Sick Angel fish

[Rewcolee1]

I don’t have a lot of background here. I’m also just noticed this about 30 minutes ago. This fish has some pail blotches around its body(this is really what I’m questioning) and potentially what I would say looks like traditional ich on one fin. It’s not moving as much as it usually does and is kind of keeping by itself. Any help would be great.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Rewcolee1

[Colu]

What are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate etc @Rewcolee1

[Rewcolee1]

On 3/8/2023 at 6:04 PM, Colu said:

What are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate etc @Rewcolee1

Anyone with kids will enjoy this. When my oldest checked the parameters last week she used the last test strip and put the empty container back in the cabinet, so….

There are other fish in the tank and none of them yet, fingers crossed, are showing any signs of distress.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

[Colu]

On 3/8/2023 at 11:38 PM, Rewcolee1 said:

Anyone with kids will enjoy this. When my oldest checked the parameters last week she used the last test strip and put the empty container back in the cabinet, so….

There are other fish in the tank and none of them yet, fingers crossed, are showing any signs of distress.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

You can get these sort of white patches with columnaris it's a gram negative bacterial infection that spreads more quickly at higher temperatures and can can kill within 24 HR to 7 days depending on the strain I can't be 100% sure that what it is what I would do is move the angelfish to a quarantine tank and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment such as kanaplex or maracyn2 if you don't have a quarantine tank then I would treat the main tank if other fish start to develop these with patch then I would treat all the fish with a combination of kanaplex and jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone following this treatment plan 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Colu

[Rewcolee1]

Thank you for the input. Looks like I’ll be doing some research this evening. I’ve ordered more test strips as well, by the way.😉

[Rewcolee1]

@Colu I’ve ordered kanaflex and Jungle Fungus Clear. It will be here tomorrow. No local big box stores had either in stock😔and unfortunately my go to fish store is over an hour away. When I got up this morning and checked on the fish 2 of the other Angel’s and a few of my tetras are showing similar signs. The fish picture above definitely seems much worse today. The entire tank is going to need treated.

In the mean time should I lower the temperature of the tank. It’s typically kept at 78.5. Secondly, i do not think it will based on what I’ve read, but will either of these medications impact snails or live plants? Also, since I’ve started doing live plants I’ve stopped putting in aquarium salt. Thoughts if this could help as well. Thanks again for any and all input.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Rewcolee1

[Colu]

As your other fish have started to show symptoms in such a short space of time your more than likely dealing with columnaris the level of salt need to be effective against columnaris would kill your plants both medication are fine to use with plant's kanaplex can cause snails to slow down I would always recommend removing snails during treatment if you have a quarantine tank to put them in you could add a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that will aid Gill function and add essential electrolytes to help them fight of the infection I would keep the temperature were it's at you would need to lower below 75 to slow the spread of columnaris angelfish wouldn't do well in the lower temperature if you have other tanks I would make sure you don't use any nets or equipment you have used in this tank in any other tank to avoid cross contamination you can steriliser your nets and equipment using a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution what I would do is a water change add the medication as soon as it arrives you might have to do two course of treatment back to back in severe cases @Rewcolee1

[Rewcolee1]

On 3/9/2023 at 3:57 PM, Colu said:

As your other fish have started to show symptoms in such a short space of time your more than likely dealing with columnaris the level of salt need to be effective against columnaris would kill your plants both medication are fine to use with plant's kanaplex can cause snails to slow down I would always recommend removing snails during treatment if you have a quarantine tank to put them in you could add a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that will aid Gill function and add essential electrolytes to help them fight of the infection I would keep the temperature were it's at you would need to lower below 75 to slow the spread of columnaris angelfish wouldn't do well in the lower temperature if you have other tanks I would make sure you don't use any nets or equipment you have used in this tank in any other tank to avoid cross contamination you can steriliser your nets and equipment using a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution what I would do is a water change add the medication as soon as it arrives you might have to do two course of treatment back to back in severe cases @Rewcolee1

Thank you so much for the insight. That is a big thing I took away from my research. Basically I’ll have to sterilize anything that has touched the tank in fear of cross contamination. 

I’ll put a little salt in the tank to halo keep the fish more comfortable. The medication will be here tomorrow between 10-12 and it will go right in. I’ll make sure to keep everyone posted.

 

Now to figure out where this came from. Nothing has been added to the tank in months, besides new plants. 

[Rewcolee1]

@Colu Wow. Just like that 3 Angel fish are dead along with 2 head and tail light tetras. I’ve never seen anything like this.

[Colu]

On 3/10/2023 at 1:38 AM, Rewcolee1 said:

@Colu Wow. Just like that 3 Angel fish are dead along with 2 head and tail light tetras. I’ve never seen anything like this.

Sorry to hear that columnaris is extremely aggressive bacterial infection if you have a quarantine tank I would move them to that and start treating with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 gallon till your kanaplex and jungal fungus arrives   I would be prepared for more losses fish can die without showing any symptoms  within 24 HR -7 days after an outbreak of columnaris@Rewcolee1

Edited March 10, 2023 by Colu

[Rewcolee1]

@Colu A question I’ve come up with after doing additional research. How do I know the Columnaris has been eradicated from the tank? I’ve seen varied ways. Is it just run the course of medication and wait. IF is see additional fish getting sick, run another course of medication. 

 At this point all 4 of the Angel fish have died and the 2 head and tail light tetras. All of the other fish in the tank look “healthy”, but I’m certainly still running the dosages of medication as you’ve shown above. I’m certainly assuming all occupants have it and are just not showing symptoms.

[Colu]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:36 PM, Rewcolee1 said:

@Colu A question I’ve come up with after doing additional research. How do I know the Columnaris has been eradicated from the tank? I’ve seen varied ways. Is it just run the course of medication and wait. IF is see additional fish getting sick, run another course of medication. 

 At this point all 4 of the Angel fish have died and the 2 head and tail light tetras. All of the other fish in the tank look “healthy”, but I’m certainly still running the dosages of medication as you’ve shown above. I’m certainly assuming all occupants have it and are just not showing symptoms.

Columnaris is always in your tank it's only when your fish become stressed thought poor water quality bullying overcrowding poor diet  that weaken their immune system or injuries to body or fins can be a point of entry for the bacteria to infect your fish at higher temperatures your more likely to get columnaris outbreaks 

[Rewcolee1]

More test strips were delivered today. All water parameters look good other than Nitrate being a little elevated. 

[Colu]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:47 PM, Rewcolee1 said:

More test strips were delivered today. All water parameters look good other than Nitrate being a little elevated. 

Did your angelfish start to pair  off and start bullying the tank that can cause a lot of stress

[Rewcolee1]

They didn’t pair off, but 1, actually the 1 pictured above started to bully the other 3. There were no open wounds but definitely some frayed fins.

They didn’t pair off, but 1, actually the 1 pictured above started to bully the other 3. There were no open wounds but definitely some frayed fins. Outside of that, like I said nothing has changed other than the addition of some plants. Tank maintenance, filtration, fertilizer dosages all have remained on schedule and the same. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Colu]

It could be the constant stress of be bullied stressed your fish out weaken their immune system that what has caused the out break the of columnaris  @Rewcolee1

[Rewcolee1]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:02 PM, Colu said:

You can get these sort of white patches with columnaris it's a gram negative bacterial infection that spreads more quickly at higher temperatures and can can kill within 24 HR to 7 days depending on the strain I can't be 100% sure that what it is what I would do is move the angelfish to a quarantine tank and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment such as kanaplex or maracyn2 if you don't have a quarantine tank then I would treat the main tank if other fish start to develop these with patch then I would treat all the fish with a combination of kanaplex and jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone following this treatment plan 

Medication finally arrived! 1st dose is in, now I wait. Thank you. 

[Colu]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:46 AM, Rewcolee1 said:

Medication finally arrived! 1st dose is in, now I wait. Thank you. 

Hopefully you don't lose any more fish

[Rewcolee1]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:51 PM, Colu said:

Hopefully you don't lose any more fish

Thanks. There is 1 additional head and tail light tetra that’s showing signs. As of now, none of the other fish, tertas, Cory cats, silver dollars and plecos are showing any signs. Fingers crossed. 
 Thank you again, I truly appreciate the help. I’ve been keeping aquariums for a very long time and have never seen this. Must have been lucky until now. 

[Rewcolee1]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:02 PM, Colu said:

You can get these sort of white patches with columnaris it's a gram negative bacterial infection that spreads more quickly at higher temperatures and can can kill within 24 HR to 7 days depending on the strain I can't be 100% sure that what it is what I would do is move the angelfish to a quarantine tank and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment such as kanaplex or maracyn2 if you don't have a quarantine tank then I would treat the main tank if other fish start to develop these with patch then I would treat all the fish with a combination of kanaplex and jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone following this treatment plan 

Medication finally arrived! This is day 3 of dosing. I’m happy to report that I’ve only lost 1 additional tetra. Other than that the fish actually look pretty good and are even eating some even though the tank looks horrible. 
 

@Colu Once I’ve competed day 5, how long should I wait until I do another water change? My guess is 2 additional days, but I figured I would ask.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Rewcolee1

[Colu]

On 3/13/2023 at 1:07 AM, Rewcolee1 said:

Medication finally arrived! This is day 3 of dosing. I’m happy to report that I’ve only lost 1 additional tetra. Other than that the fish actually look pretty good and are even eating some even though the tank looks horrible. 
 

@Colu Once I’ve competed day 5, how long should I wait until I do another water change? My guess is 2 additional days, but I figured I would ask.

On day 6 do a large water change and run active carbon for 24hr to remove any remaining medication then you can start the second course of treatment 

[Rewcolee1]

@Colu Thank you for all your input. I genuinely appreciate it. I’ve completed the dosing and did a massive water change today. The carbon is working and it’s slowing clearing up. All the remaining fish look healthy as do the plants. All in all 4 Angel fish and 3 head and tail light tetras lost. Could have been much worse. 

[Colu]

On 3/16/2023 at 1:19 AM, Rewcolee1 said:

@Colu Thank you for all your input. I genuinely appreciate it. I’ve completed the dosing and did a massive water change today. The carbon is working and it’s slowing clearing up. All the remaining fish look healthy as do the plants. All in all 4 Angel fish and 3 head and tail light tetras lost. Could have been much worse. 

At least the you haven't lossed any more fish since starting treatment just a word of caution you can have fish that look healthy and show no symptoms  die very quickly with columnaris that why I would always recommend doing a second course of treatment