Need help with my flame angel!

[Thraciandrummer]

I got a flame angel about 2 months ago. It's been doing fine the whole time, always hunting around rocks picking at them. Always ate like a pig and loved eating the nori sheets I gave them every few days. Today I came home to find the flame angel swimming horizontally behind a rock. He didn't come out to eat when I fed the tank and he is ignoring the nori that I put in the grazer. Does anyone know what might be happening!? Is he sick? I tested all my levels and they are as follows...
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate - 0
PH - 8.3
Phosphate - .25

The only thing I've noticed lately is that I have a bit of brown on my sand. Looks similar to diatom algae. My tank is 125 gallons and has been running for 10 months. Only corals are a few zoa colonies that are doing very well.

 

[twilliard]

Anything else you have been feeding him?

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Everyday I feed the tank ocean nutrition flakes, Thera-A sinking pellets, some frozen PE mysis shrimp and a small piece of frozen spirulina. I soak this is garlic and ginger and feed the tank. I also provide a few sheets of nori in a grazer every few days.

 

[twilliard]

Can you net him for qt?
If he is on his side its not looking good for him.

@Humblefish might be able to help also.

 

[4FordFamily]

It sounds like he is very far gone. Your concern should be for your other fish at this point. I hope I'm wrong but it sounds over for him.

Flame angels can randomly behave this way, in my experience. I do not know why. I do know that it is a final symptom of a possible infection, parasite, internal issue, etc. most fish can "finish off" in this state. I hope its nothing and your other fish are safe.

It well help humble to know if you have added any fish recently, if you qt and treat fish before going in your display, etc.

 

[Humblefish]

Swimming horizontally? As in, he's swimming on his side? Please elaborate.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

I. Sorry I meant he is swimming g vertically. He is not laying on his side he is just swimming vertically behind a rock. He is the last fish that I added to the tank.

 

[Humblefish]

So is he just pacing up and down the tank?

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Yes he's just hanging out behind the rocks swimming vertically. He missed today's feeding which he's never done and he is ignoring the nori I gave them. Something is definitely wrong.

 

[melypr1985]

Yes he's just hanging out behind the rocks swimming vertically. He missed today's feeding which he's never done and he is ignoring the nori I gave them. Something is definitely wrong.

Let me see if I understand this correctly. Forgive me but.... He is swimming straight up (vertically) then turning around and swimming straight down? Over and over? Are there breaks where he does something else? Does he rest for a bit? Breath heavy while doing this or after? Has he ever been treated with copper or any other harsh meds?

 

[Thraciandrummer]

He doesn't swim up and then turn around. He kind of swims upward and then sinks down and then swims back up over and over again. Sort of trying to hover in the same spot just vertically. Looks a little like he's having trouble swimming. I never treated him with copper or other meds. Haven't really noticed heavy breathing, he is sort of in a dark spot in the tank. At one point after I fed the tank yesterday, he came out swimming fine for a minute but then went back behind the rock and remained there since. The store I bought him from is a very good one and he looked very healthy when I bought him. They could've treated him, but I don't really know. Again I've had him for 2 months and he's looked and acted in great health till yesterday.

 

[4FordFamily]

Have you had him in hypo? I've had a couple Angels react this way to hyposalinity over the years. Many more did fine.

Some just exhibit these symptoms while they're on the way out for a multitude of different things.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Do you see any other signs of disease: fins torn, white, red, or black spots anywhere they should not be, cloudy eyes, bumbs (bulging scales), flared gills, enlarged eyes, discolored areas, anything out of the norm besides the swimming?

You have had him 2 months, what are his tank mates?

 

[Thraciandrummer]

No hypo or other signs of distress. Actually came home yesterday and he is now swimming normally. Such an odd fish. I will keep and eye on him.

Tank mates include 2 clowns, a blue hippo tang, 2 fire fish, 2 chromis a fox face and a coral banded shrimp

 

[Thraciandrummer]

So I think the angel either has an internal parasite or a swim bladder issue. I took a video of it swimming around. In the video you can clearly see a bulging "stomach" area and that he is swimming oddly. Does anyone have any idea what this could be or what I need to do to treat it?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0IEfIhzOIVjTXJuczZYYVhTMXM

 

[4FordFamily]

Prazi is a good start. @Humblefish would probably know best.

 

[melypr1985]

Well that's far better than I expected to see from your description. He does appear to be having some difficulty going where he wants to, but not nearly as much as I expected. The swim bladder issues I've seen have had much more dramatic effects on the fish's swimming abilities than this.
We will want humble to confirm but I'm with 3Ford.... Prazi is a good place to start.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Yea I was planning on buying some prazi. I have never used or researched prazi at all. What is the best way to use prazi? I assume like other medications, that it can't be dosed right into a display tank. I assume I have to attempt to catch this fish and get it into quarantine in order to treat it. How long is the treatment process generally?

 

[4FordFamily]

Yea I was planning on buying some prazi. I have never used or researched prazi at all. What is the best way to use prazi? I assume like other medications, that it can't be dosed right into a display tank. I assume I have to attempt to catch this fish and get it into quarantine in order to treat it. How long is the treatment process generally?

Prazi pro. Dose in tank with skimmer off. I believe it's 5 days, then water change and then on day 12 dose same dose again.

The bottle has the correct instructions. I'm purely guessing, this is roughly what I do. It has worked lol.

 

[melypr1985]

dose day 1 then 5-7 days later do a water change and dose again. Though that's for flukes. Let's see what humble recommends. He may have a totally different med in mind.