Sudden Angelfish Deaths

[LIL860]

I have lost 3 Angelfish in the last 2 months. They seem fine one minute eating etc, then the next day they hang out at the back of the tank refusing to eat then overnight they die. All the angelfish ive lost so far i have had from babies and they get to about 4 inches in size then they die. I have treated them with a internal bateria treatment and everything was ok for a week or so then i loose another one. I am gutted to keep loosing them as they are my favourite fish The only new addition ive added to the tank is a small silver shark but it stays clear of the angels. Nitrite is 0, Ammonia is 0 and Nitrate is 10. They are fed flakes,pellets, agae wafers and frozen bloodworm which i defrost before giving to them. What coud be wrong with them? Are angelfish not very hardy anymore? Any help and advice welcome.

 

[KittyKat]

No, angels are not always hardy and we need more information about the set-up. Given that you've got a silver (Bala) shark in there, I hope it is quite a decent size. Also, Bala sharks are schooling fish.

 

[LIL860]

Currently in a 220 litre Aqua One Aquience Cube tank hoping to upgrade to a 4ft tank within the next 6 weeks! There are now 5 angelfish, a 3 inch silver shark ( i know they are schooling fish but i had one previously that got to 6 inches before my oscar murdered it,also it was friends with my parrot fish! Oscar has been rehomed last year!)there is also a parrot fish, marbled headstander, a 5 inch black ghost knife fish and a pim pictus. Just seem to loose the angelfish which is baffling me out of my 5 left there is a smaller one which is doing really well. I am also fully aware that many of my fish will grow large. Tank is filtered by a Eheim Professional 3E and water changes done on a weekly basis.

 

[KittyKat]

..so how does the fact that your oscar killed a shark justify keeping it on its own? I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here.

So it doesn't seem to be any of the other fish, although the parrot could be a potential culprit.

What are the water parameters? What do you feed them?

 

[roadmaster]

Fish will die back to what the tank (biofilter )can support.
Would be quite difficult in my view to have 10 ppm nitrAtes with the fish you list in 220 litre tank but assuming readings are accurate,,then I would not add any new fishes for a while and see how things go.
The bala shark as you have noted is a schooling species and needs to be kept that way.

 

[KittyKat]

Ah, I see the water parameters. Nitrate is unusually low for the stocking, but that's probably a good thing. The filter should also be able to deal with the stock, I use the 3Es too and they have a good amount of space for bio-media.

Let me rephrase the other question to "how often do you feed what?"

 

[LIL860]

Havnt been on here for a few days! Fish are fed every other day with a pinch of flakes, then blood worm once a week. Today i have lost another big angelfish he was absolutely fine this morning coming to the front of the tank as usual then dead this afternoon Wish i coud get to the bottom of this now down to 4 angels. Filter is a Eheim professional 3e 350 and does up to 350 litres so is more than adequate for my 220 litre tank and its stock. Got another angel not looking too good is it worth treating them with a bacterial medication just as a precaution.