What am I doing wrong??
- Thread starter amysangels2
- Start date
Well great. I was checking on everybody tonight and noticed that my little angel wasn't waiting at the top for dinner, and when I finally spotted him hiding around the driftwood I could see obvious damage to his tail fin. It sort of looks like fin rot, but how could that come on so quickly? He was fine last night. I'm suspecting my powder blue gourami, but there seems to be some cotton looking stuff on the damaged part. The gourami has never been aggressive before to my knowledge, but I've had one go crazy before. I've never dealt will fin issues, and I'm not sure what to do. I did a partial water change and vacuumed right before I noticed what was happening. I wish I could get a pic but he won't be still long enough. Any advice?
What are the water parameters? If the water quality is a bit off it could be fin rot. I've seen it come on pretty quick, it happened once with my angel when I got behind with the water changes. Gravel vacs and partial water changes a few times each week keeps him healthy. But you mentioned some powdery white stuff, which could be ich. If it's still there today or even worse, you will probably have to treat him with something.
Editing to say that any uneaten frozen shrimp can compromise your water quality, so you'd need to test the water fairly regularly.
Editing to say that any uneaten frozen shrimp can compromise your water quality, so you'd need to test the water fairly regularly.
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I changed my substrate to sand 3 weeks ago, so everything is really clean, and I do water changes every week. I test every week also and my parameters have been really great.
There is no cottony stuff on his fin now, but he stays near the bottom of the tank with my neons. He is still eating, so this is getting weird. I've had a bout of ich before and this is definately not ich. His fins look clamped, so this could be the end. This is the single most frustrating thing I've had to deal with since I've started fish keeping. I don't understand why I should have to change the water more that once weekly, mainly because my test results are so good, and I have so much filtration running. But if that's what it takes...that's what I'll do. Whew..I desperately need a python. I'm so sick of buckets!
He might have some kind of parasite, that's pretty common with pet store fish. Do you have a spare tank? You can pick up some meds and treat him. I recently had some LFS fish with similar symptoms and they responded to meds I got from walmart. I understand your frustration, it's hard to know what the problem is sometimes.
He's gone. I found him this morning. No obvious physical symtoms at all. :huh:
I haven't checked my ph out of the tap, maybe water changes could be the culprit. I've heard that fish can adjust to just about any ph as long as it's stable, but if the water changes are causing a drastic ph change, that could kill them couldn't it?
I need to add that the angels are the only fish I haven't been able to keep. I have cories, neons, mollies (even babies that are living) gouramis, betta, and I've kept several types of tetra's that I eventually rehomed and they're doing great.
The ironic thing is that angels are my favorite, and I can't keep them alive. Is there a site or place I could get older, more mature angels?
I think I need to try the separate grow out tank. Just thinking out loud. I'm really bummed right now.
I haven't checked my ph out of the tap, maybe water changes could be the culprit. I've heard that fish can adjust to just about any ph as long as it's stable, but if the water changes are causing a drastic ph change, that could kill them couldn't it?
I need to add that the angels are the only fish I haven't been able to keep. I have cories, neons, mollies (even babies that are living) gouramis, betta, and I've kept several types of tetra's that I eventually rehomed and they're doing great.
The ironic thing is that angels are my favorite, and I can't keep them alive. Is there a site or place I could get older, more mature angels?
I think I need to try the separate grow out tank. Just thinking out loud. I'm really bummed right now.
you could try putting an ad on your local craigslist to ask if anyone has an angel they want to rehome.
