Angelfish with very severe equilibrium problem

Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of them has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine. I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause it. The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial infections. I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons. Quarenteen has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees

actually the container is only about 4 cups. Sorry I don't use the English
system that much. I am more familiar with metric.
"BigBadGourami" wrote in message
news:6iCPb.119211$na.113556@attbi_s04...
Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of them
has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine. I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause it.
The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial infections.
I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons. Quarenteen
has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees

Angelfish can be big babies and will sometimes do
the "I'm dead" sprawl when really stressed, but
it sounds like yours has some sort of organic (as
opposed to psychological) problem.

Did this problem start after you bought the fish or
was it like this in the store? If it's the latter, this
could just be congenital. If it started right when
you got it home, it could have been injured when
it was being netted.

I think you are probably giving an excessively large
dose of antibiotic and may be killing all of the
fish's commensal bacteria. Take a look at the
strength of antibiotic in commercial products and
I think you'll find it's way less. I've got a package of
Maracyn here and the dosage is 200mg erythromycin
in 10 gallons. I also think that antibiotics are most
effective when given at a constant dose for a prolonged
period to avoid developing resistant substrains.

-coelacanth

"BigBadGourami" wrote in message
news:6iCPb.119211$na.113556@attbi_s04...
Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of them
has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine. I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause it.
The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial infections.
I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons. Quarenteen
has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees

yea upon closer inspection it looks like the angelfish's tail is split
horizontally. Can it recover? I have it in a 10 gal with the amoxicillin
and some antifungal (methylene blue) and salt. The tank has only a gentle
current.
"coelacanth" wrote in message
m...
Angelfish can be big babies and will sometimes do
the "I'm dead" sprawl when really stressed, but
it sounds like yours has some sort of organic (as
opposed to psychological) problem.

Did this problem start after you bought the fish or
was it like this in the store? If it's the latter, this
could just be congenital. If it started right when
you got it home, it could have been injured when
it was being netted.

I think you are probably giving an excessively large
dose of antibiotic and may be killing all of the
fish's commensal bacteria. Take a look at the
strength of antibiotic in commercial products and
I think you'll find it's way less. I've got a package of
Maracyn here and the dosage is 200mg erythromycin
in 10 gallons. I also think that antibiotics are most
effective when given at a constant dose for a prolonged
period to avoid developing resistant substrains.

-coelacanth

"BigBadGourami" wrote in message
news:6iCPb.119211$na.113556@attbi_s04...
Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of them
has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine.
I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was
the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause it.
The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial infections.
I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons. Quarenteen
has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees

ACtually I can't tell if his tail is split or not It seems to be transparent
on in the middle but black on the top and bottom. I think it is an optical
illusion. Anyhow the amoxicllin seems to have helped a bit. He seems to be
doing a bit better
"BigBadGourami" wrote in message
news:vqGPb.99935$5V2.346536@attbi_s53...
yea upon closer inspection it looks like the angelfish's tail is split
horizontally. Can it recover? I have it in a 10 gal with the
amoxicillin
and some antifungal (methylene blue) and salt. The tank has only a gentle
current.
"coelacanth" wrote in message
m...
Angelfish can be big babies and will sometimes do
the "I'm dead" sprawl when really stressed, but
it sounds like yours has some sort of organic (as
opposed to psychological) problem.

Did this problem start after you bought the fish or
was it like this in the store? If it's the latter, this
could just be congenital. If it started right when
you got it home, it could have been injured when
it was being netted.

I think you are probably giving an excessively large
dose of antibiotic and may be killing all of the
fish's commensal bacteria. Take a look at the
strength of antibiotic in commercial products and
I think you'll find it's way less. I've got a package of
Maracyn here and the dosage is 200mg erythromycin
in 10 gallons. I also think that antibiotics are most
effective when given at a constant dose for a prolonged
period to avoid developing resistant substrains.

-coelacanth

"BigBadGourami" wrote in message
news:6iCPb.119211$na.113556@attbi_s04...
Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of
them
has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground
and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and
turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine.
I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was
the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause
it.
The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here
in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial
infections.
I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons.
Quarenteen
has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees

I lost a favored breeding pair of black angelfish with the same
symptoms. I had moved them to their "own" tank and suppose this was
the onset. At first only one was disoriented, bounced into things as
though blind. Floated sideways, upside down. At first it could
recover by swiming, but this went also. Within a couple of days the
partner did the same. I had no way to treat them and no idea what to
do. Living in small town in West Texas with LFS 200 miles one way
limits responses. I still think of that pair they were so elegant
together.


On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 21:37:06 GMT, "BigBadGourami"
wrote:

Hi the other day I bought some quarter size angelfish and 1 of them has
a very severe equilibrium problem. I mean he can lie on the ground and
every time he tries to swim he ends up crashing into things and turning
upside down. He cannot really move. I have him a ten gal quarantine. I
put him into a 1 quart container with the lid with 500 mg of human
amoxicillin from a capsule within the tank for a 1 hour soak. It was the
only antibiotic on hand. The only other stuff I have is quick cure.
First what can cause this. I read in a book chilling can cause it. The
Angelfish just came in the other day and the temperature outside here in
Chicago is very cold (15 degrees F). Or is this a bacterial infections. I
also put salt in the water. Main tank has 1 tsp/ 3 gallons. Quarenteen has
1tsp/gal.
How else can I treat this?

Water:
Ammonia ~0
nitrite 0
Nitrate very low less than 10
pH 8.2
Temp 80 degrees