HELP!!!!! 5 Angels dead

MANAMIES

AC Members
Feb 6, 2007
31
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
I am very confused as to what is going on in my tank. I noticed last week that my Angelfish seemed to be hanging around the top of my tank near the surface. I tested for ammonia and nitrates - all zero. The next thing I know, in the short space of the last four days, I've had five of them die on me.:sad: :sad: :sad: It just so happens at about the time this started to happen I got two pure white Mollies. From what I could tell from info about Mollies and from the guy at the LFS :read: , Mollies should be quite peaceful and fine for a community tank (unless maybe they are a mating pair - I don't know how you can tell if this is the case?), and I've noticed that sometimes the two Mollies get aggressive with each other. ( These two are the only Mollies in my tank). I also have six Serpae Tetras, one of which has started to nip at the Angels a little if they go by - what is going on in here????:help: I really need to save what's left of my Angels!
 
you said you tested for ammonia and nitrates? did you mean nitrites??? nitrates are relatively harmless except at super high levels. But Nitrites can be toxic.

when fish hang out near the top, in my experience they are either struggling to get oxygen or stressed by something. Is the aeration good in the tank? Good circulation?

How big is this tank anyway? Have you done any water changes recently?
 
How big is the tank and how long has it been set up? What kind of filteration do you have and do you or are you running extra airation such as an airstone or a bubble wand? If the fish were hanging at the top it sends a red flag up to me that maybe they were not getting enough airation. What is your water change regimin like? can you test your water and post the results? That will help us help you.

Marinemom
 
i think they got stressed because they were getting pestered from some other fish, are there any other angels, cichlids, or mean fish in the tank that would annoy the angels?
 
You mentioned that you have serpae tetras in the same aquarium. They can be nasty little finn nippers. I would remove the lot of them before adding any more angels and also check all of your water conditions before this happens too. Angels can be sensitive to poor water conditions. How big is the tank and how long has it been set up?

Marinemom
 
To answer your questions..........

My tank is 90g, over two months old, completely cycled with last water change (30%) done last Friday, ammonia and nitrites tested on Saturday - both at zero. Have a Rena Filstar XP4 canister filter with spraybar and two Aquaclear 70 powerheads on each end of the tank (connected to underground filter as well). If anything, I have worried about too much current and aeration in the tank because I understand that Angels are not the strongest swimmers and prefer stiller waters. Even though I have tried to slow the current down, there is definitely plenty of air and movement. I am still questioning my purchase of the Mollies, or wondering if the Serpaes maybe got more aggressive with the Angels when I gave my large Gold Gourami :devil: back to the fish store (because he was constantly harrassing my peaceful dwarf guouramis - but never the Angels. He was the ruler of the tank!). Did I maybe change the dynamics of my tank enough to make everyone start behaving differently? I am very frustrated to the point that I am almost ready to let nature take it's course and give up on keeping Angels, period. I can't just take my Serpaes out like Marinemom suggested because I have nowhere to put them. Any other ideas? And what about these Mollies?

Am I maybe trying too hard! :confused::rant2:
 
My tank is 90g, over two months old, completely cycled with last water change (30%) done last Friday, ammonia and nitrites tested on Saturday - both at zero. Have a Rena Filstar XP4 canister filter with spraybar and two Aquaclear 70 powerheads on each end of the tank (connected to underground filter as well). If anything, I have worried about too much current and aeration in the tank because I understand that Angels are not the strongest swimmers and prefer stiller waters. Even though I have tried to slow the current down, there is definitely plenty of air and movement. I am still questioning my purchase of the Mollies, or wondering if the Serpaes maybe got more aggressive with the Angels when I gave my large Gold Gourami :devil: back to the fish store (because he was constantly harrassing my peaceful dwarf guouramis - but never the Angels. He was the ruler of the tank!). Did I maybe change the dynamics of my tank enough to make everyone start behaving differently? I am very frustrated to the point that I am almost ready to let nature take it's course and give up on keeping Angels, period. I can't just take my Serpaes out like Marinemom suggested because I have nowhere to put them. Any other ideas? And what about these Mollies?

Am I maybe trying too hard! :confused::rant2:
there we go. gold gouramis can be very aggressive towards other fish in the tank, especially ones that are new and/or smaller than they are. he probably harassed them one by one, starting with the weakest and killing them off day by day.

as for the filter/ still water thing, that is a myth. angels will de fine in tanks that are filtered well, as long as the water sint forming a whirlpool. they may seem slow now, but they can power across a tank if the want to.
 
were the new fish quarantined?

it is possible you may have introduced a pathogen in the tank.

what is the water temp and how old/big are the angels? have you had them long?
 
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