Mysterious flame angel death

[Greatdane]

I acclimated it a week ago and it seemed to be doing really well it was so fun to watch. it would go in the rocks out of the rocks around the tank. But yesterday was a change in 2 days ago there was a change in attitude it wasnt really moving, eating, or swimming around, it just stayed under the one rock. I also have a coral beauty in the tank but I never saw any fights or nipping at each other. Although I have no idea what they are doing at night. I was at my moms house when I got the call from my dad that he couldn’t find it. It died. I checked some of the parameters
Ph-8.3
Phos-0.07
Nitrate- 0
Ammonia 0.25

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I acclimated it a week ago and it seemed to be doing really well it was so fun to watch. it would go in the rocks out of the rocks around the tank. But yesterday was a change in 2 days ago there was a change in attitude it wasnt really moving, eating, or swimming around, it just stayed under the one rock. I also have a coral beauty in the tank but I never saw any fights or nipping at each other. Although I have no idea what they are doing at night. I was at my moms house when I got the call from my dad that he couldn’t find it. It died. I checked some of the parameters
Ph-8.3
Phos-0.07
Nitrate- 0
Ammonia 0.25

It is really difficult to determine cause of death after the fact. Do you still have the angel's body? One thing I always do with an unknown cause of death is to give the body of the fish a 10 minute freshwater dip and then look at that under a microscope for flukes.

Did the dead angel have any ripped fins? If not, t he coral beauty was not the likely cause of death.
You need to go into damage control mode here because if the flame angel died from a contagious disease, your coral beauty is now at risk.

Did you see any rapid breathing in the flame angel prior to its death?

What test kit are you using for the ammonia test? At a pH of 8.3, 0.25 ppm ammonia can be toxic.


Jay

 

[Lavey29]

I just lost mine to. Acclimated fine in a community tank, eating well for 3 weeks and then stopped eating and went into hiding. No visible signs of disease but I suspect an internal parasite. Tried some metroplex but he wouldn't eat it. Stayed in hiding about 5 days then disappeared. I sometimes feel wild caught fish stress to much in tanks and it affects their immune system. If I try another will look for tank bred fish only.

 

[Greatdane]

It is really difficult to determine cause of death after the fact. Do you still have the angel's body? One thing I always do with an unknown cause of death is to give the body of the fish a 10 minute freshwater dip and then look at that under a microscope for flukes.

Did the dead angel have any ripped fins? If not, t he coral beauty was not the likely cause of death.
You need to go into damage control mode here because if the flame angel died from a contagious disease, your coral beauty is now at risk.

Did you see any rapid breathing in the flame angel prior to its death?

What test kit are you using for the ammonia test? At a pH of 8.3, 0.25 ppm ammonia can be toxic.


Jay

We pulled it out about 4 hours ago I don’t remember any ripped fins, I remember seeing white stuff form around the head and body but I figured it was meat cuz he was grinding up against the rock, no ripped fins, I’m used api for ph and ammonia since I don’t have a Red Sea kit for those yet, all the other tests including nitrate and phosphate were Hanna and Red Sea. Oh and the fish had bulged eyes I’m not sure if that’s due to desth or not

 

[Greatdane]

I just lost mine to. Acclimated fine in a community tank, eating well for 3 weeks and then stopped eating and went into hiding. No visible signs of disease but I suspect an internal parasite. Tried some metroplex but he wouldn't eat it. Stayed in hiding about 5 days then disappeared. I sometimes feel wild caught fish stress to much in tanks and it affects their immune system. If I try another will look for tank bred fish only.

Everyone one of my fish is fine I’ve had clowns for a little while, this is a fresh tank it cycled about 2 weeks ago with two clowns in it and a cleaning crew, then added two anglerfish and a sand sigter and everyone of them seem fine except the flame angel who is now passed away

 

[Greatdane]

It is really difficult to determine cause of death after the fact. Do you still have the angel's body? One thing I always do with an unknown cause of death is to give the body of the fish a 10 minute freshwater dip and then look at that under a microscope for flukes.

Did the dead angel have any ripped fins? If not, t he coral beauty was not the likely cause of death.
You need to go into damage control mode here because if the flame angel died from a contagious disease, your coral beauty is now at risk.

Did you see any rapid breathing in the flame angel prior to its death?

What test kit are you using for the ammonia test? At a pH of 8.3, 0.25 ppm ammonia can be toxic.


Jay

We did see heavy breathing last time I saw it, it was moving really slowly but upright, I thought if it would’ve been an water condition it would be having a hard time swimming wouldn’t be properly balanced. That’s what I’ve seen before

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

i would suggest to figure out why you have ammonia in the tank, and try to solve it before adding more fish. Ammonia kills fish, it should always test as zero

 

[Greatdane]

i would suggest to figure out why you have ammonia in the tank, and try to solve it before adding more fish. Ammonia kills fish, it should always test as zero

Alright, we will do some water changes and put some microbactr in there I believe it gets rid of ammonia with denitrifying bacteria

 

[Lavey29]

Yea, that's a lot of fish for a newly cycled tank that doesn't have the capacity for the bioload. You want to add 1 or 2 fish maybe every 30 days and allow the tank to produce the bacteria for the new bioload.

 

[Greatdane]

Yea, that's a lot of fish for a newly cycled tank that doesn't have the capacity for the bioload. You want to add 1 or 2 fish maybe every 30 days and allow the tank to produce the bacteria for the new bioload.

Alright, our bad, I would’ve thought the fish store would’ve warned us, we deal with jam rock in Myrtle beach

 

[Greatdane]

Yea, that's a lot of fish for a newly cycled tank that doesn't have the capacity for the bioload. You want to add 1 or 2 fish maybe every 30 days and allow the tank to produce the bacteria for the new bioload.

But thanks well Watch out

 

[Lavey29]

Alright, our bad, I would’ve thought the fish store would’ve warned us, we deal with jam rock in Myrtle beach

True but they may not know the size and age of the tank. Large mature tanks are capable of adding more fish then moderate mature tanks. New tanks always got to go slow. May look at something like dr. Tim's probiotics to help new fish stress to. Keep checking for ammonia till there is a 0 reading. Water changes and some prime can help if you see signs of fish struggling due to ammonia. Good luck