2 Dead Angels Last Night

1865 · Mar 30, 2005

On Friday I added 3 Angelfish (all about 2 inches) to my tank. They seemed OK, had started to settle in and eat a little. But last night when I got home 2 of them were dead. I examined them and the living one. There were no obvious marks or damage on any of them. My tank is a 55 gallon and has been cycled for about 6-8 weeks. pH is 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10ppm. These were the same readings I got on Monday when I tested and Friday prior to adding the Angels. The other fish in the tank are 3 Pakistani Loaches and 5 Harlequin Rasboras, they all seem fine, active and eating. The only change I could see was that the temperature of the tank had risen from it's normal of 79 degrees to 82 degrees. I know it was 79 on Monday night, I record the temperature when I record my water chemistry readings. Could the temperature change of 3 degrees over 24 hours have killed them? Can anyone help me with things to look for? I'm quite upset because these were my first "cool" fish and I wanted them to be the centerpiece of my tank(they also cost about $10 each

). Any ideas, suggestions or comments will be very appreciated. Thank you.

Harry Tolen · Mar 30, 2005

It is highly unlikely that the temperature change you noted could have been responsible for the deaths of the angels. Relocation-related stress is likely to prove to have been the cause, but the question is, what caused the stress? Did they come from a local source, who would be likely to have the same water parameters (pH, as well as GH and KH) as you do? Also, is your water treated with chlorine or chloramines, and what are you using to treat it when you make your water changes? Which are how big and how often, by the way?

1865 · Mar 30, 2005

Harry Tolen said:
It is highly unlikely that the temperature change you noted could have been responsible for the deaths of the angels. Relocation-related stress is likely to prove to have been the cause, but the question is, what caused the stress? Did they come from a local source, who would be likely to have the same water parameters (pH, as well as GH and KH) as you do? Also, is your water treated with chlorine or chloramines, and what are you using to treat it when you make your water changes? Which are how big and how often, by the way?

The fish came from a LFS here in town, to the best of my knowledge they have the same water source I do. I have been doing a 20% change every 4 days and performed one on Monday night, the day before they died. Our water is treated with chlorine. I have a commercial water treatment, but I don't know the name off the top of my head. I'll post the name tonight. I added it with my Monday water change, as well as a liquid plant fertilizer. Could the fertilizer have done it? I followed the bottle directions. I will post the name of the fertilizer this evening as well.

1865 · Mar 31, 2005

The water conditioner I have been using is Kordon brand, NovAqua plus. The liquid fertilizer is Leaf Zone. I used the conditioner exactly to the directions on the bottle and about 1/2 the recommended ammount of the fertilizer. The third Angel seems fine, not eating a lot an staying mostly in one corner of the tank. But moving and looks healthy. The 3 yo-yo loaches and the Harlequins are fine, in fact the yo-yo's are growing like weeds. I bought the angels at PetSmart. I've picked up the rest of my fish from Dallas North Aquarium. Maybe I should replace my 2 casualties from there as well?

Harry Tolen · Mar 31, 2005

There is no obvious answer to your problem in the information you have presented, except that Petsmart is not the best place to be buying fish (none of the big box stores are, really). Is this other aquarium store well run and responsible? Are all their tanks on a common filtration system, or is each maintained separately? Do they quarantine their fish before selling them? Will they tell you if a particular tank has been having problems? If so, then I would indeed consider replacing your losses from there.

The only other parameters you might start testing are GH and KH. It never hurts to ask the store you are buying from what the parameters are in the tank you are buying from, as low water quality in a store can, over time, cause their parameters to deviate from what is normal for your area, and going from bad to good can be just as stressful as the reverse.

P.S. You might increase your % water changes
by just a bit (say to 25% or 30%). Over time, that
will slightly reduce the overall "age" of the water in
your tank, which will reduce certain types of organic
pollutants.

Lobo. · Mar 31, 2005

if your angel isn't eating or begging it is acting strange for an angel, unless its stressed out. ive had mystery deaths after water changes, once right after a water change, all the fish's gill's turned red i figured that i had underdosed the water treetment and was able to save a few of the fish.... luckily it was only a Q-tank w/ a few guppies, could this have happened to your angels? are any of the other fish in the tank acting strange?

Cat · Apr 1, 2005

I would think its a dodgy batch from the LFS, have you been back their since? if they have any of the same batch left check out there behavior in the store, perhaps ask a member of staff if you can see them feed to check they are feeding okay. I have had that before I once bought a pair of kissing gouramis together looked fine to start with then within a couple of days of each other they both died but everthing else in the tank was fine. It could be that they had somesort of enternal parasite. if so this can usually be spotted by long white faeces.

1865 · Apr 5, 2005

Cat said:
I would think its a dodgy batch from the LFS,

It looks like you were right Cat. The third died the day I first posted so I took them back to Petsmart and bought catfood with the refund. Then I went over to Dallas North Aquarium (the nice fish only store where I bought my other fish) and picked up 3 new Angels. They have been in the tank for about 3 days now and seem to have settled in nicely. All three are eating well and have staked out a section of my plants that they are working to keep the Harlequins out of. They all look nice and healthy, so I feel a lot better!


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2 Dead Angels Last Night

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