# Sick angels - HELP!!!



## Gofish4eva (Jan 16, 2011)

MY ANGELS ARE SICK!!!!! NOOO!!!!! I bought some new angels for my community tanks 2 weeks ago, and now all my angels in the tanks are starting to have their dorsal fins curl a bit, the mucous membrane is starting to peel off, fins starting to rot, etc. Sighh.... One angel has already
died. The whole tank is sick except for the new angels. Go figure eh?

I've just removed the carbon from the tank and have added medication i bought from big als 2 days ago. It turned the tank green.

Check out the close up pics of the fish for an accurate diagnosis. The other pic is the before shot of the tank with healthy plants and fish.

Any experiences with a mass infection for angels? Damn! I really should of
quarantined the new fish before introducing them into the main tank. Lesson learned.

Thanks for any responses! =)

~Gofish4eva


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*angels*

do u have other fish in the tank . or just angels .
not an expert on this will have to wait on others to respond but if i was in your shoes i would start setting up a quarantine tank and poss remove them all . so as to not contaminate your tank and ruin your plants .


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I had a problem similar to this and I had to use HP (hydrogen Peroxide 3%) and turn the heat wayyyy up to 90F....they told me to do this on one of the Angelfish USA forums, which has a lot of good ideas on disease and medications to use etc.

Its supposed to kill the bacteria that's infecting the angels.

Just google it...I believe its something like Angelfish II or something like that I have been off it for a while and lost my link.

That green will stay in your tank for ages...even with water changes yuck!

Hope you can save them.


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

1st thing is first. I would strongly recommend trying to figure out what you have as an infection. Second, don't just medicate without knowing what it is. Third, Gradually bring your temps up to around 90 degrees like bettaforu suggested. From there I would medicate your whole tank. I would also recommend trying to dose some aquarium salt tl help boost their immune system and maybe some crushed garlic in their food to encourage their appetite.

Set up a quarantine tank only for those that may potentially die over night, keep treating them sepeaately. I would not remove your fish to treat them because you may cure them in qt and release them back into your tank where they will end up being reinfected. Screw the plants, the livestock is crucial, plants will grow back when conditions are ideal. It would have been cheaper in a QT to treat, but because this happened in main population tank, you need time kill anything that will cause infection in that tank too. 

Good luck! went through this a few weeks back and lost 3 discus and total of 37 fish.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Do you have any spirulina flake food? I fed my Angels this to get them to eat again, they went off their regular food, but for some reason they liked the spirulina (which is very good for fish/invertebrates/shrimps) It sort of jump started their appetite again...and with the high temp it seemed to work. Also the salt treatment to help kill the bacteria too.

Geez I feel bad for you, I did the same stupid thing, put Electric Blue Rams from BA in Oakville (glad their closed now ) in with my Show Blue Paraiba Angel pair....everyone was dead in a week, including my Angels. 

Luckily I had scooped eggs from them the days before and was able to raise those up, but what a loss! All because I didn't quarantine the rams. 

Agree with Revobuda....plants are easy to replace, but nice Angels are not!

Do you have another tank you could set up to cycle fast so you can move the Angels after you get them on the mend? Then you could just clean out this other tank completely and start again.....hard, but hey we've all been there at some time.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

In my view, it is a good idea to do a large water change (50%+) prior to adding any medication. This reduces the amount of pathogens in the water before treatment. The fish in question here appear to be suffering from a bacterial infection, which can be treated with over the counter antibiotics.


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## Gofish4eva (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.

I have raised the temps to ~88 degrees and have added 9 teaspoons of aquarium salt. I then doused the tank with Fungus Cure from Petsmart. A few of the angels look ok, though the others ain't doing any better.

I'm going to do a 50% water change and add carbon tomorrow. Which specific medication would you recommend to try next? I'm thinking of trying Maracyn 2 next. Already lost 4 angels - Help!!!

Symptons now include (check out the pics):
- Some fin rot
- All curling dorsal fin
- Slime coat coming off/on/visible
- Some have visible red color at the base of the pectoral fins
- Some appear to have a bloated stomach
- Some appear to "shake" or swim weird at times
- Some seen gulping for air at top, while others sitting still on the bottom

It's a 90 gallon tank with Angels, sword tails, 3 plecos, 1 discus, and mostly Java Fern. Positive thing is they are all eating well.

Help!!!

And in case you're wondering, the source of the infection was from either Lucky's Aquarium from Market Village, or PJ Pets Scarborough Town Centre. Still kicking myself for not quarantining new fish!!!


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

You said you are going to add carbon, don't add carbon if you are still medicating as carbon will remove the medication from the tank. When you add salt to an aquarium you should disolve the salt in a glass of warm water then add the mixture to the tank. Good luck.


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## w_boughner (Mar 18, 2010)

the best medicine is clean water 20 %wc every day and keep the temp up 82-86 its most likley a stress related thing so keep the water healthy and your fish will get healthy


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## laurahmm (Apr 1, 2010)

Whenever my angels are sick, I raise the temp to 90 degrees and add salt. This generally helps with alot of the issues. Be careful about adding meds. If I have to add meds, I also add stability or cycle. Alot of the meds you add can kill your beneficial bacteria. I learned this the hard way and must have killed most of my beneficial bacteria which was even more dangerous than the fungus itself. I see you love angels  PM me if you want some koi angels after these issues are resolved. 



Laura


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## Gofish4eva (Jan 16, 2011)

It was a nail biter, but I'm glad to say my aquarium and fish are now back to 100% health! I lost ~6 angels, but more importantly I gained some valuable experience and learned from my mistake of not quarantining new fish. I've also added a new air pump to the tank for circulation and the fish look more active now.

A big THANK-YOU goes to those who replied and gave me some advice.(laurahmm, w_boughner, bob123, BillD, bettaforu, RevoBuda, tom g). Much Appreciated.

Happy Aquariums Y'all!

~Gofish4eva

Back to 100% Health!


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## w_boughner (Mar 18, 2010)

Your welcome glad we could help


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

Glad you're through mate. Good luck the rest of the way


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