Angelfish help!!!!!

[rachaelmaire]

I havt three small angelfish. Last week I moved them to a new much larger tank because they were suffering finrot. Ive been trearing the tank for a week now with melafix and aquarium salt. The two larger fish seem to be doing muh better but my little albino is getting worse. Is there something more i need to do for him? Any help is so muh appreciated!!

 

[rachaelmaire]

Please excuse the spelling, this was sent from my phone.

 

[Lotus]

Is the smaller one getting picked on? If so, it's probably better to move him to another tank. If he's being picked on, he most likely will continue to have health issues.

 

[blue_ram]

Angelfish require temps above 80 degrees to maintain a healthy immune system. All cichlids require clean water with low Nitrate levels (add some live plants and do weekly water changes). Do not use carbon in the filter with any SA cichlids. Feed your fish 3-4 small feeding per day to help reduce feeding aggression.

 

[rachaelmaire]

If anything he is the most aggressive in the tank.
I increased the tank temp when they began looking sick. And i am treating the tank with melafix and aquarium salt. Is there anything else besides the feeding intervals i can do to help?

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Do not use carbon in the filter with any SA cichlids. .

I have heard of this with Discus, but nobody could tell me why? Do you know?

 

[rachaelmaire]

Also, his mouth seems crooked, like it juts to one side now. It did not when I bought him. It is only his mouth though, it doesn't go up in to his spine.

 

[blue_ram]

I have heard of this with Discus, but nobody could tell me why? Do you know?

When carbon is saturated, it will leech chemicals back into the water. There are many who debate this though.

The primary reason is that the carbon becomes a "nitrate factory" which elevates nitrate levels often resulting in HLLE and other sicknesses.

 

[blue_ram]

If anything he is the most aggressive in the tank.
I increased the tank temp when they began looking sick. And i am treating the tank with melafix and aquarium salt. Is there anything else besides the feeding intervals i can do to help?

When I stopped treating sick fish with chemicals, they stopped dying on me. The only two treatments I will now ever use is Methylene Blue baths and food soaked in antibiotics.

With cichlids, rearranging the tank sometimes helps stop agrression. Also remove the agressive fish and put in isolation for a few days and then return it back to the main tank after a few days.

Sometimes you just end up with an ornary fish that must be returned to the pet store.

Is the tank decorated, is there anything in the tank for the fish to do and explore?

 

[rachaelmaire]

There are three live plants and one plastic plant in the tank. There is also a tiny statue and a mini volcano with an air stone

 

[rachaelmaire]

the picture by name is their old tank but same basic decorations. I added more live plants though and got rid of most of the pink ones.

 

[blue_ram]

There are three live plants and one plastic plant in the tank. There is also a tiny statue and a mini volcano with an air stone

Make sure they aren't getting cut up on the decorations. I had a beta get his fins sliced off by a plastic plant. Since then, I do not use any artificial decorations any more. Only live plants, real rocks and real driftwood.

 

[rachaelmaire]

Make sure they aren't getting cut up on the decorations. I had a beta get his fins sliced off by a plastic plant. Since then, I do not use any artificial decorations any more. Only live plants, real rocks and real driftwood.

Thank you for that, i removed all but the air stone volcano. I suppose the only question left is about how long does it take for the fins to grow back? The sick fish has been seeming a lot better this weekend. He's eating and swimming again but his fins are pretty bad.

 

[blue_ram]

Thank you for that, i removed all but the air stone volcano. I suppose the only question left is about how long does it take for the fins to grow back? The sick fish has been seeming a lot better this weekend. He's eating and swimming again but his fins are pretty bad.

The fins should grow back in a few weeks. Soaking their food in a drop of Maracyn (antibiotic) for a week will help them recover and stave off secondary infections. With many fish ailments, it isn't the ailment that kills the fish but opportunistic infections that hit the fish hard when they are weakened.

I will take some slack for this, but buying a cheap UV filter helps a lot in keeping the fish healthy. While the cheap filter will not be 100% effective, it will weaken most parasites and bacteria so that even weakened fish will avoid being sick.