Sick angelfish??

[WhisperedLitany]

Well, i looked into my tank just now and noticed one of my angelfish's top fin somewhat clamped... I dont know why.

Nitrates are 0, Nitrites are 0, and my pH is 7.6

I set a few things of water out so i can do a 15% water change tomorrow, but i dont know whats stressing him out.

Maybe my tank is finally finishing cycling? Even though i'm pretty sure it had already finished. I let my tank sit for 2 weeks, then added 2 corydoras for a week, and then after 3 weeks i added the two angels and a clown pleco and everyone seemed to be fine.

My water is somewhat cloudy, but its not green or anything.
I ran out of pH reducing tablets, so i gotta get more of them next time i have money.

Anything i could maybe do?
Hes kinda staying in the same spot and i dropped a sinking wafer in there to see if he'd chase after it and all he did was just kinda watch it fall.


Bleh im really worried about him =\
My clown pleco died yesterday but that was because i didnt have any driftwood in my tank. My other angel seems to be fine..

http://i39.tinypic.com/1817ah.jpg

Thats boss, the sick / stressed one.


And this is attis, the one that seems to be perfectly fine..

http://i42.tinypic.com/n2cx2h.jpg


help??

[SilverDollarMan]

what are your ammonia readings?

also, dont get any of those ph reducing tablets, messing with your ph only messes up your tank, all fish adapt to almost any ph, so ph isnt really an issue

[Damodred]

What's your ammonia reading? If your nitrate is 0, your tank probably isn't cycled unless it's heavily planted and/or you just did a massive water change. What size tank & what are the other tank-mates? Why are you using pH reducer tablets?

[WhisperedLitany]

Sorry for being a noob when it comes to these things. :lipssealedsmilie:

People will probably yell at me for this one, but i dont have an ammonia tester. I did a 25% water change a few days ago, but then again the nitrate tester i have probably isnt very acurate because its not the liquid one.

It must be the nirate then if its not the pH.

My tank is a 20g with the 2 angels, 2 corys, and a swordtail.
please dont yell at me for the tank size, i'm planning on upgrading it soon.

[SilverDollarMan]

I think your tank isnt cycled yet

if your nitrates are at 0 and you have cloudy water, then I am thinking that are are barely having a bacterial bloom.

you might want to buy a ammonia liquid test kit, because it will be very important to keep ammonia in check.

[WhisperedLitany]

It suprises me a bit that my tank hasnt fully cycled yet O_o.
I'll have to go up to petco to get a tester.

Either that or i'll goto this one pet shop that breeds angelfish (aka where i got my angels) and get a small peice of driftwood while i'm there and get another clown pleco along with the tester kit. *whistles* i miss my baby clown pleco. hmph.


What if my ammonia IS too high? What do i do to reduce it?

[AshK]

So you have the test strips? Without accurate testing it's impossible to tell what your water parameters are. Your nitrite good be sky high, for example. You should get a liquid test kit asap.

You appear to be in the beginnings of a fishy cycle, you'll probably need to start doing daily large volume water changes soon.

You should not buy ANY fish until you get a test kit and this issue sorted out. Have you read this yet?

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

[SilverDollarMan]

also, why do you believe your clown pleco died because he didnt have driftwood?

I dont really think thats a reason for a fish to die.

the best help I can give you right now is to just keep up with those water changes, and keep ammonia and nitrites in check

[WhisperedLitany]

Because in my other topic talking about him dying someone told me Clown plecos need driftwood in their diet.


:confused::confused::confused:

[SilverDollarMan]

So you have the test strips? Without accurate testing it's impossible to tell what your water parameters are. Your nitrite good be sky high, for example. You should get a liquid test kit asap.

You appear to be in the beginnings of a fishy cycle, you'll probably need to start doing daily large volume water changes soon.

You should not buy ANY fish until you get a test kit and this issue sorted out.

yea I agree, you should do daily 20% to 25% water changes and vacuum your gravel once a week (dont vac daily, because that disrupts your beneficial bacteria that is barely growing)

[WhisperedLitany]

Yeah i'm going to hold off on getting more fish.... I wasnt going to get any other fish becides a pleco for that 20g anyways because its already somewhat overstocked.

[noodles62]

Take a water sample to the LFS with you. Most will test your water for free. We need to know what your Ammonia readings are. Make sure you buy your own liquid ammonia test kit so you can keep it in check. If your tank is not cycled you will need to do frequent, if not daily water changes. Are you using a dechlorinator product such as Prime or NovAqua? It is imperative that you use one to take the chlorine and chloramines out of your tap water, just letting your water "sit out" is not good enough......

[noodles62]

Do not add a pleco until your tank is more established. There is nothing for him to eat in a new tank.

[WhisperedLitany]

I've taken water samples to my LFS before, and the only kinds of testers they use is the strips, so there is really no point.

I use aquasafe for tap water. I've never heard of Prime or NovAqua.

[SilverDollarMan]

I've taken water samples to my LFS before, and the only kinds of testers they use is the strips, so there is really no point.

I use aquasafe for tap water. I've never heard of Prime or NovAqua.


lfs dont usually have prime, I always get my prime at petsmart

if you could get Prime, then I highly recommend it for you, it is one of the best tap water conditioners around
it gets rid of chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia, and it detoxifies nitrites and nitrates.

[WhisperedLitany]

Alright.. well... i'm going to have to try getting money from my mom because i have no money, and neither does my boyfriend right now.

[AshK]

Fish keeping is a relatively expensive hobby. Perhaps you can have the store hold your fish for you until you have the proper equipment and a cycled tank.

[WhisperedLitany]

My mom said she would take me to the petstore tomorrow when we go shopping for some other stuff nearby..

Hopefully tomorrow isnt too late.

Money isnt really a problem... Its just bad timing for this to happen..

[angelfishlover]

Usually i add angelfishes after about 5 weeks after it starts in order for it to cycle finish.I put flakes usually to have a fishless cycle.Hmm in your case i bet the ammonia or nitrite is spiking up.JMO.

[WeeGlo@nite]

Put some tank water in a baggy and go to your local fish store and ask them to run a test. They wont charge you and they will be able to test it accuratly.

Generally cloudy tanks will occure during your nitrite spike not ammonia. If your nitrites are at 0 then you should not be seeing any.

[WhisperedLitany]

I'm hoping i have this under control now.
My mom and me went shopping and ran up to walmart and i got ammonia test strips and Ammonia Clear fizz tablets that remove ammonia.

I added 2 tablets (1 per 10 gallon), and tested my ammonia and at first it said it was 6.0... which i dont know if my fish would even be alive in, and then after a bit longer it turned to the color that points to 0.25

So... either way, its stressing my fish out.

I did a water change, and i'll be doing another one later tonight, and another small one tomorrow.

[angelfishlover]

Ahh ammonia spiking up.No wonder your fish is stressed.Should have gotten those bacteria starters/cultures for your tank.

[WhisperedLitany]

Well, i woke up this morning and Attis (the health angelfish) was on the bottom letting his stomach rub against the gravel, and the sick angelfish was letting the curent push him around, and my swordtail was just hanging out at the bottom of the tank. My corys seem fine but everyone else seems ready to die.

I'm starting to feel like i should give up because i seem to kill all my fish within 3-4 weeks. No matter what i try to do, i always mess up.

*shrugs* im trying to to my best... but it doesnt seem to be good enough.

If all my fish die im going to get a nice halfmoon betta and keep it at that.......................

[Star_Rider]

Large water changes.

you need to keep the ammonia below .25

angels are not a hardy species..they should only be added to a full cycled , established tank.

that said.. the hobby is all about learning.

you have not done anything wrong. you've just made a mistake many other have made.
you are just learning about the nitrogen cycle(ammonia converted to nitrite converted to nitrate) all done with bacteria.. simply put you could add dirt from out side and start a bacteria culture to cycle the tank.

there are bacteria in a bottle.. as many have discovered here.. are not a waste of money.. some have live cultures that will seed the tank for immediate stocking of the tank.. others have dormant bacteria that will need a few weeks to wake up.

if you still have live fish in the tank just do large daily water changes(50%+)

[WhisperedLitany]

well, im in school right now... but i dont know if i'll have any fish alive when i get home.

i'm doing water changes daily.

I have a 5g tank thats cycled, but i dont know if i should put my angels in there. i dont know if the pet store would hold onto my angels until the tank cycles.

it was my mistake to add them to a tank that wasnt cycled all the way.

i'm too attatched to my angelfish to get rid of them or let them die.

would my angels be fine in the 5g just until my tank finishes cycling? it shouldnt take long because i have the bacteria bloom i would assume because of how cloudy my water is and the ammonia / nitrate spikes.

[Star_Rider]

if you have a cycle tank.. transfer some media over to the new tank.

it'll have live bacteria on it and it will seed the new tank.

still need to keep an eye on the parameters and change water as needed to keep the ammonia below .25.

[angelfishlover]

I usually let my tank cycle and check whether all the ammonia and nitrite is undetectable then i start to add angelfishes.I tried many times on angels and my current one is the most successful one.Get to know the cycle well and yeah you'll get the hang of fish keeping.

Angels are moderate level fish.Discus is even worse.Introduce hardier fishes like guppies or zebra danios first.Let the tank fully cycle.

[WhisperedLitany]

Attis seems to be one strong angelfish.
I came home expecting to find 2 dead angels... And there was attis, Swimming like crazy following me around when he noticed me in my room.

I'm still concerned about boss.. as he seems to have fin rot, and his top fin is still clamped. I think i might post an ad on craigslist and see if i can find anyone who has more experience with angelfish and find someone who could take him and treat him, since i suck at it =\

It'll make attis feel less crouded i'm pretty sure. I think its a good idea to give boss to someone who knows more about angelfish. I'm too attatched to attis to give him away =X

[Star_Rider]

we'll need test results to help much.

I do suspect that your tank is cycling and unless you have added live bacteria culture will take 6-8 weeks. as long as the pH is in above 6.
you will need to do large water changes(atleast to keep the levels safe) or add ammo lock, prime or other conditioner that will lock up the ammonia.

hang in there.

[WhisperedLitany]

I added quite a few decorations from my established 5g tank after a week of my 20g running, but i took them out because they were making my water filthy from all the gross stuff from my other tank.


Do you guys think its a bad idea to get rid of boss? Or do you think it would be best for him?

Oh and this is random... but i just taped a ruler to the side of my tank and attis lined up with it and hes officially already 3.5 inches including fins. :lipssealedsmilie:


http://i43.tinypic.com/2i6hnyu.jpg
View of the side of the tank from my bed... I told you guys it was cloudy.

http://i42.tinypic.com/1417h21.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/beenae.jpg




And heres a picture of Boss's Fin rot... or something. I dont know what it is. It started out being a whiteish color and now parts are missing.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2csi2dk.jpg

[WhiteDevil]

I use CYCLE when establishing tanks, found nothng that works better.


Um you did get the angels way too soon, they are very fragile fish when it comes to water paramaters. I got a sick one right now, you can turn the heat up to around 82 degrees tops to fight off some infections but Id get it into QT tank asap

[Star_Rider]

I use CYCLE when establishing tanks, found nothng that works better.


Um you did get the angels way too soon, they are very fragile fish when it comes to water paramaters. I got a sick one right now, you can turn the heat up to around 82 degrees tops to fight off some infections but Id get it into QT tank asap


this is an older post.. i have not seen any follow ups on this.

BTW, live bacteria from a reputable source is great to jump start a tank.
turn the heat up to 82 tops??
uhm.. actually angels can take temps quite a bit warmer than that. closer to upper 80's even 90 works. just make sure you add more circulation to increase the O2 levels.

btw my Angel tanks(several) are usually 80-82

[WhiteDevil]

I was just going off what i was told by a few LFS's in the area that deal with privately bred angels from the same breeder.

Will my other fish accept those heat levels?

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