Sick and Dieing Angelfish

I am having problems keeping my Angelfish. I have a 40gal tank, I do a 20% water change a week and check my Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels once a week. All levels are at zero. I've had 2 die and one start acting weird now. I have plenty of other fish in the tank none seem to be having any problems. I was reading about the PH (mine being 7.2-7.6) being too high for them but I've had 2 of them for 3 months and added a 3rd 3 weeks ago. I thought maybe the 3rd one brought a disease in and killed the others, I don't know. All 3 also stopped eating. They don't seem to be aggressive enough to get the food before the other fish eat it all but recentlly they stoped trying. Also my water temp is 80 degrees. If anybody can help It would be great. Angels are my favorite fish in the tank.

The one remaining angel is turning on his side and swimming to the surface keeping his mouth pointed upward. The others did the same about 2 days ago and they were both dead soon after.

I was reading some of the other posts about the same topic and I was seeing the bladder disease. I was wondering how this is prevented? Am I feeding them too much or the wrong food? I rotate the slow sinking pellets, the tropical flakes, freeze dried worms and the occasional brine shrimp. Thanks again.

Welcome to our forum. Angelfish are somewhat more delicate than other aquarium fish, and the water temperature should be at about 82 degrees F or higher. If they're not hungry, they are not healthy. A good guess is they were shocked by the trip from a fish store aquarium to a plastic bag then to a new aquarium. If you gradually raise the aquarium temperature and make sure the tank has zero ammonia and nitrite, they may recover. You didn't say if they had tank mates, but with few exceptions angelfish need a single species aquarium. Some angelfish arrive at the aquarium shop already in a state of shock from shipment plus a big change in water parameters. They just do not do well with big changes. The drip acclimation method is best for introducing angelfish into a new aquarium. One of our blogs has more details about drip acclimation.

I hope some of that helps. Please keep us updated.

Hi, sorry to hear about your angels. They are indeed lovely fish. John has some excellent advice. You said the other tank mates are doing fine. How long have they been in the tank? Sometimes new fish will introduce disease to healthy fish that have no resistance. How long have you had the angelfish in that tank? A forty gallon is a good size tank for angels. Was it cycled before you added the fish? I am just shooting in the dark and hoping something rings a bell to you. By the way, welcome!

Hello, first I want to thank you both for your quick replies. The tank was cycled, I've had it for about 6 months now. The angels have actually been in the tank the longest after the 3 sunset platys I cycled the tank with. They started acting weird two days ago which puts them at about 3 months in my tank so I'm not sure about the shock from the move that johnarthur was taking about. I bought 2 and had them for about 2 months till I added the third angel. After adding the third all three were fine till two days ago. 2 have died and the one remaining seems to be doing a little better today. I was going to buy him another mate so he/she isn't lonely but I absolutely hate killing fish. I don't want another death on my hands.

johnarther said that angels are better as a species tank but are ok with some others. What are the best tank mates. They are in with 3 sunset platys, 5 khuli loaches, 5 neon tetras, 2 dwarf gouramis and 1 chinese algae eater. Sorry for some of my spelling.

I am in the process of cycling a 20gal cichlid tank for my office. Since angels are cichlids would they be better off in with them when I get it up and running? Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to the hobby.

pls don't shift the angels in ur off.bcoz some cichlids are seem to be aggresive.and along with the fishes u keep angels have no problem at all.

I agree that you should not move your angels to the cichlid tank. They are most likely too aggressive. Most cichlids including angels are territorial, but others are more likely to kill over space. If you get more angels it is always best to qt them first. As for tank mates, I think you are fine with everything you have except for the chinese algae eater. I would even say this fish may have caused the death of the others. Chinese algae eaters only eat algae when they are babies. When they get older they suck the slime coats off of other fish like your angels. Personally, I would find a new home for him. He may have compromised the slime coat on your angels and left them susceptible to disease. Also, the attacks may have stressed them and weakened their immune system. These attacks are likely happening at night when you do not see them. The angels are sleeping on the bottom and are easier targets. I hope this helps some more.

Cory cats do well with angelfish. As angelfish mature, they get large and aggressive and will dine on the neons and other small fish. Sometimes when an angelfish has a disease or parasite or stressed immune system, they will not develop serious symptoms for a few weeks. Thus, the angelfish you added three weeks ago could very well be responsible for the illness. As I said before, angelfish are somewhat delicate; they can be affected by things that don't bother other fish.

In the wild, Cichlids come from Africa and South America. Many of the African species are aggressive, and they usually need water conditions that are much less than ideal for angelfish, which originate in South America. If you look on Google or another search engine, you can find specifics on just about any type of aquarium fish.

In our blog section there is a short article about Chinese Algae Eaters. It reflects what Megham said.

Thanks guys. I raised the temp to 82-83 and the angel seems to be doing better. I did not know that about the algae eater. Wow, that's terrible. I'll keep an eye on it. I'm a night shifter that's why I bought the moonlights. I watch them at night alot when I get a night off work. The advise has been very helpful I'm glad I found this aquarium club.

so as miss megham and mr.john said u just shift the algae eater.angel must live with cory or clown loach .the best fish with angels are discus !! .moreover the cichlid live with rocks where as angels like plants ,u cann't keep those 2 types of fishes together.so if u concentrate of cichlid u keep rocks in ur tank and if keep angels then keep more and more plants...