Sick Angelfish

[SLIM]

Hi everyone

It seems i have a sick angelfish

First of all abit of background.
My tank is 260 litres filtered by a fluval305. The tank is about 4-5 months old, is planted and has been through a full fishless cycle.
Temp is 25c Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20 and PH is around 7.6

Iv notice for the last 3 days that my favourite angelfish has become very shy and is constantly hiding and not eating.
When i do feed he does come out and kinda looks at the food like he wants to eat but doesnt.
This is really not like him as he normally eats loads and is extremly active, infact hes usually the leader of the tank.
He always would greet me at the glass and follow me about but now he just hides all the time behind the plants and stays there for hours.

What i dont get is he has no signs of illness other than not eating, shyness and lathargicness.

He has no spots, his fins are healthy and are not clamped, he dont gasp for air, doesnt flash and I havnt seen any long stringy poo from him.
All my other fish seem very healthy and absolutely fine.

Could this be an internal infection? If so how would of he of got it?
Should i put him in my QT tank? And how should i treat?
I have some Maracyn and Maracyn two to hand but i dont want to treat until i know for sure it is an internal or bacterial infection.

This is my favourite fish and hes rapidly losing weight so fast help and advice would be very much apprechiated as i really really dont want to lose him

Thank you very much for your time and advise

 

[Tolak]

Metronidazole, sold as Hex A Mit or Metroplex. Quar tank, with a reliable heater, I'll elaborate later today as I'm out the door for work.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Metro normally needs to be fed to be effective. Thus if the fish is not eating it may not be effective.

I would move the fish to a hospital tank with a bare bottom. This will let you see if food gets eaten and if and what the fish is pooping out. Make sure it has lots of air. Also raise the temp to more like 27C.

The problem is most likely internal parasites. Since you mention having the Maracyns, I assume you are in the USA and can get a hold of either:

Jungle's Internal Parasite Guard

[font="Verdana][size="1"] [size="+1"]Internal Parasite Guard (Crystal)[/size]

• • Clears Internal Parasites

Helps clear internal parasites that can cause listlessness, loss of weight and premature death of fish.
[/size][/font]Active Ingredients: sodium chloride, metronidazole, praziquantel.

API General Cure

[font="Helvetica][color="#000000"]This fast dissolving powder treats a wide variety of parasitic diseases. For use in fresh and salt water aquariums. Active ingredients Metronidazole and Praziquantel. [/color][/font]

 

[Tolak]

Put the angel in a quar tank, I usually use a 10 gallon. Increase the temp over a day or so to 90-94F. Treat daily with 40 mg/gallon metronidazole, with 50% water changes daily. If the fish isn't eating, don't feed for the first 3 days. After 3 days, get some frozen brine shrimp. Take a portion about the size of a few match heads, and sprinkle on some metro. You have to eyeball this one, make the shrimp look kind of like a tiny powdered donut. Once it thaws, mix it in & feed. Sometimes they still don't eat for a few days, but once they start to mouth the food & spit it out, the meds seem to get in their system real good. Continue medicating the water & food for 7-10 days.

Don't let the high temp scare you, angels can handle higher than that. I've had them as high as 98 due to a broken heater. Just make sure to have only angels in the tank at that temp. Make sure to have plenty of aeration also, as warmer water holds less O2.

I've also added epsom salt while using metro, this helps with any constipation issues, cleans out the digestive tract. I start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water, increasing by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per gallon. You will have to adjust how much you use when doing water changes. You may want to give this a try.

 

[SLIM]

Thanx for the great advice Tolak and Two Tankamin

Unfortunately tho, the meds youve both recommended are in the USA and im actually in the UK.

I ordered some maracyn from the states when i first took up fish keeping as i heard how good it is and wanted a good anti bacteria med to hand.

Anyway my Angel is now in the Hospital tank. I raised the temp to 26 and will raise it again to 27 tomorrow as i think the slower the better. Hes still not eating and very shy.
I dosed with Maracyn two before i went to work and before i saw both your replies as i assumed it was bacterial

I didnt even think of or suspect internal parasites! How do you think my fish got them???
Should i worry about internal parasites spreading in my main tank to all my other fish??

And do you know of any good internal parasite meds that are available in the UK?
Preferably a med that doesnt have to be ingested as he wont eat a thing, and something that wont kill off my bio filter in my hospital tank.
I fear an ammonia spike will only make things worse.

Il order the Epsom salt first thing in the morning.

 

[SLIM]

Ended up getting aqua tonic salt. Hes not responding to meds or the salt. Im all outta ideas now.
Hes gona die soon of starvation unless i figer this out

 

[fluttermoth]

You could try a course of Myxazin; I'd isolate the fish to do it, but be prepared to dose the tank if any more fish start showing any symptoms.

My friend and I were discussing 'mystery' illness the other day and she reckons most of them are bacterial in origin; we've certainly both had successes curing them with anti-internal bacterial meds, so I'd agree with that idea.

 

[SLIM]

You could try a course of Myxazin; I'd isolate the fish to do it, but be prepared to dose the tank if any more fish start showing any symptoms.

My friend and I were discussing 'mystery' illness the other day and she reckons most of them are bacterial in origin; we've certainly both had successes curing them with anti-internal bacterial meds, so I'd agree with that idea.

I agree. Well at least I did. I also assumed it was bacterial as if it was parasites, surley there would be more symptoms other than shyness and not eating. Plus all my other fish are fine! Anyway iv already treated with Maracyn two which I got from the states which is anti internl bacterial (one of the best apparently) but he has not improved at all.

 

[SLIM]

Ok I take that back. I just fed my fish in my main tank and noticed another angel acting the same!!!! Hiding away and not eating. Altho this angel seems to have a tiny bit of white poo hanging from him. This means I gona have to treat the whole tank now doesnt it? Trouble is I dont know what im treating for?
Anybody please help, tell me what to buyand il go get it now.
Please bare in mind i have plants corys and plecs and I really dont want a med that will kill my bio filter.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Not sure how helpful this will be as I do not know if you will be able to find this med in the UK (its a .pdf file): Flubendazole