Angelfish prolapse? Please help.

[Max Taffey]

Hi all -

First, my setup:

37 gallon, planted. All parameters normal.
I have not added a fish to this tank for approx. 3 years. No losses in that time. Weekly water changes of approx. 30%.
1 Angelfish, 2 Dwarf Neon Rainbows, 5 Lemon Tetras, 1 Kuhli Loach, 1 Clown Pleco

As of a week now, the angel has stopped eating, and generally hangs out near the bottom of the tank. He/she has a very sore looking protruding mass near it's vent, which I'm assuming is a prolapsed intestine. Prior to this the angel was gregarious, curious, rushing to the glass whenever I'd approach, and eating heartily. Now, it doesn't eat at all.

None of the other fish are showing signs of distress.

LFS was no help. Guy told me I should probably just euthanise. I really don't want to lose this fish. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, but I'm afraid I'm running out of time.

 

[Max Taffey]

Wow. One week later and not a single response. I haven't been very active on this site for a while now, but it was always my "go to" for assistance. Things seem to have changed. Oh well.

Just in case anyone stumbles on to this post while researching the same problem, I figured I'd leave an update. I decided not to do anything to intervene. I didn't want to dose with any meds since I had no idea what I'd be treating, and I didn't want to remove the Angel in case it stressed it out more. What I did do was keep the lights and the aerator off for 3 full days and no feeding. The Angel at first seemed to be looking even worse. The protuberance took on a weird "cotton" appearance - a white, cloudy film surrounded it. Over the next couple days though, I noted some improvement, and by the fourth day, the Angel was almost back to normal. The protuberance had receded (or fell off) and he/she was back to swimming around the aquarium instead of hanging out near the bottom. I'm happy to report he's back to eating like crazy, rushing to the glass as soon as I approach, and acting like his old self. I'm continuing to keep an eye on things, but things look promising.

 

[Rbishop]

Weird...too high a protein food?

 

[Max Taffey]

I don't know about the food - I only provide them with Tetra tropical fish flakes (3 times per week), and frozen brine shrimp (once per week). Same diet for years.

 

[Star_Rider]

there really isn't much you can do other than what you did do.

it's most often caused by the angel trying to evacuate something from it's body.. I've seen this more commonly when the Angel was infected with parasites.

once the prolapse occurs you can only give it clean water and try to reduce stress.. salt is often used as a prophylactic treatment.. epsom salts are often used to help the angel evacuate.

the most common parasite I have dealt with in these cases was camallanus and capillaria..glad to hear the angel has gotten better but suggest you keep a close eye out.