FW Angelfish Dying--No Idea Why? Help!

[SirFishEye]

Hey Everyone,

I was once a member here many years back, and recently restarted seriously my aquarium.

My tank (planted 46 bowfront) has been up and running for close to a year and a half, and the current stocking is this:
1 large adult angel
1 small (1.5") angel
2 juli cory cats
3 assorted cory cats
1 striped banjofish
3 female boesemani rainbows
1 large danio
4 gold pristella tetra
2 black phantom tetra


It's kind of a helter skelter stocking, with some larger fish left from the original start up, and some recent. My goal is to have it be an angel tank (with 5 or 6 total), a handful of cory cats, the banjo cat, and a handful of tetras.

Where my issue lies is that, last week, I picked up four small angels, the two juli cory cats, and the banjo cat. The cory cats and banjo are cruising along just fine. The angels.. are another story. One died within 4 hours, and two others died after about 2 days. Last night I tested the levels, and the pH is about 7.0, and ammonia/nitrate/nitrite are all at zero.

Why did they die? Any ideas will help!

Best,
Jake

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome back and I love the tank! From what I've experienced, it's never uncommon for new additions to die within days of adding them to you tank. We don't know how they were cared for prior to us getting them, what type of water parameters they've been in, etc. Worst part is, they can introduce parasites or other nasty stuff into the tank that can effect our other fish. This is why you really should quarantine new fish. Keep them in their own tank for a few weeks to monitor.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM? Do you do weekly water changes? The other thing is, IMO, this tank is too small for 4-5 angel fish. They can get saucer sized. You'd need more like a 4ft, 55g tank for 4-5 of them.

 

[SirFishEye]

Welcome back and I love the tank! From what I've experienced, it's never uncommon for new additions to die within days of adding them to you tank. We don't know how they were cared for prior to us getting them, what type of water parameters they've been in, etc. Worst part is, they can introduce parasites or other nasty stuff into the tank that can effect our other fish. This is why you really should quarantine new fish. Keep them in their own tank for a few weeks to monitor.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM? Do you do weekly water changes? The other thing is, IMO, this tank is too small for 4-5 angel fish. They can get saucer sized. You'd need more like a 4ft, 55g tank for 4-5 of them.

In terms of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, the readings were 0ppm according to my API freshwater master test kit. I'll repeat those tests after the next w/c, but the tank/filters have been up and running for quite some time, so I expect all those to be low.

Yeah, I talked to another avid fishkeeper locally and he thinks it was just a "poor quality fish" situation. Thanks for the input! I'll keep at it (trying to build up the plant and stocking list). I'll keep posting as I go!

Jake

 

[OrionGirl]

I'd reduce the number of fish you add at once. Just in general, the more you add, the higher your chances of causing an imbalance. Keep in mind that a filter is 'set' for a specific bioload. If something happens to change the amount of waste produced--adding a bunch of fish, accidentally dumping in too much food, etc--the biofilter is not longer adequate to the task and has to catch up. So, if you don't test daily, you won't see the spike, but the fish get hurt all the same.

Check for a local aquarium society. There are almost always angels for sale in the auctions at the clubs I'm a member in.

 

[fishorama]

In that size tank, you'll be lucky to keep a pair of angels either M & F or 2 females. Any other numbers will be trouble as they pair up...& males will fight as sexually maturing fish. A larger established angel will often attack smaller angels. If you are determined to try again, rehome the larger & get, say 4, smaller same sized & rehome as needed (& there will be a need). Watch them closely! You may end up with only 1 anyway.

Really, it sounds like bad stock or maybe poor acclimation (less likely given the speed of deaths). OrionGirl has a good idea of a local club both for buying & rehoming "extras". But beware of very small angels with what look to be fairly large rainbows.