Please help! what’s wrong with my angelfish?
Hi,
I've got 8 (I used to have 10, 2 lost to sickness) angelfish in a 100 gallon tank. I don't have anything else in there, because they ate the plecos, so I didn't dare trying to add anything else.
They do lay eggs every now and again, which I artificially raise my selfe as a hobbie.
They are very aggressive, especially when they find a spot to lay their eggs.
I have had them for about a year, and I wouldn't say I'm the smartest about fish, but I have had smaller tanks in my life with easier fish (guppies, bettas, goldfish etc...)
These guys have been really, really healthy! then I went on a trip, and my dad was caring for them.
when I got back, one had popeye and one had a large cut by it's gills. these two did not eat, and starved. so now I have 8.
they all have some torn fins, some have similar cuts by their gills (where the muscle is sticking out), some have had little cuts, which healed fast.
I've been treating them with melafix, which helped. then I ran out and tried maracyn-TC fast dissolving powder. that didn't do any thing but turn the water yellow, thick and foam on the top, which made feeding hard!
I've been doing water changes to get the out of the tank, and started adding more melafix.
I'm getting worried because one of the fish, now isn't swimming straight. he's going in a circular motion, like cart-wheels. (to the side)
so when I fed them, he couldn't get to the food and lost interest!
Please help me! I don't know whats wrong!
I clean their water 1-2 time's a week on a regular basis.
a pair layed eggs 2-3 days ago, and some are cleaning the slate, and will probably lay eggs in a day or two, while some of the fish are half dead!
What could I be doing wrong? I know the fins are torn because of aggression and lot's of fighting. I thought the cuts by the gills where too, but things are really strange.
Any ideas what could be causing this? or how I can stop it before I loose the cart-wheel fish and the others?
Thanks for reading, any tips or ideas appreciated!!
The cart-wheel fish probably has something with its swim bladder wrong. Boil a pea and peel the skin away and feed the gushy inside to him. This should do the trick. Good luck!!
Ok, this, to me, is a lot of problems. Open cuts, a fish having problems swimming, etc. I’ll tell what FOR SURE is a way to help, if not cure these problems, because you don’t want to use more then one type of medicine / water treatment at once.
Get the water tested. Bring a bagful to a petstore ( like Petsmart or Fishworld ) and ask an employee to test the water. I got this done for free, but bring your wallet just in case. If you aren’t sure if the pet store you’re going to doesthis, then call beforehand just in case.
They’ll tell you what’s wrong with the water, and I’m pretty sure the water is a factor with all these problems cause fish don’t usually get sick if the water is clean. Ask how to correct the problem. They will either tell you what product you can use at home ( like baking soda, etc ) if there is any, or if there’s none, they will give you a product of the store that you can use.
So after the water is clean, most of these problems should be gone ( open wounds will heal on their own with no problems / infections now ).
Now, with the "cartwheeling" fish. This could either be swim bladder disease or a problem with external parasites. Here’s what to do: Feed the fish peas. ( Thawed out if frozen, cooked, peeled, cut in to small pieces, then put it in a small container with water -the temperature doesnt matter- and leave it for a while until it sinks, THEN you feed it to the fish because most likely since he is having swimming problems, he wont be able to eat floating foods. This trick I’ve told you applies to any fish foods, even floating pellets ! ). Peas are miracle food that they LOVE to eat. It will treat swim bladder disease and really works. ( Just so you know, they might love it so much they stop eating anything else that isn’t peas, but don’t worry, after a while of being fed regular food, they will eat it knowing they need it to survive. Most fish can go for 8 days without food ). Most people feed their fish peas as desert because they love the taste and it’s healthy for them too, but sadly it cannot replace a meal.
If after doing this for a while he’s still cartwheeling, this is an external problem with the fish ( i.e. not internal parasites / bacterias, etc ). Treat the tank for parasites ( there are so many types of parasites, and at this time we can’t determine which one it is, so just get the ones at the pet store that treat a whole bunch of parasites, after all, you never know, maybe he has more than one parasite ).
P.S. All these things aren’t very expensive, just a few dollars, and it’s way worth it to have your fish’s life.
Some tips:
Never change 25% of the water at once or the fish will get shocked / extremely stressed.
Don’t slack off on the cleaning job.
Don’t let anything outside the tank scare them, especially the pregnant fish.
P.S. Don’t listen to that user up there ! Cleaning the tank 1-2 times a week is normal. Cleaning the tank 5 times a week is a lot.
Its not the cleaning … i clean my tanks 2-3 times a week the fish get use to it and they even swim around and pick at my hand ot the vac if it goes in the water….
its probably the males harassing the females.
man your cleaning the water 1-2 times a week, thats seems like alot
its probably the males fighting over the females or territorial issues they are kind ofagressive when it comes to spawning
soory to hear that but i think doing nothing wrong r u cleaning the rocks or mybe the on sick fish spred the sinness alone my be put the sick find in a diff tank
Did your dad do anything different in terms of caring for your fish while you were away. I know that angelfish inparticular can suffer from stress if any changes in their environment take place and this can cause increased aggression as well as disorientation and other unusual behaviours. I’m not sure if this could be the problem with your fish, it may be that the ‘cartwheeling’ one has an illness, maybe you should quarentine it for a couple of days, hope this helps.