Blue Angelfish Dying

[dustinwerk19]

I bought my juvenile 140$ Blue Angelfish around a month ago, the first day my three tangs gave him crap but things tone down after that day. For the past month my Angelfish has been not stressed, eating perfectly and overall being one of my best fish. Today, I wake up to see him struggling to swim and breathe, dying obviously. I’m very confused on this, none of my tangs have ich, everybody including the angelfish have been eating well and my temperature and levels of the tank are all fine. Yesterday I do recall my angelfish sort of trying to force himself to get a bit of food under the rock my Engineering Goby burrowed under, could the angelfish hurt himself doing that? I don’t see any visible physical difference with him other than the paleness because he is dying?

Help me out, I spent a ton of money on this fish and finding another Angelfish that I want is going to be an adventure. Christ man, the things we do for our fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Do you have a QT tank? Removing him from a potentially stressful environment would be a start. It’s also possible there is some kind of parasitic infection going on here, given the heavy breathing and struggling. Unfortunately, it sounds to me like a fish that is on its way out. Pics would definitely be helpful.
Perhaps we can get a little bit more help from some experts.

@Jay Hemdal, does this sound like possible Internal Parasites to you?

 

[dustinwerk19]

Do you have a QT tank? Removing him from a potentially stressful environment would be a start. It’s also possible there is some kind of parasitic infection going on here, given the heavy breathing and struggling. Unfortunately, it sounds to me like a fish that is on its way out. Pics would definitely be helpful.
Perhaps we can get a little bit more help from some experts.

@Jay Hemdal, does this sound like possible Internal Parasites to you?

unfortunately I do not have a QT tank, we’re not that big into it but at the same time we are. I believe I mentioned that there was no parisitic infection on him nor any of my other fish, and for sure would it pop up on my tangs before any of my other fish, unless this is an Angelfish speicifc disease that I cant visibly see. I appreciate the response.

 

[dhnguyen]

... my temperature and levels of the tank are all fine. ...

That doesn't really tell us much of anything. Please provide actual numbers.
A bit more details about your tank would help too.

 

[Sharkbait19]

unfortunately I do not have a QT tank, we’re not that big into it but at the same time we are. I believe I mentioned that there was no parisitic infection on him nor any of my other fish, and for sure would it pop up on my tangs before any of my other fish, unless this is an Angelfish speicifc disease that I cant visibly see. I appreciate the response.

Many parasites exist as internal parasites, infecting the digestive system and intestinal regions. They can often become unnoticed until it is too late. This is especially common in wild-caught fish, which your angel may be.

 

[dhnguyen]

unfortunately I do not have a QT tank, we’re not that big into it but at the same time we are. I believe I mentioned that there was no parisitic infection on him nor any of my other fish, and for sure would it pop up on my tangs before any of my other fish, unless this is an Angelfish speicifc disease that I cant visibly see. I appreciate the response.

A parasitic infection is not necessarily external.

 

[Sharkbait19]

You can look for lack of diet, inflamed anus, sunken stomach, lethargy, and white stringy poop as signs for IP’s.

If you do notice parasites but can’t QT, thankfully meds like PraziPro are considered reef safe. If you have fan worms or bristle worms, though, they will be killed, as PraziPro is a worm killer.

 

[Arabyps]

@Jay Hemdal probably has valuable insight. My suspicion is an internal disease issue.

 

[dustinwerk19]

You can look for lack of diet, inflamed anus, sunken stomach, lethargy, and white stringy poop as signs for IP’s.

in regards to this reply and your other reply, his diet is fine he was eating the day before perfectly as he always does, no sunken stomach, his defecation has been normal, honestly everything you mentioned he does not have.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Very strange then. Maybe he got injured, but you did say there are no obvious abrasions. If you could get clear pics of the full fish on both sides that would be very helpful! Thanks!

 

[dustinwerk19]

Very strange then. Maybe he got injured, but you did say there are no obvious abrasions. If you could get clear pics of the full fish on both sides that would be very helpful! Thanks!

i’m really not wanting to take him out of the tank nor the net, would probably cause more stress, i do recall him attempting to go under a rock at a spot that was dug out by my engineering goby to get a piece of food, but after that he seemed fine i’m thinking maybe he scraped his gill against the rock? No idea, not visible I can tell you that.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It is exceedingly rare for coral reef fish to injure themselves on something in a tank - they’ve evolved for living on coral reefs. I typically only see four issues of self harm in fish: jumping out of course, getting run into a rock while being chased, swallowing gravel, or chronic issues from rubbing the glass. The very few cases I’ve heard of that were beyond that included caves that collapsed on a fish.
I would lean more towards an internal disease, the fish seems a bit pale in the photo.
How is the fish’s respiration rate? If you post a short video, I might be able to get you a count.
Jay

 

[dustinwerk19]

 

[dustinwerk19]

the blue angelfish passed away checking him out, no external visible physical damage, parasites, nothing.

 

[Sharkbait19]

the blue angelfish passed away checking him out, no external visible physical damage, parasites, nothing.

So sorry for your loss. I don't know if it's the lighting, but I think I see potential velvet right there. Keep a close eye on your other fish, and maybe try to get a QT system started.

 

[dustinwerk19]

the spots are not velvet, ich or anything else, just a bad phone and bad lighting.