I returned to the original scene of my ill fated angel fish yesterday
morning, I'm still convinced that they were good fish and I killed
them by messing around with too many ferts and not watching my pH and
other water parameters. There were 4 left in the tank from which I had
originally purchased, and they have grown noticeably in size. The girl
who had sold them to me previously came over and told me she
remembered me from before and I explained briefly what had happened to
them and she seemed really interested and pulled a little notepad from
her pocket and wrote down some stuff. She seems to be interested in
learning. I spent about a half hour studying them. Walked around the
store to change my focus and returned every 10 minutes or so. Each of
the four looked good. I got the girl to feed them. I did the quiet
little look at my finger on the glass, little fishy, and follow it
around, to which they all responded will. Each had a very small amount
of fin damage, that thin tissue between the rays, mostly caudal. The
original tank had been a mixed bag of more than one shipment, and the
remaining 4 were all very different. A gold, a black marble with a
strong orange cap, a smokey looking zebra, (I have to look this one up
for a better ID), and an ordinary silver angel. Obviously none of them
are pure anything. I asked the girl who asked the guy if there have
been any problems with this tank over the past couple of weeks. I told
him I was wondering about the fin damage. He went and brought over a
clipboard with the ammonia readings done daily and a pH and Nitrates
here and there, showed it to me, and everything looked good. So at
least he knew what he was looking for. We both knew the tank had been
grossly overstocked for a while - - I told him I think I can repair
the fins and I will hold him to his 48 hour guarantee and if they die
a week from now I will still be back to demand a refund. The fin
damage is very minimal, can barely be seen unless one is really
looking for it. I checked my tank's numbers, I had just done a water
change two days earlier, and at the last minute, I dumped in 25 mls of
Melafix. These angels got the most gentle and loving acclimation that
any fish has ever enjoyed in my home. They are hanging together in a
very quiet corner of the plant amongst some Vallisnaria. A couple of
hours after introducing them, I fed the tank and watched as the other
fish did their darting about and the angels, one at a time, left the
corner and cruised the length of the tank for their share of the food.
I just peeked into their dark tank this morning and they are hanging
in their quiet corner. And I hope there sinuses are as clear as mine
after breathing in that awful smelling Melafix.

-- Mister Gardener