What is wrong with my Bicolor Angelfish?

[Polymate3D]

Hello everyone

I have a Bicolor Angelfish I bought around 3 weeks ago now. They was in a 34L Fluval Flex aquarium as my QT tank. During this I used some rock epoxy which released talc and I lost my all my fish in my Fluval Evo aquarium. Lesson learnt the hard way and still very annoyed at myself. This meant the coral and inverts from the Evo also moved in with the Bicolor Angelfish in the QT tank.

The Angelfish has always been timid, but out of nowhere was found very flushed out in colour and breathing heavily. I can't see anything on the scales of the fish, and the breathing is fast but I wouldn't say deep.

I took this has a stress sign, and with the Fluval Evo back to good levels and a shrimp behaving fine, I decided to move the Bicolor Angelfish to the Evo for more space and faster flow.

Overnight the Bicolor Angelfish's color came straight back, but at times also looks almost darker than normal. Breathing is sometimes a little calmer but sometimes not. The 1st day I saw occassional itches against rocks but days 2 and 3 in the Evo have shown none of these signs. I am also starting to see some more normal behaviour such as going to explore the aquarum and pecking at rockwork, but mostly just staying low in the aquarium and still not breathing right. See the video below:

You can see the normal behaviour for most of the day and breathing. Things haven't got worse since moving to the Fluval Evo and they continue to eat every day. I have changed up my once a day to currently 3x of smaller amounts to help. Something however is still clearly not right.

Water quality wise, the 34L Flex it was in Qt for 2+ weeks is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
20<40 Nitrate

The 52L Flex is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
10<20 Nitrate

My head is saying possibly gill flukes, but after my lack of knowing about the talc situation with the epoxy, I'm acting like I know nothing at this stage.

Other things to note:

Fluval Evo aquarium has filtration section removed and a seperate filter on the side, so the 56x29x38cm is mostly open space compared to the stock Fluval Evo

QT tank and Evo both currently have inverts and at least 1 coral and are showing no adverse effects from anything.

Thanks for reading

- Paul

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Polymate3D Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

 

[Polymate3D]

Polymate3D Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

I will try and get a new video of the Angelfish under white light tomorrow as it is late here (UK) and I don't wish to unsettle the little one more than it is.

When I get a new fish and they go into my QT tank, I currently keep its parameters as close to the main tank as possible, and simply leave them in there for around 70 days prior to moving to the main tank. I don't use any treatment, and simply observe. Off course after my complete lack of understanding with the epoxy, the coral and inverts went in there as well, possibly increasing the load of the QT tank, although tests never showed anything of major concern.

- Paul

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello everyone

I have a Bicolor Angelfish I bought around 3 weeks ago now. They was in a 34L Fluval Flex aquarium as my QT tank. During this I used some rock epoxy which released talc and I lost my all my fish in my Fluval Evo aquarium. Lesson learnt the hard way and still very annoyed at myself. This meant the coral and inverts from the Evo also moved in with the Bicolor Angelfish in the QT tank.

The Angelfish has always been timid, but out of nowhere was found very flushed out in colour and breathing heavily. I can't see anything on the scales of the fish, and the breathing is fast but I wouldn't say deep.

I took this has a stress sign, and with the Fluval Evo back to good levels and a shrimp behaving fine, I decided to move the Bicolor Angelfish to the Evo for more space and faster flow.

Overnight the Bicolor Angelfish's color came straight back, but at times also looks almost darker than normal. Breathing is sometimes a little calmer but sometimes not. The 1st day I saw occassional itches against rocks but days 2 and 3 in the Evo have shown none of these signs. I am also starting to see some more normal behaviour such as going to explore the aquarum and pecking at rockwork, but mostly just staying low in the aquarium and still not breathing right. See the video below:

You can see the normal behaviour for most of the day and breathing. Things haven't got worse since moving to the Fluval Evo and they continue to eat every day. I have changed up my once a day to currently 3x of smaller amounts to help. Something however is still clearly not right.

Water quality wise, the 34L Flex it was in Qt for 2+ weeks is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
20<40 Nitrate

The 52L Flex is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
10<20 Nitrate

My head is saying possibly gill flukes, but after my lack of knowing about the talc situation with the epoxy, I'm acting like I know nothing at this stage.

Other things to note:

Fluval Evo aquarium has filtration section removed and a seperate filter on the side, so the 56x29x38cm is mostly open space compared to the stock Fluval Evo

QT tank and Evo both currently have inverts and at least 1 coral and are showing no adverse effects from anything.

Thanks for reading

- Paul

Just a general observation - epoxy is not very toxic to fish, I’ve even used it to set up underwater in a few cases. Also, with toxic elements in the water, invertebrates will also be harmed. If only the fish die, it is typically a fish disease. The epoxy may be a red herring and whatever the disease was could have still been in the tank and affected the bicolor.

I’m on my phone and can’t view the video, but it could be gill flukes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone

I have a Bicolor Angelfish I bought around 3 weeks ago now. They was in a 34L Fluval Flex aquarium as my QT tank. During this I used some rock epoxy which released talc and I lost my all my fish in my Fluval Evo aquarium. Lesson learnt the hard way and still very annoyed at myself. This meant the coral and inverts from the Evo also moved in with the Bicolor Angelfish in the QT tank.

The Angelfish has always been timid, but out of nowhere was found very flushed out in colour and breathing heavily. I can't see anything on the scales of the fish, and the breathing is fast but I wouldn't say deep.

I took this has a stress sign, and with the Fluval Evo back to good levels and a shrimp behaving fine, I decided to move the Bicolor Angelfish to the Evo for more space and faster flow.

Overnight the Bicolor Angelfish's color came straight back, but at times also looks almost darker than normal. Breathing is sometimes a little calmer but sometimes not. The 1st day I saw occassional itches against rocks but days 2 and 3 in the Evo have shown none of these signs. I am also starting to see some more normal behaviour such as going to explore the aquarum and pecking at rockwork, but mostly just staying low in the aquarium and still not breathing right. See the video below:

You can see the normal behaviour for most of the day and breathing. Things haven't got worse since moving to the Fluval Evo and they continue to eat every day. I have changed up my once a day to currently 3x of smaller amounts to help. Something however is still clearly not right.

Water quality wise, the 34L Flex it was in Qt for 2+ weeks is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
20<40 Nitrate

The 52L Flex is:

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
10<20 Nitrate

My head is saying possibly gill flukes, but after my lack of knowing about the talc situation with the epoxy, I'm acting like I know nothing at this stage.

Other things to note:

Fluval Evo aquarium has filtration section removed and a seperate filter on the side, so the 56x29x38cm is mostly open space compared to the stock Fluval Evo

QT tank and Evo both currently have inverts and at least 1 coral and are showing no adverse effects from anything.

Thanks for reading

- Paul

Fish shows hemorrhaging and heavy/labored breathing. The redness may be injury nut suspect is false readings or flukes but with flukes you will see fish also scratch, dart across tank, gasp at surface, and lethargic. Other would be low oxygen levels.
I would do a water change and have a local LFS test a water sample and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.

 

[Polymate3D]

Just a general observation - epoxy is not very toxic to fish, I’ve even used it to set up underwater in a few cases. Also, with toxic elements in the water, invertebrates will also be harmed. If only the fish die, it is typically a fish disease. The epoxy may be a red herring and whatever the disease was could have still been in the tank and affected the bicolor.

I’m on my phone and can’t view the video, but it could be gill flukes.

I appreciate the viewpoint and wish I could take some comfort in it, but the 3 fish in there before ate fine and had no ill symptoms prior the using the epoxy. I used it in the tank itself with no skimmer and its only 52L, and that moment I finished all 3 fish where on the bottom hiding and breathing heavily. The very next morning all 3 fish had gone and a peppermint shrimp. The emerald crab, all snails, and bristle worms made it just fine.

Prior to the epoxy these 3 fish lived together for over 7 months with zero issues. I very much think I overworked the epoxy, used a entire stick in a small tank, and brought the oxygen levels plummeting. At the time I thought the fish reaction was just stress. I woke up regretting that thought so badly and still am tbh.

Thanks for the reply and efforts! I have 25L of new saltwater mixed up so I will be doing a 50% water change tomorrow or over 2 days, and will look about sourcing something towards on gill flukes idea.

- Paul

 

[Polymate3D]

Fish shows hemorrhaging and heavy/labored breathing. The redness may be injury nut suspect is false readings or flukes but with flukes you will see fish also scratch, dart across tank, gasp at surface, and lethargic. Other would be low oxygen levels.
I would do a water change and have a local LFS test a water sample and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.

Thanks for your assessment and opinion. I have 25L of salt water mixed up this end tonight and will get it done tomorrow or over 2 days.

As for LFS, I will ask what brand tests they use and go from there. Fortunate to have a few LFS local to pick from. Appreciate yourself & Jay's time taken to help.

- Paul

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I appreciate the viewpoint and wish I could take some comfort in it, but the 3 fish in there before ate fine and had no ill symptoms prior the using the epoxy. I used it in the tank itself with no skimmer and its only 52L, and that moment I finished all 3 fish where on the bottom hiding and breathing heavily. The very next morning all 3 fish had gone and a peppermint shrimp. The emerald crab, all snails, and bristle worms made it just fine.

Prior to the epoxy these 3 fish lived together for over 7 months with zero issues. I very much think I overworked the epoxy, used a entire stick in a small tank, and brought the oxygen levels plummeting. At the time I thought the fish reaction was just stress. I woke up regretting that thought so badly and still am tbh.

Thanks for the reply and efforts! I have 25L of new saltwater mixed up so I will be doing a 50% water change tomorrow or over 2 days, and will look about sourcing something towards on gill flukes idea.

- Paul

You see, the devil is always in the details - the shrimp dying is a major clue. As I said, if only the fish died, the issue is literally always a fish disease. However, shrimp have a high oxygen requirement as well, so the shrimp dying at the same time helps rule out a fish disease.

 

[Polymate3D]

You see, the devil is always in the details - the shrimp dying is a major clue. As I said, if only the fish died, the issue is literally always a fish disease. However, shrimp have a high oxygen requirement as well, so the shrimp dying at the same time helps rule out a fish disease.

Thanks very much Jay.

Yeah, with the emerald crab okay I was unsure. It is done now, and all I can do is avoid making such a mistake again. Lights still out on the tank but going to start doing the water change now, then get down to my LFS store for something for the gill fluke side.

- Paul

 

[Polymate3D]

Small update

I have done around 30% water change and started dosing a treatment for gill flukes. Few hours in and although still breathing heavily the angelfish seems happier, swimming around a little more and pecking at rocks more.

I will update as and when anything changes. Thanks again for the advice and opinions.

- Paul

 

[Polymate3D]

Hello

So update on the Bicolor Angelfish. Breathing much more normal now and behaving more normal as well. I will be doing a water change at the end of the weekend and then proceeding to do the second dose.

Wanted to update the thread to show the symptom and advice given was correct and helped. Not out of the woods yet, but the progress has been promising.

Thanks again to everyone's advice.

- Paul