always lived in that. The Ammonia / Nitrate levels are all very low. Temp on the tank around 30c.
 
Any idea what might be wrong ? I do have a 15 litre tank I could siphon water to and warm up if he / she needed to be separated. 
 
Thanks for any help - I'll try to get a photo and post up. 

 

[betta fish]

It could be that they are breeding and preparing a spawning site and what you see is the breeding tube but we will really need to see a pic to confirm this, is the fish responding to you normally when you feed?

 

[Akasha72]

can you please post a photograph of this angel? The lump could be a female breeding tube but it could just as equally be something like a tumor. I am concerned that the latter is more likely given that the fish isn't swimming properly.
 
I've lost two fish recently to tumors - a cory a couple of months ago and a harlequin a couple of days ago. Both showed signed of nose up/down swimming before I put them to sleep. Normally when a fish is swimming in such a way they are in pain in my opinion. There's also the fact that things like tumors weigh something and can 'drag' the fish into an unnatural swimming position.
 
However ... I may be getting ahead of myself so a photograph will help diagnosis

 

[Matt75]

Hi, lets hope this works (fingers crossed)
 

 

 
Sorry these aren't great, taken with my camera phone pressed against the glass.
 
The bulge you can see in the top one. The general nose down in the latter. 
 
He / She is such a lovely looking thing and have not had a problem with them previously. 

 

[Akasha72]

I can see the swelling. Has the swelling grown since you first noticed it? Is the fish still eating?
 
If you are in the US I'd try feeding some medicated food and see if the fish starts swimming normally again. If you are in the UK you'll need to make your own 'medicated' food. To do this you'll need to buy some epsom salt, add a tablespoon to a seperate vessel with some tap water and mix well. You can then add some fish food to your net and dip it in the salt mixture a few times and then feed the food to the fish. The epsom salt will do the same to the fish as it does to us ... help to pass through any blockages in the guts. 
 
Never add salt to the aquarium as it'll mess up your water big time but if you use it as a food dip it can be a really cheap and useful way of treating basic internal problems. 
 
I do suspect though that this could be a tumor. If it keeps on getting bigger that is what it'll be

 

[Matt75]

Thanks - much appreciated. 
 
Do you think I should split that fish off and then feed it ? Or do you mean we should do that for all of them (i.e. general feed). 
 
Its still very keen to eat, its fascinated by the courgette we put into the tank today and has had a few nibbles at some of the seeds floating around (but too big to eat). Its still pretty active, with no reddening around the gills or fin damage. 
 
I'll keep an eye on it and get hold of some epsom salts in the meantime. 

 

[Akasha72]

just feed it to all of them ... it won't harm - it'll just make them poo a lot!
 
Cichlids have become prone to something called Hexamita (although I don't suspect your fish has it) and so the epsom salt trick can be used to treat it in the early stages but it also works for constipation and signs of a general belly ache. When fish swim nose down it can mean there's something not right with their guts and so because we can't 100% indentify whether the swelling is related to the swimming issue I'm aiming to see if we can cure the nose down thing easily by seeing if he/she is a bit blocked up and then see what develops with the lump of the next few days. 

 

[betta fish]

Is that bulge not the swim bladder that we can see, especially since it is identical on both sides? it's difficult going by the pic to see what is wrong a video may be better, it's good the fish is still responsive to you maybe it has swim bladder issues sometimes caused by over feeding or rough tank mates I take it the nose down swimming isn't all the time?

 

[Akasha72]

if it were the swim bladder bettafish wouldn't the fish be swimming more erraticly rather than just nose down? I've only had to deal with swim bladder issues once and the fish was tipping over onto it's back and trying to swim belly up. 
 
It's possible it's a swim bladder issue - it's not an illness I've had much experience with so I'll leave you to explain further if your more experienced on that than I am

 

[betta fish]

Hi Akasha, not too sure really just something I thought I'd throw out there I guess it can vary in severity though, any aggression from the other angel you have? do you know if they are a pair? I would fast the fish for a day or two and see if it makes a difference, sometimes an over full belly can press on the swim bladder and cause issues.