Angelfish Book Recommendations - 08/05/06
Hi I am a long time user of your website from India.
Recently I have set up a 50g tank for angelfish. It is a planted tank with vals & E. tenellus. Can you suggest some good books on angelfish?. Thanks Sandeep R
< Not too many books dedicated to angelfish these days. I would recommend "Enjoying Cichlids" by Ad Konings. It is available from Cichlid Press. it is a great book that will help you will all aspects of keeping cichlids. Angelfish are cichlids by the way. lots of info on feeding, filtration and water chemistry to keep any cichlid you want.-Chuck>

Angel/s...? FW, SW? No useful info.   7/22/06
Today, this afternoon, I noticed a little "growth" on my angel fish. It is behind the pectoral fins (I believe those are the 2 long ones on the stomach side of the fish right?)
<Mmm, yes... the pelvics are further down below, near the vent>
and right at the base of the anal fin.
<Oh, these are the pelvics, P2's>
I believe this is also where they excrete waste. It looks like a pimple and is a light tan color. It just popped up today and I was wondering if it is something I should look out for or treat.
<Mmm, not necessarily>
I have also seen an increase of aggression between the 2 angels, one of them is missing 2 scales, should I do something about this or
just let them work out their own problems?
Thanks
<... is this marine, freshwater? See WWM re the species in question. Bob Fenner>

Mysterious Death In A Long-Established System - 11/05/2005
Hello to all - I have a question about my freshwater aquarium, but before that, I would like to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge and advice. 
<Your kind words are so very appreciated.... Thank you.>
I have WWM dailies as my homepage and every morning, before I do anything else (except turn on my aquarium lights and say hello to my buddies, of course) I read through your questions. I have used your search tool many times, rather than asking directly, and I find all the answers I need, and more! 
<Ahh, delightful! Would love to know how to make this easier/more obvious to other folks....>
I can't seem to find the answer to this mystery though, so please forgive me if I have overlooked. 
<No worries.>
I am not new to fishkeeping, but everyday there is something more to learn, I know. 
<As with everything in life. May I always be ignorant, that I have something to look forward to learning!>
I also know, learned from my 30+ years of aquarium keeping experience and confirmed through your advice on WWM, that regular water changes, patience and quarantine will practically guarantee success. I haven't lost a fish in 8 1/2 years until today and I am devastated because I loved my baby.
<Oh dear. So sorry to hear this....>
Here goes: 125 fully planted tank, magnum canister filter w/ carbon changes every 2 wks, output powering 2 BioWheels, set up for 4 years. 10 gallon water change on Mondays, 5 gallon on Thursdays, just a siphon water change-not a gravel vacuum because the tank is so heavily planted. 
<All sounds great so far.>
This tank has been running for 5 yrs, set up because my angelfish in the 55 gallon was really tall and I wanted him to have more room. His tankmates were 3 lemon tetras and 1 upside down catfish in the 55g. I regularly change light bulbs for the plants, prune them weekly, feed very sparingly, if at all. I have the 55 still set up with spare plants, thinned from the big tank, and I sell them to pets shops and give them to others.
<Excellent!>
Only fish in the 55 until recently was small school of zebra danios to keep it interesting. For some reason, I thought my 5 fish in the 125 g needed friends after 5 years
<I admit, your stocking scheme is actually more conservative than my own. Surprising.>
and so went to the LFS and bought 6 neon tetras, 5 Cory cats, 3 guppies and 4 Otocinclus cats. These new fish were placed in quarantine in the 55 for almost 7 weeks (patience). 
<Patience, indeed!>
After the quarantine, and everybody still was in great shape, I transferred the newbies in with the old timers. The big community was all happy for 2 wks, then, horror, my 8 1/2 year old Andy angelfish died.
<Devastating.... I am so sorry....>
He had just been hovering in the corner for the last 2 days and hadn't been coming up and eating the little pinch of frozen bloodworms from my fingers like he did every morning for the last 8 yrs. Andy was very big-much bigger than the palm of my husband's hand and kind of old, I guess, for a fish. 
<Yes.>
I don't know what the lifespan of an angelfish is. 
<'Bout Andy's age. They can live for a long time, but Andy was a ripe oldster.>
I took him out, did an emergency 25% water change, started my search on WWM, and looked over to see my 3 lemon tetras (5 yrs old) hovering in the same corner. 
<Hmm.... perhaps coincidence.... and, on the other hand, perhaps not.>
They didn't come up to eat even, and they are piglets. 
<Disconcerting, to be sure.>
Everyone else is having a ball-even the upside down catfish (also 8 1/2 yrs). So, my questions: Was Andy just so stressed out because his world had changed? 
<Mm, I do suspect disease.... perhaps viral.... or pathogenic.... My thoughts here: Your five fish had not had anything "new" in some years. No introduction of "normal" pathogens that are ever-present on nearly all fish to some minor degree. This long-established, healthy system may have just been too "healthy".... perhaps the new livestock had something that they brought with them, not in virulent amounts, that transferred to your angel, who was perhaps free of whatever it was for several years. As old as the fellow was, it took him out. This is all just speculation.... but is my first best guess.>
Could I have done anything differently? 
<No, hon. You could not have foreseen something like this. You did everything perfectly.>
Are my lemon tetras traumatized too? What is their lifespan? 
<Mm, tetras for the most part are MUCH shorter-lived than fish like angels.... if these guys are 8.5 years old, not only will I be surprised, but I'll be moving into your fish tank in short order, in the hopes of extending my own lifespan.>
Should I try to remove them or will that just cause everybody to go nuts? 
<If they are exhibiting obvious signs of illness, I would strongly consider removing them to a quarantine system to observe them apart from the other, healthy livestock.>
Sorry for the novel, but I am just stumped (and very upset). 
<Completely understandable.>
Thanks so much. You guys are great. 
<As are you.>
I need a poster of Bob and Anthony and the whole crew to put up in my fish room.
<Hey, now that's not a bad idea! Maybe we should have a "centerfold" Crewmember in the CA online mag, eh? (grin)>
Patty
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Mysterious Death In A Long-Established System - II - 11/07/2005
Sabrina- thanks so much for your insight about my fish traumas. Sadly to say, my lemon tetras have passed on. Andy and Flipper (the upside down catfish were and are 8 1/2 years old. The lemon tetras were barely 5 yrs old, their records going back to October, 2000. (I consider the day I bought my fish as their birthday!)
<Wow. Some geriatric characins, I think. I'm not so knowledgeable about characins, but I do think that's pretty aged for most smaller tetras....>
I had not really considered that these old timers had lived in a "bubble" and thus were not able to fight off normal fish pathogens. 
<Again, just a theory.>
As I said, I will always be learning. 
<As will I/we.>
You all have convinced me that saltwater isn't as hard as I had always heard it to be, and I have had a healthy tank going now for over a year. Water changes and even more patience required than freshwater, huh? 
<Mm, yeah, pretty much.>
I also have a very low stocking scheme in the saltwater half of my fishroom, as you advise, and I have never had a problem. 
<Ahh, very good!>
I don't believe I will be adding any new fish though. I'll just set up another tank! (good excuse) Thanks again for your time and generosity in sharing your knowledge, Patty
<And thank you again for your kind words.... All the best, -Sabrina>
 

Angelfish, Bacterial Infection, Great Images - 11/05/2005 Hi, I really need some help regarding my freshwater angelfish. I have already posted my problem on a number of different forums and it seems no one knows what I'm dealing with. My angelfish has developed black wormy things underneath his skin.  <A picture is worth a thousand words.... your images are excellent.> It first started out as a white lip fungus but then I noticed black things burrowing underneath in his head area. These worms (or bacteria) started pushing through his skin and leaving black protruding bumps. Then, the next day, almost as quickly as they came, they disappeared back into the skin and left a small hole. I first tried 50 percent water changes every day and since that didn't seem to help, I put him on MelaFix and PimaFix.  <These are worthless in my opinion. Really of no quantifiable value.> Again, this worked very little so I switched to Jungle Fungus Eliminator. This cleared up the holes very well until I noticed three more near his anal fin. I can also still see the worms inside him.  <I do not believe these are worms. Your images appear to me to suggest a bacterial infection quite clearly.> Someone else told me that probably the only solution is to humanly destroy the fish, sterilize the tank, and then start over.  <I very much disagree.> I would really like more options than this.  <There are.> I have also attached pictures. Thanks for any help you can offer. <I would treat with a broad-spectrum antibiotic (Kanamycin sulfate is one good option, or perhaps Oxytetracycline in food, if you can find). At Anthony's suggestion, I treated an Altum angel with extremely similar symptoms successfully with salt - bringing the specific gravity to 1.003 for a couple of weeks. You could try this instead. This animal is not a "lost cause".... likely can be medicated with success.> Ariana <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

F/W Angelfish, Hole-in-the-Head - 10/28/2005
I have a black angelfish that has a white lesion above one eye. It started out as a simple spot a week or two ago, but now it looks as if it's grown and is protruding out from under the skin. Meanwhile, it also has some pinholes appearing in the area behind his eye and gills. 
<A very classic description of "hole-in-the-head" disease, or "head and lateral line erosion" (HLLE).>
His fins (and the rest of his body) are fine. None of the other fish have been affected. The attached photo isn't great (the tank background is black) but you can see the brightness of the spot (part of it is glare; the spot itself is probably about 2mm in diameter) and maybe the pinholes if you look closely. 
<Your description is actually a little clearer than the pic - thank you for sending the image as well.>
<<Photo...??>>
<<<Photo was lost in the recent webmail wierdness we've experienced.  -SCF>>
The system: 50 gallon tank with two angels, two balas, 2 rainbows, 1 zebra loach, 5 T-Bone rasboras, some live plants. The tank has been established for 2 1/2 years, with the most recent livestock (rasboras) being added about six months ago. I have a Penguin 170 hang on/BioWheel filter and a Magnum 350 canister filter. I vary their food: flakes, granules, freeze-dried brine and frozen bloodworms and vegetable matter. Any idea what it is and/or what I can do for it?
<First, I note that you make no mention of your water quality. Test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and maintain ammonia and nitrite at ZERO, nitrate less than 20ppm, with water changes. Next, take a look here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwhllefaqs.htm  and here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hllefaqs.htm  for further information and ideas. Make sure to take the opportunity to check out the links in blue at the tops of those pages, as well.>
Thanks, -Melissa
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Angelfish With Internal Bacterial Infection 10/27/05
HELP!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
<We will try.>
I have three angelfish who are swimming on their sides. They started out in a 55 gallon tank with 3 other angels,3 snails and a black moor.
< Goldfish and tropical fish together are not really s good idea. Eventually one or the other will get sick from being either too warm (goldfish) or too cold (angelfish).>
One by one they seem to start floating on their side. They are trying to eat and swim on their sides. I did a water change and bumped their temp to 82.  I am treating them with PimaFix and MelaFix. Also their blushing angels and the red spot seems to spread from their cheek outward. 
A larger circle. I noticed my other angels seem to be redder too in that area. One angelfish's lips look swollen. I have the three that are swimming on their side in a sick tank. Please any advice. I called my LFS where I bought them and they just said to flush them. I can't do that. They are trying so hard to live. Any response is appreciated.-Brandy and Melody
< Do a 30% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Treat with a combination of Metronidazole and Nitrofurazone with some rock salt added to the water. Do a 50% water change every other day and remedicate on the days you don't change water. This should take care of the organisms causing the problems but it may take a while for your fish to completely heal if they survive the treatment.-Chuck> 

Marble Angelfish With Community Fish - 10/24/05
Hello My name is Amy. I have a nicely sized marble veiled angelfish, whom recently I noticed is getting coppery/orange hues around her/his eyes and the top of its head and top fin. The fish is at least silver dollar sized, no other symptoms or problems seem to be present. It swims great eats well-happily and voraciously--no change in shape/size/behavior and no one is aggressing it. Just wondering if there may be a problem I need to fix. The tank just got changed, no high ammonia levels. Is there copper in a tank?
< The colors you describe are normal for marble angelfish. This is in the genetics of the fish. May be somewhat affected by diet and lighting.>
I am moving in the next month and will be giving the fishes to friends and don't want to contaminate their fish in their tanks.
< Good idea.>
Also, can you have 2 angelfish in a tank that is a 100+ gallons with 2 discus 1 angel fish some guppies/loaches/o-cats?
< Angelfish go well in a community tank set up as long as the smaller fish can't be eaten by the angels. I would watch out for the guppies.-Chuck> 

Half-Black Veil Angelfish, Breeding - 10/14/2005
Hi my name is Kenneth and I recently, finally came across 5 half-black veils for sale after 6 months of looking online and inquiring for them in my local area... I would love to breed them as they are so hard to come by.
<A good idea.>
Right now they are nickel size but I would like to know what are the first signs that a pair is pairing up?
<Usually they "hang out" in a pair, eventually begin defending a territory from other fish, especially other angels. It won't be for a while yet if they're just nickel sized.>
I have them in tank also with 4 jet-black veils of the same size I haven't had any luck with the black veils ..they ALWAYS DIE... ( I'm not bitter!) I was told that their immune systems are not as strong as other types of angels. Is this correct?
<Mm, I for one do not agree.... There is some sort of root cause; best that you find it and fix it (if possible).>
But anyways, I decided to give it another stab if they live and the half-blacks pair up with them that is ok with me too. I kind of thought it might help to strengthen the black veil species immunity
<Mm, not a species.... just a domestically bed color morph.... still Pterophyllum scalare.>
seeing as half-blacks tend to be sturdier and easier to get to survive. Is this erroneous thinking on my part?
<Most highly selectively bred fish (angels, guppies, Bettas) might have somewhat weakened immune systems or genetic troubles.... I think half-blacks will be as "problematic" as all-blacks.... Angels that are less extensively inbred (looking for something other than a recessive gene, perhaps) like silvers or marbles, might be less prone to problems. Breeding angels for specific traits and then mixing a pair of differing traits will provide you with different results than you perhaps want or expect.... Try a Google search on "angelfish genetics"; you will find out a lot about this topic.>
Thanks for your time and attention.
Kenneth B
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Eye Fungus Angels 10/15/05
Hello, 
<Hi, Catherine here>
I have a quick question. 
<1 period is sufficient.> 
I have a 10 gallon tank with two adult Angelfish in it. 
<What! Depending on the species adult angels need 30-50 gallons.> 
A few weeks ago I thought I had an ick problem or possibly an external parasite problem. 
<What were the symptoms? Could you not tell the difference?> 
So I 
<it's I> 
bought some CopperSafe and began to treat the tank. They seemed to get better but tonight I noticed that the white spot on one of the fish's eye came back and he is beginning to swim sideways again. I did a water change, added some more CopperSafe and cleaned out the filter. I don't know what is causing this white spot to appear on their eyes. Any ideas? 
<Yes. Eye fungus (white stuff over the eyes) is typically caused by poor water quality. Please check your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The readings should be 0,0, and less than 20. 
Ten gallons is far too small for that much fish. On top of that, the medication probably killed the good bacteria in the tank and now you are recycling and getting ammonia and nitrite spikes. Extremely short term solution: 50% water changes daily. A new tank is necessary -- I'd also buy some BioSpira from Marineland to seed the tank and make it cycle faster. 
Please look around WWM for information on angels, freshwater disease, and cycling.>
Thanks, Marikate 
<Anytime, Catherine. Also, in the future, please use correct capitalization and punctuation, so I don't have to fix it.> 

Urgent!!! Help PLEASE!!!!! Angelfish fry deaths 9/26/05
We have been breeding Angel Fish for approx. 6 yrs now.  We have come across a problem we can't seem to find a remedy for.  All our fry are dying within 3 days of hatching and never seem to come up to swim.  We have quite an elaborate system set up in our basement.  Each tank having its own filtering system (to avoid cross contamination from other tanks) and a large holding tank where the water is filtered, heated and tested before use in changing water in the fish tanks themselves.   Currently we have 1-150gl tank, 9-70gl tanks, 1-35gl tank, 3-30gl tanks and 4-10gl tanks.  Our 10gl tanks are the ones we use for fry hatching away from the parents.  We are on a well water system.  3 months ago we had a lab come out and test the water in the well.  All came back within normal limits with Iron (Hard water) being just a tad on the high side of the normal, but still within the normal limits.  
Our batch that hatched 2 days ago were all found dead this morning.  Out of no where it almost looks like white dust floating all in the tank.  What ever it is, they appear to be floating/swimming on their own.  Not so much as ONE fry is left anywhere to be found.  Only these white specks.  Is it possible, that when the well water is brought up to temp in a tank, it wakes up some kind of "bug" (for lack of a better word) that is killing our fish??  Have you ever heard of anything like this before or are aware of anything to correct this problem.  We are quickly running out of Angels here and it is becoming very frustrating.  We have checked and double checked all levels in tanks, holding tank and well system and can't seem to come up with any reason our fry keep dying off.
>> I would have to guess, but it is likely that you have a parasite on the loose in your tanks that is not affecting the adults. Best guess would be Cryptosporidium which is famous for killing fry. You can treat the water with general antiparasitic medications and see if this resolves the problem, after that you should check to see if there is maybe some heavy metals in your source water that are affecting the fry.
Good Luck, Oliver

FW Angelfish aren't Behaving Like Angels  9/24/05
Dear WWM Crew, I read through all the questions on your angelfish page and could not find a question that involved my particular concern. Me and my husband have a freshwater tank, quite large, 20 gallons I think.  I have several different types of fish in it, and they all seemed to get along well until recently.
I have two angel fish.  Both are quite large as I’ve had them for years. One is a very pretty colour, silver with black stripes, and the other slightly bigger one has faded stripes and is more bluish-gray in colour.  They always seemed to get along well, but within the last few months, they are always attacking each other.  
First the smaller silver one (who is still big in his own right) would constantly attack the other on his neck area, below his mouth.  The skin in that area seemed to be torn and was being affected.  Eventually that died down, and then the other one, the larger bluish grey one, started constantly attacking the silver one, biting his mouth all the time.  Over time, his mouth became red and the skin connecting his mouth to his face became ripped at the sides and he literally had holes on either side of his mouth.  I became VERY CONCERNED, as I love that fish above all others.  I thought that if this did not stop, his mouth would come off and he would die (I keep saying ‘he’, although I’m not entirely sure it’s a ‘he’!).
So I put a barrier in the tank and isolated the silver wounded angelfish, and kept all other fishes on the right side.  Both angels kept trying to ‘bite’ each other through the plastic, and seemed desperate to get back together.  Many mornings we’d wake up and the bluish angel fish would be on the other side of the barrier! We don’t know how he got through – maybe pushed the plastic to one side and squeezed through, or jumped over the top of the barrier, as the barrier does not read the top of the tank.  Every time they would get back together it would be biting time all over again (not constantly, but still very much) and again we’d separate them.
At first we thought it was the blue one trying to get to the silver one to attack him, but one time we separated the blue one into isolation and kept the silver one on the right side with the rest of the fishes, and he was DESPERATE to get back to the other side to his mate! If he was weary of being attacked, why would he do that? He kept pushing against the plastic and I though he would hurt himself, so we switched them and put the silver one back on the left side of the tank on his own. He calmed down after that.
My questions are:
1.Why are they behaving like this?
<Angelfish are cichlids and are very territorial. You may have two males that are disputing territories in a small 20 gallon tank.>
2.Is what they’re doing aggressive behaviour? (I don’t see how it couldn’t be as the silver one’s mouth was practically coming off!)
< Many times cichlids actually go for things like the eyes but the defending fish intercepts the attack with it's mouth.>
3.Is it because they’re too big now?
< No doubt they are sexually mature by know and this makes me thing that they may be two males.>
4.Should we remove one from the tank and find it another home?
< That would probably be the best long term solution.>
5.If we do remove one (it will probably be the bigger one, because, as I said, I have a fondness for the silver one), is it safe to buy another small baby angelfish and introduce it into the tank (As I love angelfish!)?
< Not unless you get a bigger tank. You best bet would be to get six young angelfish. As they grow they will pair up. Each pair can be placed in a 20 gallon tank of their own for spawning.>
6.Should we remove the barrier and keep them together again and see what they do?
< They will probably just fight again.-Chuck>
I’m sure you have tons of questions, but please reply as soon as possible -  this matter is very unsettling!! Many thanks, Waheedan Jariwalla