Help with sick angelfish

Kirschy17 · Mar 2, 2018

hey guys,

I need help with a sick yellowtail pygmy angelfish.

I have a couple of them and just yesterday i realised one of them looking really passive in contrast to the other. The healthy one actually raises his fins like he never did before.

Anyways i find the poor one swimming close to the ground today and having trouble swimming. I anstantly thought of a possible ammonia issue and tested but i got 0/0/0 (ammonia/na/ni)

I am currently getting ready for a water change and plan on doing more when my rodi has produced more water.

The fish is currently hiding in a cave under my lr. I cann see him still moving so hes still alive. Should i try to get better view of him or would that stress him out.

What should i do next??

Help please!!!

4FordFamily · Mar 2, 2018

We need more information— how long has the tank been set up? What did ammonia test? Do you quarantine?

Angels cannot handle even trace amounts of ammonia, and thus make poor fish choices for new tanks

Kirschy17 · Mar 2, 2018

Thanks for the response,

Tank is up about 3 months. I never had any ammonia issues at all. Theres a bta in the tank which are sensible to bad parameters as well as far as i know which is doing fine.

I actually recently lost a acan coral to what mustve been non existen nitrates.

Thats why i stopped carbon dosing 3 days ago to get a nitrate read again. I have no quarantine possibilitys sadly.

I just got home from a lfs with “microbelift theraP” seems to be a bacterial mix to increase fish health. Got told to try feeding my regular food mixed with garlic and chunked banana to help solve possible issues in the fishes digestive system.

Kirschy17 · Mar 2, 2018

Additional info, as i said for inmates theres a cuc 2 small percula clowns a bta and some soft corals and a frogspawn. And ofcourse another yellow pygmy angel, i bought them as a pair. Also i have a watchman goby/pistolshrimp pair. The goby is missing for the last weeks and it might have died allready. Ofc ammonia was allways my first thought but i never had any readings above 0. Im using a red sea testkit. It shows ammonia in .2 steps.

Kirschy17 · Mar 2, 2018

Hes looking awfull, dont expect him to make it. If it was a tiny ammonia poisoning how could i treat that. I could change about 20 litres immedeately (its 250l total or 65g)

Ill change more when my rodi has produced enough.

Humblefish · Mar 2, 2018

It doesn't sound like ammonia burn (his gills would look inflamed); but rather a fast killing pathogen, such as velvet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/

How long have you had this fish??

EmdeReef · Mar 2, 2018

have you noticed any aggression between the two? Unless a bonded pair they would probably fight.

Kirschy17 · Mar 2, 2018

okay, the fish sadly didn't make it. as far as i checked the fish i couldn't notice anything besides him looking very sick overall. they were a bonded pair as far as i know. They were as 2 in the store. i never had any obvious aggression issues. As i said the other Fish did look kinda great lately. His fins were upright a bit more than when i first got them.

Thanks for Your help anyways guys!