New Angels with fin rot

[mchimiak]

My friend at the LFS gave me two small angels for free. The were both nearly maxed out on tail and fin rot and were stressed to high heaven. The marble stabalized quite well, but the yellow one nearly died.

It is day 4 from the store, and my yellow angle has gone from near death and swimming (if at all) laying on his side barely alive to swimming with his mouth to the gravel in a nearly vertical position (see pic 2 below).

I have been using Melafix and medicated food as proscribed, and the parameters of my tank are just fine. (90 gal, fluval 405, mixed live and plastic plants, 8 tetras, dwarf gurami, loach, catfish, pleco and now two angels.) So here are my questions:

1) I have severely overfed the tank to ensure the yellow could eat. She (guess) and her boyfriend (guess) looked like Auschwitz survivors at purchase. Her fins/tail were 98% gone, his 95%. Both fish have seen nice fin regeneration, but the yellow is still having difficulty swimming. Should I cease overfeeding them now that both have eaten?

2) Having overfed for three days straight, should I do an immediate water change, or should I wait another 3 days as proscibed by the Melafix directions?

I know overfeeding is a mortal sin, but I had to do what I had to do.:help2:

 

[mchimiak]

Additional Question

Should I turn off my filter for a few hours to relieve it of the stress of swimming in current, as moderate as it may be?

 

[Anna Robinson]

Water quality is the most important thing, so I wouldn't turn off your filter under any circumstances. A water change would seem to be a good idea too - the Melafix has a high rate of breakdown so I wouldn't worry about diluting it. How on earth did the fish get like that? Whoever didn't look after them should be prosecuted.

 

[Cerianthus]

Probably the worst case of diseased angel Ive seen.

First is to ensure water quality is within reason by testing before any water anges. Depending on the results of test, it shoud give you an idea onhow to approach to correct the water condition , if necessary.

If you have other tankmates, Can you set up simple hospital tank, even with bucket and air pump/air stone?
Do you have any antibiotic avail now? If so, what kind?

Even it recovers/heals, it may not recover to full extent!

 

[mchimiak]

:woot:

 

[mchimiak]

How on earth did the fish get like that? Whoever didn't look after them should be prosecuted.

Usually the fish at the LFS are really good quality. The store will buy back or take in any fish that people bring in. I actually got the fish for free, since they came from an amateur breeder in the area.

Although the fish was free, I bought a water testing kit, melafix, medicated fish food, and spent oodles of time on this website getting the thing back into health.

And yes, it was worth it. It's still a small angelfish, but it's going to be gorgeous when it grows up.

Once again, I could not have done it without the advice I got on this website.

 

[stephcps]

I agree with Cerianthus...if you could do some kind of hospital set-up with daily meds and water changes would be good. Water quality is extremely important with fin rot. Your parameters may be fine...but nice clean water every day will help tremendously.

Wow...Good luck saving those guys. I have never seen fish look quite like that.