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Sick angelfish Centropyge flavicauda
2/8/14 my angel fish keep dying please help me 12/5/12 The mystery of the disappearing Colini Angel 11/19/06 Hi crew, I have really enjoyed reading through your website- which has provided a huge host of information for us relative newcomers to the hobby. So a big thank you for all you do. <Welcome> I have a 6-month old reef system: 450litres (120galUS) 70kg (154lbs) live rock with a reasonable amount of growth of stuff on them. 3 x 150Watt MH 14000K bulbs 2 x actinic blue tubes V2Skim 1200 Protein skimmer Large canister filter with ceramic discs Heater (calcium reactor on its way) Parameters: SG 1.023 Temp 25degC Ammonia/nitrites nil Nitrates 5ppm Ph 8.0-8.1 Calcium 375ppm The tank contains: 2 x Percula Clowns and a poorly but alive BT Anemone (rescued from LFS tank- probably a mistake) 1 x Copper Band Butterfly fish that eats anything and is really a character 1 x Powder Brown Tang A few Emerald Crabs 7-8 Scarlet Hermits 5 x Cleaner Shrimps Turbo Snails Various softies and a few LPS and my trial SPS 12cm Maxima Clam (which is very cool) Derasa Clam 2 x Serpent Stars <Mmm... the chief suspects here> On Monday I saw a 3 1/2" Colini Angel at the LFS and the owner was a little concerned it wasn't eating. <Is a large specimen... too big for collection if I had been in the water> I went home, read up what I could about this rare and difficult fish, then went back to the LFS, took pity on it and took it home. To cut a long story short, I stupidly put it straight into my main tank in the hope it would eat off the LR, which it appeared to do, taking up residence in a small rock cave <Another clue> near the substrate. It was very shy and didn't come out to feed but I thought just give it time and it might become bolder. Anyway, it didn't really explore much. The Copperband was a bit nosey, but didn't hassle it. The Clowns and Tang left it alone completely. I fed it a little with target feeding of a mixture of Mysis, enriched brine shrimp, fresh Nori and angel mix frozen, each morning and evening. I saw it eat some of the food. Unfortunately, the cave then filled up with hermit crabs and the emeralds looking for an easy feed! <Likely so> And now it has completely disappeared. I have dismantled as much of the LR as I can without causing too much damage and stressing the other fish, but it is absolutely nowhere to be seen. I've looked around the tank in case it has jumped. <Good> I've used a torch/flashlight to explore the caves and other hiding places, and it has just gone. Weird and scary. I've never had a disappearing fish before. So, the questions... 1. Do you think it might just be hiding very, very well? <Not likely, but a small possibility> 2. If so, do I need to try to find it, to coax it out to feed? <Mmm, no, I would not... if it's still in there, it will come out when/if it wants to> 3. Could I have a hitchhiker, such as a mantis (if so, it would be the first fish take- but we've had some turbo snails taken- probably by the crabs)? <Yes... though I suspect the Brittlestar/s> 4. If it has died, how essential is it to remove the body from the tank, or will the clean up crew, well, clear it up? <This latter... it's very likely already gone... you might discern a slight "blip" in your measures of nitrogenous metabolites... might not...> Dismantling the LR will be a real drag, as the corals are all Milliputted in. <Like this term> Thanks so much for all you do for us hobbyists! Best wishes, Steve Spicer Milton Keynes, UK <Mmm, please do read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/brittlestarcompfaqs.htm This Centropyge might have perished from "stress" alone... and the consequences would be about the same as you relate... the opportunistic piscivorous invertebrates would consume it, the decomposing microbes in your system do the rest... readily/quickly... Not to worry re chemical, physical consequences in a system of this volume, gear-make-up, maintenance. Bob Fenner> Dwarf Angel with Rotting Fin Caused by Shrimp? 10/25/05 Hi Everyone, <Hello Casper> First of all, thanks for the great site, I read it everyday and try my best to follow all the recommendations you all make. First of all I have a Dwarf Flame Angel in a reef tank. He has always been happy and never seems to have a problem. Three days ago I added two Lysmata amboinensis "Skunk Cleaner Shrimp" (?) to the tank. I was instantly amazed at how the angel reacted and started interacting with the shrimp. He spent the first couple days receiving constant cleaning from the pair. Today when I looked at him, I noticed that one of his side fins was missing about 1/3 of the fin. The fin does not appear to be diseased as it is very clean looking. The fish is swimming around like nothing is wrong. He is not scratching, eating fine, has no other spots or marks, and this is isolated to only one fin. Do you think that he is being over cleaned by the shrimp? Could there be some underlying disease that the shrimp are taking care of? Do I need to treat the fish with any medications? I gratefully look forward to any advice you might have. <Casper, I would let nature take its course. Nothing to be alarmed about, fin will grow back. James (Salty Dog)> Unhealthy Coral Beauty I have a 46g
perfect water parameters, Knop skimmer, AquaClear 300 filter, power
head for extra circulation, 40 pd.s live rock (give/take).
<Just a note for future reference... "perfect water parameters" helps me to solve your
problem just about as much as stating that you had beef steak for
dinner: Oftentimes the problem lurks in water quality, and goes
unnoticed by the fishkeeper. It helps a ton to give actual numbers.>
Tank inhabitants: 2 percula clowns, 1 cherub/pygmy angel, 1 coral
beauty (angels have been co-habituating for a month - no aggression) 2
cleaner shrimp plus various snails/hermits. The coral beauty has been
eating great since his arrival - QT'd a month and in main tank a
month. Sunday, I added 3 new fish (had them in qt for 2 weeks): a
blackline blenny, bi-color blenny, small yellow goby. The clowns
intimidated a little at first, but now all seem to get along well.
However, the coral beauty has spent a lot of time with the cleaner
shrimp yesterday and today is hiding and not eating. I haven't seen
anyone harassing it.. it looks fine, just didn't have ANY interest
in feeding today. <Not a good sign.> It's always been a
little shy, should I just wait it out? Or pull it and put in qt? <I
would wait it out. A ton of factors could be at play here, and not
enough information was given to pinpoint the problem. Do check out our
disease pages, they are extremely helpful in identifying such issues.
Best of luck, Mike G.> Flame Angel Trouble >I recently bought
a flame angel (1 week ago). All was going well until
yesterday when the angel started to pale in color. She is
now pretty pale and twitches slightly. >>The animal
sounds very stressed. >I do not have a q-tank (sorry!) and she is in a 30 gal with a dwarf lion and a b/g Chromis. Please help I
do not want to lose this fish. I did a h2o change last night
to try to help. >>The water change will
help. If you have NO invertebrates in the tank, I would
begin dropping the salinity till it gets down to 1.010. If
you can AT ALL, consider getting one of those stackable Rubbermaid
tubs, those work GREAT as quarantine systems, just heat, add a sponge
filter and go. In the meantime, watch her, keep her eating,
do lots of water changes. >She is eating well with no spots (just
pale, slight scratching, and twitching once in a
while). Thanks >>Observe, and do get that tub for the
future. Best of luck. Marina Unwell Bi-Color - 8/23/03 Hi There, <Hey! You've reached Phil today!> I searched through your site, but could not find anything regarding my question. <Let's solve this problem!> Here goes: Just today I notice our Bicolor acting strangely - he would twitch while swimming. It looks like the same movement as our clowns have when they are "submitting" to each other (yes the submit to each other-go figure). Is this something to be alarmed about? <Possible... is he/she eating well? Any signs of Ich, or anything for that matter?> His breathing rate may be a little higher but looks perfectly normal otherwise. <What are you feeding the little guy?> History: 2 days ago, I noticed the fish weren't eating like normal, so I checked my 'stats' and the only thing out of whack were the nitrates they were a little high not bad though (20ish). <Not too bad.. but could cause a fish to show signs like this.> So yesterday I did a water change and a filter cleaning and change (the filter cleaning was a normal scheduled thing anyway.) This morning is when the twitching thing started? Any relation? <Very possible. I would keep on top of your water changes and make sure water quality is second to none. This could very well likely be a water quality issue.> Tank info: 72 Gal Bow front, 404 Fluval; Prizm deluxe protein skimmer; live sand, dead coral and Tufa rock for decoration. <I used this type of skimmer on my 29g tank at one time. IMO, it sucks. LOL I would upgrade to a better skimmer. I now use an Aqua-C on my 29g and it has made a huge difference. Once you see what comes out of a better skimmer, you'll wonder how you lived w/o one for such a long time.> Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate was in the 20s but now barely detectible; salinity between 1.022 & 1.023 and temp is 78-79. <Besides the nitrates everything looks good. You didn't put your pH down. Do you happen to know what it is? Just wondering as they may be a factor.> Other fish include one maroon clown, one false Perc, one green Chromis, two yellow tailed damsels, one purple starfish, misc. snails and three tiny hermit crabs. <Have you seen any of the other fish picking on the angel? Damsels can be very aggressive towards any other fish that enters "their" space.> Any help would be greatly appreciated! Any thoughts?? <I'm wondering what you're feeding the angel. Is it possible he isn't getting enough food? In the mean time keep the water quality good and watch for any other signs of illness.> P.S. When this matter is settled and/or cleared up.... how many more fish could safely be added to this tank in the future, in general terms. <Well in time the two Clowns will probably fight... the Maroon will win, IMO. So I would remove one of them. In general terms you can add say two more fish. To be honest nobody can really tell you how many fish to add/not add. Read up on a fish you like, make sure you can properly house it for its entire life. Then if it looks ok, get the fish. You'll know when your bio-load is full. Watch the water quality for any signs of excess nitrates and nitrites, etc.> Thanks in advance! Wendy <No problem! Good luck and keep me posted! Phil> - Coral Beauty Questions - Hi. I would like to thank
you with the info I needed for my 1" baby regal tang. Well
anyways, I have a Coral Beauty that I had for maybe 3 or 4 months now
its doing great. Not until this evening where I saw the fins on the
angel seem to be like tiny rips on its fin. He is eating and all and
also I saw on his anus that there was a green spot that had
"bubbles" on it. I'm not sure if it was his poo or
whatever it is. <You are most likely correct in this assessment.>
There is only a coral banded shrimp is it possible that the shrimp is
nibbling on it. <Possible, but not likely.> Are these kind of
shrimps aggressive? <Among shrimps, yes... but rarely against
fish.> And I spotted that sometimes the shrimp is near the Angel.
<Wouldn't be concerned. Fish often abrade a fin or two while
swimming in and out of places. Will heal in time... you can aid by
adding good fish-vitamins to its food. Boyd's Vita Chem seems to
really help torn fins heal.> I checked all of my water parameters
and everything was great checked the temp same as usual 76F. He has
never had this problem before and I hope he doesn't do it again.
<No worries.> Thanks bye
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