Think my Angelfish is sick and need help

[john.doe]

Hello everyone.
I have a new angelfish that I just got four days ago (got a pair, actually) in a 40 gallon aquarium. one died 2 days after bringing it home despite pristine water, and I have no idea why. My second angel now is looking really bad, and I want to see if anyone knows what's going on. for starter's his behaviour is really weird as he hangs out at the bottom of the tank and likes to swim vertically from time to time. secondly, it looks to me like his dorsal fin is not as long as it was when I brought him home. lastly, this afternoon this whiteish ragged spot has appeared just above his eye. I am really worried something is wrong with the fish, can anyone help? the spot is hard to see in the photo, I've done my best to highlight it. he is in an aquarium with an RTBS and another angel at the moment (much smaller than he is). I have been watching and haven't seen any nipping or bullying from either of the other two, but I also can't watch 24/7

 

[AtomicFish]

Yeah it’s hard to say what caused that spot but it does look like something got the top fin.

 

[Metalhead88]

What are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

 

[john.doe]

What are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

Ammonia is at 0.25 as of this afternoon. nitrate and nitrite are both at 0. I know that ammonia is higher than you want, but I just cannot seem to figure out how to get it down. none of the other fish seem to be having any issues. can also add that pH is ~7.2, I know that's a tad high for the angels, trying to bring it down slowly, GH is about 6.7 dgh.

 

[john.doe]

Yeah it’s hard to say what caused that spot but it does look like something got the top fin.

I don't know if this helps any, but the spot looks ragged and is noticeably raised. there is not a comparable bump on the other side.

 

[Metalhead88]

That ammonia can certainly be the issue or at least part of it.

Sometimes there isn't much else you can do other than give the fish clean water. So... Let's work on getting that ammonia down.

How long has the tank been set up?

How often do you water change and how much do you take out?

What fish are in the tank?

How often do you feed?

Do you clean your filter media often? Recently? How'd you do it?

After answering this question we may be able to get you in the right direction. The ammonia has got to go. Some fish will be ok for a little bit, but it will take a toll eventually. Angelfish will not live long in tanks with any amount of ammonia.

 

[john.doe]

That ammonia can certainly be the issue or at least part of it.

Sometimes there isn't much else you can do other than give the fish clean water. So... Let's work on getting that ammonia down.

How long has the tank been set up?

How often do you water change and how much do you take out?

What fish are in the tank?

How often do you feed?

Do you clean your filter media often? Recently? How'd you do it?

After answering this question we may be able to get you in the right direction. The ammonia has got to go. Some fish will be ok for a little bit, but it will take a toll eventually. Angelfish will not live long in tanks with any amount of ammonia.

The tank has been set up for 3 weeks, after putting in the fish I have done 1 25% water change, Right now I have one Red Tail Black Shark, One Small Angel I got from LFS, and one large angel I got from petsmart (used to be two from there). I feed Every other day, and I cleaned the filter and changed half the sponge last week right before getting fish, when I noticed the ammonia going up, I added a pouch of ammonia remover behind the filter. I am almost wondering if the RTBS isn't doing this...

 

[Metalhead88]

I strongly believe the problem you are having with your angels is due to the poor water quality of an unestablished tank. Don't worry, things will get much better for you soon.

Do another water change. This will not solve your problems, but will dilute it.

Do not change your filter sponges. When you changed half the sponges, you removed half of the bacteria that you've been working on establishing. This certainly set you back a bit. Do not clean the filter for the first 2 months. After that point, you can clean it in TANK WATER around every 2 weeks or as needed.

Another thing I find alarming is that you don't have nitrate. Since nitrate is the end result of the cycle, a cycled tank (except in rare heavily planted tanks) will always have a nitrate reading. That reading is either wrong, or you are in the very early stages of the cycle. Let's hope it's just wrong.

If you are using those testing sticks, we can assume all of your results are inaccurate. Those sticks are the worst. You can fully trust the liquid test kit.

 

[john.doe]

I strongly believe the problem you are having with your angels is due to the poor water quality of an unestablished tank. Don't worry, things will get much better for you soon.

Do another water change. This will not solve your problems, but will dilute it.

Do not change your filter sponges. When you changed half the sponges, you removed half of the bacteria that you've been working on establishing. This certainly set you back a bit. Do not clean the filter for the first 2 months. After that point, you can clean it in TANK WATER around every 2 weeks or as needed.

Another thing I find alarming is that you don't have nitrate. Since nitrate is the end result of the cycle, a cycled tank (except in rare heavily planted tanks) will always have a nitrate reading. That reading is either wrong, or you are in the very early stages of the cycle. Let's hope it's just wrong.

If you are using those testing sticks, we can assume all of your results are inaccurate. Those sticks are the worst. You can fully trust the liquid test kit.

For Nitrate/Nitrite I am using the sticks, for GH and ammonia I am using the liquid test kits. it was all that was available at my LFS, I've ordered the liquid test for everything but we're fairly rural and it's taking time. after adding the fish I did get a bacterial bloom, so I am assuming that the Nitrate/Nitrite is probably wrong.

 

[itiwhetu]

This looks like an old fish, did you buy it from your LFS. The dorsal fin looks very short!!

 

[john.doe]

This looks like an old fish, did you buy it from your LFS. The dorsal fin looks very short!!

no, I am very rural and the LFS has a supply problem right now, so I drove into town and got him and a friend from petsmart. the friend passed away and I'm not sure why. I decided to turn out the lights and watch what happened and the RTBS was in fact bullying him, actually pulling scales off and biting fins. the RTBS has been removed from the tank into a small tank by himself, and I am going to try to rehome him. Just hope I separated them in time. the fish seems to be behaving more normally, but is definitely having some trouble swimming (lots of barrel roll-esque type movements). I put in some ammonia neutralizer last night and my ammonia is at 0 as of this morning. I will continue to monitor, and my other liquid test kits should be getting here today to get more accurate water numbers for everyone.

 

[FishBearer9845]

Through lack of my own research and rubbish advice from the LFS, my fish-in cycle took daily water changes of 75%, sometimes twice daily if I tried a new food and overfed them with it.
I tested the results before and after using API Master test kit, brilliant kit. Anything for Nitrites and Ammonia over 0.25 I did water changes.
Took about 6 weeks.

 

[john.doe]

Update, my Master Test Kit came in and I can confirm the test strips were not entirely accurate. After a 25% water change last night my Ammonia is not gone, but less than 0.25ppm (the minimum value of the test). Ph is 7.2, Nitrite is 0 ppm, and Nitrate is about 8ppm (seems to be closer to 10 than 5 but still not quite there). what should I be doing from this point other than trying to keep that ammonia down