Help! Lemonpeel dwarf angel in trouble

[MarSch]

Hi, please help!
I have a 30G tank with 2 x Per clowns, 1 x Lemonpeel dwarf angel, 1 x mandarin
Tank has been cycled for about 3 months.
Added the 2 clowns when it was cycled, lemonpeel about 2 weeks later and mandarin a week after that.

Lemonpeel is now lying on the substrate, not swimming.
Until now she has been shy, but quite active and entertaining.

Parameters:
Nitrite: about 0.01
Nitrate: 0.04
Salinity: 1.023
Ammonia: 0.25 according to the API test, but I don't trust that because when I test straight water it shows 0, then I add salt and it shows 0.25 in the bucket (I posted about this here and heard that API can give false positives)

2 clowns and Mandarin all seem fine.

All fish seem to have gone off the flakes and pellets and only want the frozen brine shrimp. Then they eat happily.

Lemonpeel does appear to have some fin damage on her left fin. No other injuries.

What can I do???

 

[Sbristol49]

Hi, please help!
I have a 30G tank with 2 x Per clowns, 1 x Lemonpeel dwarf angel, 1 x mandarin
Tank has been cycled for about 3 months.
Added the 2 clowns when it was cycled, lemonpeel about 2 weeks later and mandarin a week after that.

Lemonpeel is now lying on the substrate, not swimming.
Until now she has been shy, but quite active and entertaining.

Parameters:
Nitrite: about 0.01
Nitrate: 0.04
Salinity: 1.023
Ammonia: 0.25 according to the API test, but I don't trust that because when I test straight water it shows 0, then I add salt and it shows 0.25 in the bucket (I posted about this here and heard that API can give false positives)

2 clowns and Mandarin all seem fine.

All fish seem to have gone off the flakes and pellets and only want the frozen brine shrimp. Then they eat happily.

Lemonpeel does appear to have some fin damage on her left fin. No other injuries.

What can I do???

His likely done, were the clowns aggressive towards him, if not maybe it was fin rot which is due to bacterial infection was his eyes cloudy, it could spread to the other fish so be careful.

 

[Sbristol49]

Hi, please help!
I have a 30G tank with 2 x Per clowns, 1 x Lemonpeel dwarf angel, 1 x mandarin
Tank has been cycled for about 3 months.
Added the 2 clowns when it was cycled, lemonpeel about 2 weeks later and mandarin a week after that.

Lemonpeel is now lying on the substrate, not swimming.
Until now she has been shy, but quite active and entertaining.

Parameters:
Nitrite: about 0.01
Nitrate: 0.04
Salinity: 1.023
Ammonia: 0.25 according to the API test, but I don't trust that because when I test straight water it shows 0, then I add salt and it shows 0.25 in the bucket (I posted about this here and heard that API can give false positives)

2 clowns and Mandarin all seem fine.

All fish seem to have gone off the flakes and pellets and only want the frozen brine shrimp. Then they eat happily.

Lemonpeel does appear to have some fin damage on her left fin. No other injuries.

What can I do???

Did he have any white spots on his body or anything?

 

[MarSch]

No, no aggression. No white spots.
My contact ract at LFS said it could be ammonia due to overfeeding with the Brine shrimp.
I do tend to put quite a bit in to make sure some is left for the Mandarin who only eats Brine shrimp and is slow to get to it.
But the guy at the LFS did say its weird that the Mandarin, which is more sensitive, seems fine.

 

[MarSch]

She has died. Happened so fast. She looked 100% just 24 hours ago.
Very sad. She was gorgeous.

 

[Zionas]

Lemonpeels can be a bit tricky to keep, maybe due to collection methods. I am not sure but sometimes dwarf angels from PH and IND are caught using poisons.

Next time if you want a dwarf angel either get one from AUS, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, or one that’s Captive Bred.

 

[ca1ore]

LemonPeel is a tricky dwarf angel. They are quite difficult to get eating and can slowly lose weight. I'm surprised yours even took flake or pellet foods …. mine never have. Brine is not particularly nutritious, so my guess would be the angel starved.

 

[Zionas]

Next time try an easier dwarf angel like a CB, a healthy Flame, Multicolor, Half-Black, Eibli’s, one of the Pygmy angels, or if you are confident enough and have the money and can find one, even a Joculator or Japanese Dwarf Angel.

 

[Big G]

LemonPeel is a tricky dwarf angel. They are quite difficult to get eating and can slowly lose weight. I'm surprised yours even took flake or pellet foods …. mine never have. Brine is not particularly nutritious, so my guess would be the angel may have starved.

+1 ^^^ dwarf angels need a mature tank with plenty of algaes, etc. to browse upon. They will swim around the tank pecking away until they pass.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[Sbristol49]

No, no aggression. No white spots.
My contact ract at LFS said it could be ammonia due to overfeeding with the Brine shrimp.
I do tend to put quite a bit in to make sure some is left for the Mandarin who only eats Brine shrimp and is slow to get to it.
But the guy at the LFS did say its weird that the Mandarin, which is more sensitive, seems fine.

dang, sorry to hear that. Maybe spot feed the mandarin if you have a Turkey baser and limit the amount he can eat that would help control how much your feeding. Over feeding especially in a new system isn’t ideal will cause a ammonia spike.

 

[MarSch]

dang, sorry to hear that. Maybe spot feed the mandarin if you have a Turkey baser and limit the amount he can eat that would help control how much your feeding. Over feeding especially in a new system isn’t ideal will cause a ammonia spike.

Thanks. Yeah I took a sample of my water to the LFS to get it tested. There is a bit much ammonia and nitrite from overfeeding, but not that much and he suspects there may have just been an issue with the fish. Apparently another lemonpeel they got in the same shipment from an importer that mine came in has also died.
Seems weird that my fish seemed to healthy and colourful and active until last night, but it would also be strange if it was tank conditions that killed it yet the mandarin seems healthy.
My plan is now to stabilise the tank - no more fish, no more overfeeding, add more bacteria to try and boost that. Might do as you suggest and spot feed the Mandarin if I think he's not getting anything.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Probably a good plan, slow and steady. Everything I have read is that they are really finicky in regards to eating as some have mentioned.

 

[najer]

Sorry for your loss.
When I took my lemon peel back to my lfs because it started on my softies they laughed at how fat it was, my tank is a bit grubby so my fish can graze all day.
It also ate any food added, flake and pellets as well as frozen.
It sold the same day I took it back.

 

[ca1ore]

It sold the same day I took it back.

I bet it did! Stunning looking fish and I'd imagine the vast majority of buyers have no clue that can eat it's way though your inverts.

 

[najer]

I bet it did! Stunning looking fish and I'd imagine the vast majority of buyers have no clue that can eat it's way though your inverts.

When I took it back the manager at my lfs said "who the hell sold you this?" He knows my tanks.

 

[ca1ore]

I have found the lemonpeel irresistible and I do keep one on my reef tank. Tank is huge, with very large coral colonies and I feed a lot ..... doesn’t eliminate damage but makes it tolerable (for me).