FW Angelfish Help Needed

[Matt Fultz]

I purchased an fully grown (6") angel today and added it to my 55g
tank. Within an hour, another smaller angel (4"), had shredded my new
angel. The new angel didn't even fight back. I have a third angel
(3") that was fine and didn't do a thing. In a panic, I put the
agressive angel in a 5g bucket with an aerator and heater. The new
angel looks like it is doing better, but we'll see if it survives the
night. What should I do? Thanks in advance. -Matt

55g setup: (running approx 1 year)
fake plants, moderately planted
3 plastic caves/tree stump

2 Clown Loaches (3" each)
1 cory
1 blue ram
3 angelfish (3", 4", and 6" including the new one)
1 pleco (5-6")
6 white clouds

[NetMax]

"Matt Fultz" > wrote in message
om...
> I purchased an fully grown (6") angel today and added it to my 55g
> tank. Within an hour, another smaller angel (4"), had shredded my new
> angel. The new angel didn't even fight back. I have a third angel
> (3") that was fine and didn't do a thing. In a panic, I put the
> agressive angel in a 5g bucket with an aerator and heater. The new
> angel looks like it is doing better, but we'll see if it survives the
> night. What should I do? Thanks in advance. -Matt
>
> 55g setup: (running approx 1 year)
> fake plants, moderately planted
> 3 plastic caves/tree stump
>
> 2 Clown Loaches (3" each)
> 1 cory
> 1 blue ram
> 3 angelfish (3", 4", and 6" including the new one)
> 1 pleco (5-6")
> 6 white clouds

Some guidelines:
1) Quarantine new fish. Even if they are free of disease, it gives them
a chance to recover quietly from transit, acclimate to your water
conditions, build their strength up and you can be confident that they
are eating properly.

2) Respect the limitations involved when mixing territorial fish,
especially as adults. It very often can not be done.

There is no sure-fire solution. In theory, tanks are stocked in the
order of smallest least aggressive fish to largest territorial fish last
(however all should be juveniles). In your case, you might let the 6"
Angel acclimate for 4-6 weeks in your 55g, and then re-introduce the 4"
and watch the fireworks fly. There is a slim chance they will
co-habitate. Re-arranging the interior with new plants, driftwood etc
will help. Adding in other fish sometimes helps distract two aggressors
from getting too intense with each other. jmo
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Matt Fultz]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability for
quarantine. My wife won't let me set up another tank in the house.

I seem to have taken care of the agression problem. I doubled the
amount of plants, rearranged the tank, and bought two more juvenile
angels. I added the two new angels to the tank along with the
aggressive one at the same time. After a day or so, everything
settled down.

Now I have two new problems. I treated the tank for a few days with
Melafix and the original new angel's fins have healed nicely.
Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be eating yet (almost a week now.)

Also, one of my loaches has become sick, coninuous gasping. I changed
about 15% of the water (nitrates aroung 10 ppm after the change) and
added some charcoal/diamond blend to my filter media. Probably too
late. He most likely caught something from one of the new angels.

I knew buying a fully grown angel was a bad idea and shouldn't have
let my wife talk me into it. I've had nothing but grief since.

[Bob Alston]

If you can try some live food for the angel that is not eating. Baby
guppies, etc. If such are not available, try frozen adult brine shrimp.

--
Bob Alston

bobalston9 AT aol DOT com
"Matt Fultz" > wrote in message
om...
> Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability for
> quarantine. My wife won't let me set up another tank in the house.
>
> I seem to have taken care of the agression problem. I doubled the
> amount of plants, rearranged the tank, and bought two more juvenile
> angels. I added the two new angels to the tank along with the
> aggressive one at the same time. After a day or so, everything
> settled down.
>
> Now I have two new problems. I treated the tank for a few days with
> Melafix and the original new angel's fins have healed nicely.
> Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be eating yet (almost a week now.)
>
> Also, one of my loaches has become sick, coninuous gasping. I changed
> about 15% of the water (nitrates aroung 10 ppm after the change) and
> added some charcoal/diamond blend to my filter media. Probably too
> late. He most likely caught something from one of the new angels.
>
> I knew buying a fully grown angel was a bad idea and shouldn't have
> let my wife talk me into it. I've had nothing but grief since.


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[Aquarijen]

"Matt Fultz" > wrote in message
om...
> Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability for
> quarantine. My wife won't let me set up another tank in the house.
>
> I seem to have taken care of the agression problem. I doubled the
> amount of plants, rearranged the tank, and bought two more juvenile
> angels. I added the two new angels to the tank along with the
> aggressive one at the same time. After a day or so, everything
> settled down.
>
> Now I have two new problems. I treated the tank for a few days with
> Melafix and the original new angel's fins have healed nicely.
> Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be eating yet (almost a week now.)
>
> Also, one of my loaches has become sick, coninuous gasping. I changed
> about 15% of the water (nitrates aroung 10 ppm after the change) and
> added some charcoal/diamond blend to my filter media. Probably too
> late. He most likely caught something from one of the new angels.
>
> I knew buying a fully grown angel was a bad idea and shouldn't have
> let my wife talk me into it. I've had nothing but grief since.

She made you get a fish but won't let you get a quarentine tank for it?
Ouch. Perhaps it is the permanence that does not appeal or the cost? A
quarentine tank doesn't have to be fancy - it can be a cheapy 10 gallon. It
can be a bucket. Just needs airation and filtration. With a little
planning, you could set up a temporary quarentine by running a sponge filter
in your established tank for a week and then using it in your temporary
quarentine tank. Then there is no permanent space issues and very minimal
cost involved. But then you would not be able to get spontaneous fish...
Good luck with it.
-Jen

[Matt Fultz]

Sad news today. I took a real close look at that angel today and
determined it had pretty advanced hole in the head disease. I don't
have a quarantine tank and didn't want to risk the rest of my tank so
I put it down. All of my other angels still appear healthy and
eating. I'll pick up some medicated food tomorrow and use that for a
while just in case.

I'm not sure how my loach is doing. I didn't see it for a few days
and feared it had died but I saw it briefly today. I didn't get a
close look because he took off for the cave before I had a chance to
look closer. I'm taking that as a good sign since he was barely
moving last time I saw him. Hopefully he'll put through and my tank
will return to healthy normalcy.

Thanks for all the advice.

By the way, to answer the feeding comment. I feed my tank differently
day to day. The menu is flake food, sinking pellets, brine shrip,
bloodworms, shrimp pellets, and bottom feeder tablets. The angels and
my ram fight my loaches and plec for the tablets. Pretty
entertaining.