Need help with Angel

[krisfal]

Help please Lee!

Asfur Angel aprox 8 inches

I have had the fish for about 3 years

About a week ago I noticed what appeared to be a scale that was bent. 2 nights ago fishes behavior changed: no longer swam around the tank as usual and was visiting the cleaner shrimp frequently, no other outward signs. Last night behavior same as night before plus did not eat. Tonight he has patches of discoloring, almost a powdery look but not really white, kind of silvery.

Tank temp 80.4
Ph 8.04

I will work on other test, but have no reason to suspect anything way out of wack. All other fish in tank are behaving and looking normal.

I have a QT set up and running with a fish that has been in there 3 weeks, it is looking healthy so I will move to display and get angel into QT if you can recommend treatment.

 

[ac7av]

That’s a beautiful fish. I hope he gets past what ever that is. It looks fungal. Do the cleaners look like they are interested in trying to remove what ever it is?

 

[NC2WA]

Kris,

I am sorry to hear that..i know this angel is a prize possession to you..

Have you added **anything** new to the tank?
are you using the same water to make WCs?

you mention white, powder almost silvery..sounds like velvet but would need a better pic.I hope am wrong, as this velvet strikes fast.

do you have any maracyn II?

hopefully, Les will chime in..

Good luck
Kirk

 

[krisfal]

Good question Kirk, yes I added a splendid leopard wrasse 3 weeks ago that I did not quarantine. Wrasse is fine, eating well and has been getting fatter since I got it.

The more I look I am not sure powdery is a good definition, the patches are defined by the shape of the scales, the scales do not protrude but each scale in the area is outlined with the off coloring (hope that makes some sort of sense) the patches are not fuzzy, and actually are hard to see except when the fish faces the light just right (makes it hard to get pictures, the above are the best out of a few dozen, do not know if I can get better shots).

I will be getting Maracyn II tomorrow to have at hand. Right now the fish is still plenty alert and active that I know it would be a battle to catch, I am not going to stress it more by trying to catch unless I have a definitive treatment plan or he gets weaker. He is still showing interest in food, just doesn't eat.

 

[krisfal]

Doing a little reading on marine velvet and learning that it effects the gills and rapid breathing is one early sign, I would add that fish is not breathing rapidly, breathing rate is normal for this fish.

 

[krisfal]

Angel ate some algae this morning. Patches appear to be in different areas this morning (more near tail less all over the body) But observation was only with a flashlight, and fish is swimming more normally so hard to track

 

[morgan]

id say try garlic and feed more almost looks like its shedding scales could be stress related has light period changed what wrasse did u add? are any of the fish harasing the asfur? we had a nice one of those in our shop almost full grown quite the fish

 

[leebca]

Sorry to hear about this.

Surprisingly to most hobbyists (since most don't have the space to keep them) the large Angelfishes don't do too well in captivity over a long period of time.

The most common problem they exhibit starts with skin disorders. I have seen some live fine for decades and other succumb to this early and others in between. Always been a bit of mystery to me. Anyway. . .

This fish is loosing its natural mucous defense against opportunistic microbes. You can help kill the microbes and even soothe the fish with coating support, but until you can figure out the root cause the fish is always likely to slip back into this condition.

There are two things to do. You want to use a topical antibiotic and you want to help the fish replenish its natural defenses. For the latter, see if you can obtain: Pro Tech Coat Marine or StressGuard. Follow directions on the container.

The best topical antibiotic for this, in my opinion, is actually a combination of antibiotics and chemicals. The antibiotic is Nitrofurazone. The product Furan-2 contains this, along with another fav antibiotic I like to use: Furazolidone. Hopefully you can find this product or at least a source for Nitrofurazone. Follow instructions on the container.

 

[krisfal]

Thank you for the advise Lee.

I was hoping I was providing a large enough space for this fish (390g tank with only one other large fish)

I will be looking for the products you advised, and will begin using the Pro Tech Coat Marine or StressGuard immediately. For now I think I will leave the fish in the display and not add to its stress trying to capture, and monitor the situation. I think I will also prepare a larger than normal water change to ensure water quality.

To answer others questions:

The cleaner shrimp is somewhat of a snob and does not spend much time cleaning any fish, more like reaches out and tickles them just to appease them.

No other fish harrass the angel, he is pretty much king of the tank and he decides what I add to the tank :badgrin: I have added, fish/coral/clams and had to remove them as the angel harrassed them, he also ate, in one afternoon, my whole collection of zoas (this occured over 6 months ago) The new wrasse (vermiculated aka splendid leopard wrasse) is very shy and is no threat to the angel. But I was/am concerned my decision to skip QT on the wrasse has introduced something to the tank.

I did shorten the MH light period by one hour (about 2 weeks ago), but overall light period length has not changed (Atanics 12 hours, Daylight (PC) 10 hours, MH 7 hours)

 

[NC2WA]

Kris,

first, sorry for the scare about velvet...but when you said white powdery, the first thing that came to my mind was velvet..when i had a 90g tank in NC, i added an auriga BF that had velvet and my entire tank was decimated in 2 days..I had a maroon clown for 4 years that died..just wanted to make sure you didnt experience that..horrible experience.

let me know where you find Pro Tech Coat Marine or StressGuard...I would like to have some on hand.

thanks
kirk

 

[krisfal]

The angel seems to feel much better. Ate a lot of food today and is swimming around picking on things as normal, still has a large patch near the tail. I feel hopeful now that it is eating.

 

[krisfal]

Angel is back to normal this morning, being his typical PITA (I may be selling my new acans soon as he cannot seem to leave them alone) and skin and behavior all normal.

Although I did not do anything, I would still like to thank Lee for both providing quick advice and most importantly for teaching me how to provide good nutrition for my fish to be healthy. I feel this fish was able to recover from whatever was the problem as he is an extremely healthy fish with a good layer of fat reserves. This allowed the fish to get through a couple of days without eating and still recover.

Thanks Lee!

 

[NC2WA]

Kris,

So do you need to use Pro Tech Coat Marine or StressGuard?? If so, did this help??

 

[barrierreefcf]

Just an FYI...we carry both of these products if anyone needs them in the future. Glad your Angel is improving Kris!

 

[krisfal]

Just an FYI...we carry both of these products if anyone needs them in the future. Glad your Angel is improving Kris!

Good to know!

 

[NC2WA]

Agreed, good to know.

Cy (or anyone), what is the shelf life of these products??