SereneReyn

i purchased 10 baby angels online, one was looking a little weak/lethargic yesterday, this morning was dead.

the lethargy was the only actual symptom that i can be certain of. perhaps a slight crimping of fins, or maybe some fraying of the top fin, but as i said, these are SOOOOO minor as to be debatable about actually existing. no bumps, spots, etc... water parameters (via liquid tests) are below.

Temp - 78.5
Ph - 7.2
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrates - 2 or 3 (orange color between 0 and 5)

the others seem active and are eating well, except for one - who only this morning has begun seeming lethargic. other fish in the tank seem unaffected for the most part (kuhlis are VERY active, neons are fine, tho one seems to prefer his own company - but he's still active)

i would very much like to take whatever steps i can to prevent further losses, but how do you diagnose a problem with so few symptoms? are they just weak from travelling still, (it's been several days)...?

sirdarksol

How long ago did you purchase them? I presume that, if you ordered them online, they were shipped to you. Is this correct?
If so, I'm guessing that the stress of shipping killed the fish. If the rest are showing no symptoms, I would hesitate to take any aggressive measures.

However, there are things you can do. Vitachem (liquid vitamins) would help protect the inhabitants. Make sure you keep the nitrates below 5ppm (step up your water changes if you need)

SereneReyn

i would have thought that the stress of shipping would be wearing off by now... they did great the first day or two afterward... they arrived last wednesday.

i will look around for some vitachem (i use novaqua now, which has some vitamins and anti-virus protection, etc... any harm in both, as far as ODing on vitamins?) and have been testing the water almost obsessively.

i know babies are a bit fragile, but i really don't want to lose any more.

sirdarksol

There's still the possibility that it was just stress. I had a glassfish die two weeks after I got it. No symptoms, no water quality problems, just a dead fish.
Shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as you only dose the tank with vitachem once a week.

COBettaCouple

We treat all of our tap water with Prime and NovAqua+ and give Vitachem regularly every other day with no problems. Have you noticed if they have white/clear poop?

SereneReyn

the poo is primarily brownish... occasionally a stringy whitish portion, but very little. are you thinking parasites?

COBettaCouple

It's possible with symptoms of lethargy. Our angel was acting like that and we put him on parasite clear tabs.

SereneReyn

ok, i'll check into it. thanks for the help.