Empourer Angelfish

[mr fishy 3000]

I all, I ordered an empourer angelfish and I was curious if anyone had tips for destressing it and keeping him successfully. I have had angels in the past but they have all been dawrfs. I know they are extremely prone to ich so i was planning on keeping him in quarantine for 30 days and treating him for it right away even without signs. I ordered him from liveaquaria.com. Thank you for your tips.

 

[lion king]

Emporers are pretty tough, I would not use copper as a prophylactic treatment. IMO copper should only be used when absolutely necessary. A treatment for internal parasites would be good, as angels amongst others, come in with internal parasites frequently. Use of general cure in the water column is easy enough, and very effective.

 

[mr fishy 3000]

Emporers are pretty tough, I would not use copper as a prophylactic treatment. IMO copper should only be used when absolutely necessary. A treatment for internal parasites would be good, as angels amongst others, come in with internal parasites frequently. Use of general cure in the water column is easy enough, and very effective.

What would you recommend I do for the internal parasites? Medications? And where to find them?

 

[JumboShrimp]

As a general rule I do like to quarantine and use copper, but I got my Emperor from a well-regarded LFS where they run mild copper in their tanks; he had been there a reasonable amount of time and he looked good, so I just put him in my DT. From a less-trusted source (or shipped-- where you can't first observe), I think General Cure would be at least a minimum plan. Best wishes, they are fantastic fish.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

If you are not going to prophylactic treat then no need to QT once the fish is eating and brought to DT water parameters.
I would never let a "dirty" fish into my system but I don't treat fish like cut flowers.

 

[lion king]

What would you recommend I do for the internal parasites? Medications? And where to find them?

API General Cure as directed for a broad spectrum of internal parasites and worms. I won't get into the arguement about using copper prophylactically, you can do your research on that subject. But getting through copper treatment is one thing, and what you don't hear about is all the ones dropping dead and going blind sometimes many months later.

 

[vetteguy53081]

As long as they are well acclimated and then eating, Emperors adapt well to a new tank. They are one of the angels that I do recommend QT as you will be doing.
Best first foods are live foods and frozen angel formula which contains sponge.

 

[mr fishy 3000]

API General Cure as directed for a broad spectrum of internal parasites and worms. I won't get into the arguement about using copper prophylactically, you can do your research on that subject. But getting through copper treatment is one thing, and what you don't hear about is all the ones dropping dead and going blind sometimes many months later.

Would any of theses meds work for internal worms? Otherwise I will get API general cure too. How long should I treat him on them for if they do work?

 

[mr fishy 3000]

As long as they are well acclimated and then eating, Emperors adapt well to a new tank. They are one of the angels that I do recommend QT as you will be doing.
Best first foods are live foods and frozen angel formula which contains sponge.

Live foods as in ghost shrimp or brine shrimp?

 

[mr fishy 3000]

If you are not going to prophylactic treat then no need to QT once the fish is eating and brought to DT water parameters.
I would never let a "dirty" fish into my system but I don't treat fish like cut flowers.

I was planning on preventing ich and worms.

 

[mr fishy 3000]

Would any of theses meds work for internal worms? Otherwise I will get API general cure too. How long should I treat him on them for if they do work?

I was also planning on keeping water 82-84° in the QT tank just to make any potential parasites life cycles faster.

 

[lion king]

Would any of theses meds work for internal worms? Otherwise I will get API general cure too. How long should I treat him on them for if they do work?

None of those would work, you need Metronidazole and Praziquantel to be most effective, and General cure contains both. As far as protozoan disease control(ick and velvet), some people use the ttm, search this to see if something you want to do. Or an observation qt and treat with copper only if disease presents and it is necessary. I do an observational qt for 4 weeks and treat for internal parasites. Some people will do longer, do your research and it becomes an individual choice. But a qt of some kind I highly recommend, and 30 days is a good IMO.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

I would not do that. It will lower the oxygen level. If you follow the protocols in the stickies you do not need to do this, not worth the risk. If you have not read the stickied then you should start there, specifically @HotRocks thread. @Jay Hemdal seems to prefer a 30-day copper treatment rather than a 14-day and transfer to a new clean tank. I have always done the 2 tank method with new fish.
For an angel, I would use CopperPower with a Hanna Checker to measure levels. I like to run Metro per the directions while the fish are in copper.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Live foods as in ghost shrimp or brine shrimp?

Those will work

 

[mr fishy 3000]

Those will work

Ok thank you for the help.

 

[mr fishy 3000]

None of those would work, you need Metronidazole and Praziquantel to be most effective, and General cure contains both. As far as protozoan disease control(ick and velvet), some people use the ttm, search this to see if something you want to do. Or an observation qt and treat with copper only if disease presents and it is necessary. I do an observational qt for 4 weeks and treat for internal parasites. Some people will do longer, do your research and it becomes an individual choice. But a qt of some kind I highly recommend, and 30 days is a good IMO.

Ok good to know. I just ordered the general cure. Thank you for the help. Should I dose any destressing medications before hand? To attempt to calm the fish down? I have the option to either receive him from a facility in Wisconsin or California. Both require overnight shipping except I live in wisconsin so I feel like it would be a little less movement and stress on the fish. Than the California option. Thank you so much for the help as well.

 

[mr fishy 3000]

I would not do that. It will lower the oxygen level. If you follow the protocols in the stickies you do not need to do this, not worth the risk. If you have not read the stickied then you should start there, specifically @HotRocks thread. @Jay Hemdal seems to prefer a 30-day copper treatment rather than a 14-day and transfer to a new clean tank. I have always done the 2 tank method with new fish.
For an angel, I would use CopperPower with a Hanna Checker to measure levels. I like to run Metro per the directions while the fish are in copper.

What is a Hanna checker? I have had a tank for pretty close to 10 years now and have never dug this deep into the hobby. So I need the information to be simplified sorry.

 

[lion king]

Ok good to know. I just ordered the general cure. Thank you for the help. Should I dose any destressing medications before hand? To attempt to calm the fish down? I have the option to either receive him from a facility in Wisconsin or California. Both require overnight shipping except I live in wisconsin so I feel like it would be a little less movement and stress on the fish. Than the California option. Thank you so much for the help as well.

I never use any of that stuff, as I said before, you will find many opinions, it's up to you to weed through them and decide what's best for you. Here's what I do, and this 1st part is very important; match the sg in your your qt tank to the sg in the bag. Noting that you match the sg do your acclimation as you would normally. I would try and feed as soon as I saw the fish cruising around seemingly ok. If he is eating well and there are no signs of any issues I would fatten him up a couple/few days before dosing with gc, as it can sometimes mess with their appetite. If he doesn't eat I observe very carefully for stringy poo, pinched belly, cloudy eyes, or faded color; all signs of parasites. I don't wait for him to go more than a couple of days without eating before dosing the gc. Spend some time observing through the day for signs of other issues, like ick etc. If after 30 days he has not presented any signs of a disease, I would be comfortable moving him to the dt.

Just to make sure, you have a fully cycled qt tank.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Too much copper (I like CopperSafe) can kill your fish, too little (never hitting and sustaining a therapeutic level) will not handle your Ich or Marine Velvet problem. So the range is very important. That is why most people treating with copper today will use a Hanna [brand] Copper Checker, rather than stare at API test tubes and pray the colors mean what they say. LOL.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What is a Hanna checker? I have had a tank for pretty close to 10 years now and have never dug this deep into the hobby. So I need the information to be simplified sorry.

Hanna test kits are some of the most user friendly and accurate