numbr1speedfreek

please help, i've read through so many posts on your site and all have been very helpful, but im still not sure about whats wrong with my angel. there are 2 pinkish spots on it that im almost positive weren't there before, one by his cheek area and the other by the anal fin. they almost look like maybe sores or some similar type of flesh/skin wound. not very large though, maybe 2 to 3 mm diameter. also angel has been just sitting up in the corners by himself and doesnt seem to be eating, at least not when im watching anyway. im really not sure what the water quality readings are as i have not had a test kit lately, but i do 25% wc every week. any advice on this situation would be so greatly appreciated. also, i started parasite clear medication yesterday based on what i read in some posts here.

also, since this is my first post, i was hoping to get just a couple other basic questions answered. 1st of all i thought i read something about rinsing your dirty filter media in your tank water? is that really what you're supposed to do? have i been hurting my fish by rinsing the filter packs out in the sink? and how about feeding habits? i feed frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp twice a day and have read on here that people only feed that once or twice a week. is what im doing wrong? ok last question for now, i swear. when i do my water changes, i basically use a gravel vacuum and a 5 gallon bucket, i vacuum til the bucket is full and dump it out 4 times and then fill it up 4 times with new treated water and dump it in. does this sound ok? i couldnt think of any other efficient way to get it done each week as busy as i am and i just want to make sure my water changes arent stressing out my fish. any advice would be great. thanks for listening and thanks for your time, love the site! sorry so many questions, just want to be doing things right. thank you all once again for any advice!

insomniac

Hello there. I don't know about spots, but your fish is likely lethargic from high ammonia and possibly high nitrites. When your tank isn't cycled you need to be changing your water more like 25% every day as opposed to once a week (when you're cycling with fish). As for rinsing the filter, if you rinse in untreated tap water, then the chlorine in the tap water will kill any beneficial bacteria that's present, and basically put you back to ground zero. The idea is to rinse your dirty filter media in tank water you just drained while doing a water change. As for how you're doing the changes, it sounds fine to me, but you should try to match the temperature of the water you're adding to the tank as much as possible.

So, right now you should probably do a massive water change and test your water. I should also mention that a lot of meds mess cycling up, but I don't know about yours.

insomniac

Okay I just looked at your profile and noticed that you've got a bunch of fish in there. How are the rest of them doing?

capekate

Hello and welcome to fishlore.
Your water change routine sounds good. Do you add any water conditioner at each water change? If your not, you really should add a dechlorinater such as Prime. Your tank has been up and running for six months so it should have gone through the nitrogen cycle by now. Its possible with the filter media being rinsed out in tap water that you are constantly going through a mini cycle, coupled with the vacuuming of the gravel. When you add fresh water do you get the water as close in temperature as your tank water? extreme water temperature changes will stress the fish which can get them sick.
Its hard to say what is going on in the tank til you get a water test kit and see what your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels are.
The pink spots on your angel can be from caused by the water quality itself or another fish in the tank is nipping it. It will be hard to say until you have tested the water for toxins. Angelfish are very sensitive to water quality issues.
API freshwater test kit is what most folks use here, due to it being very acccurate in its readings. Test strips are notorious for being inaccurate and can give you false readings. If you can get a water test kit you can then determine whether it is a water quality issue or not.
As far as your daily feedings, I would cut down the amount of bloodworms you are feeding it daily. That is a lot of protein. Do you have any cichlid flakes? A good brand is Omega One. The daily brine shrimp is good IMO, but I would reserve the bloodworms to at least every other day or twice a week. On another note, with the build up of waste from the uneaten bloodworms in the tank daily, it very well can be building up your nitrate level even with the once a week water change routine. Also, if you are feeding them too much, that uneaten food will result in poor water quality that builds up in a weeks time in between the water changes.
Please let us know what the test results are when you are able to get your water tested. good luck with your angel fish...

numbr1speedfreek

1st of all thanks a lot for all the input, very helpful! and yes i match water temperature very closely when doing changes and yes all the other fish seem to be doing ok. the gourami i wonder about because his poop has turned almost white at times and a little stringy, but other than that he seems ok. and yes i usually use some water conditioner with each change, right now im using AquaPlus. the only med i am trying for now is the parasite clear, which by now is almost complete.

ok one more thing about the rinsing of the filter media... when i do rinse these things, i do i little more than rinse them, i actually scrub everything off them as best i can (with just my fingers) because they get clogged up pretty good sometimes, so wouldnt that wash off the beneficial bacteria anyway? do you have this clogging problem? maybe it is a sign that i need a second filter for such a large tank? (mine is supposed to be for "up to 75g" i think) or maybe i feed them a little too much and the excess is clogging up the filter? i have started to turn the filter off during feedings and that has helped a great deal. which brings me to one other question i just remembered i had. is it bad to turn the filter off for a little while each day? and if its not bad, how long can you turn it off without causing any harm? thank you once again for any input!

capekate

Well it sounds like everything is good w/ the water routine.
About rinsing the filter out. The sponge collects the debris, so its not really an issue of it getting clogged up, it will get full of debris and thats ok. Best thing to do IMO is just rinse it off in the used tank water that you take out of the tank, without really squeezing your beneficial bacteria that is on that sponge. The sponge looks nasty for sure, but thats ok. I always say to myself.. good! Its full of necessary beneficial bacteria! Everyone has different opinions on how often they do this. I would think that you should do it only when its absolutely necessary. I probably do not do it as often as most folks here. Your sponge will last a very long time and you really shouldnt change it out with new sponge as you will loose all the beneficial bacteria and can cause a mini cycle in your tank. Depending on what type of filter you have, you may have room enough to stuff another sponge on top of the old one, and let it fill up with good bacteria before you throw out the old one. I use the aqua clear filters and have enough room to add two sponges to the filter box and this way I always have an extra for when I need it.
If your outflow on your filter is strong during feeding times and it blows all the food to the bottom, I would suggest just turning it down to its lowest level. I guess it would be ok to turn it off for the few minutes that you are feeding them, but not keep it off for long. Even tho water does stay in the filter box to keep your media wet, its just not a good idea IMO to keep it turned off.
Your Gourami with the stringy white poo sounds like it may have a internal parasite and hopefully the treatment you have been using will help it get better. I dont think that the Parasite Clear by Jungle Lab will interfere with your cycle so thats good. Some meds will destroy your beneficial bacteria and you would be starting over with a new cycle.

numbr1speedfreek

ok sounds good but the reason i wash my sponges and filter packs the way i do, or rather the reason i say they get clogged is because after a while i noticed the filter was overflowing big time. tons of water was coming back out the center where the intake tube goes up and over. after washing off the sponges real well the filter was working properly again. so like i said before i think i just need another filter in there cuz i think this one is being over-worked. thanks again for all the advice!!!

capekate

ohhh ok... now I understand why you were doing that.

numbr1speedfreek

ok so i finally went out and got the test kit and found these results:

ammonia: .25ppm
nitrate: 20ppm
nitrite: 0ppm

so everything doesnt look too bad for the time being. guess ill try another water change tonite or tomorrow. thanks everyone for all the input!

susitna-flower

HI, if I could chime in here a couple of observations. Any ammonia over 0 can cause problems for your fish. Angels are particularly sensitive and this is probably why it is not doing well.
I would love to see a picture that shows the pink spots.....some angels show a red "blushing" spot near their gills, I really can't tell by your description if it is natural, or an indication of ammonia poisoning, which is described as red gills.....a picture would help.

As for your filtration. What size and make is your filter. It is a HOB (hang on back) right? Is it rated to process 10 X the size of your tank in gallons? That is the recommendation. If it isn't you should get a second filter, which will help cut down on the tank over load. For example an Aquaclear 70 processes 300 Gallons per hour, so even 2 of these wouldn't be enough for a 75 gallon tank....it would be better to have 2 aquaclear 110's.

As for the other water tests.....I don't allow my nitrate to get up to 20....JUST me, and I'm not trying to say you are doing anything wrong...because many people state that 20 is "safe", but I try to keep mine down to between 5 and 10....When it reaches 10 I start doing even more and bigger water changes, sometimes if my tanks were overcrowded I'd do a 50% change every other day!
That is the benefit of having the ability to test the water, you can control your tank better.

As for your water changes, I would try to go with the gravel vacuum that hooks right up to the sink faucet. This speeds the process, and takes the back breaking work out. Just estimate how much you are changing, pour that amount of dechlorinater in and start the water going back in at the right temperature. This is how I do the # of changes for my tanks. No need for the 5 gallon buckets. Good Luck

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

Do you have pictures that you could post? I would recommend using Prime to treat your water and getting both Vita-Chem and Fish Protector to add to the water daily. Garlic Guard may be good as well. I thought of parasites too, so hopefully the parasite clear will have a positive effect soon.

numbr1speedfreek

here are a couple pics of the spot on the cheek, not sure how well you'll be able to see it, its right below the eye. yes i think i will get a hold of some of this vita-chem and fish protector i keep hearing about as soon as i get a chance. hope it helps. thanks again for the tips, especially the one about the water changes! i knew i was working way to friggin hard to keep up just 1 tank! guess i just never noticed the different types of gravel vacuums, etc. thanks!

Attached Images

	HPIM1201.JPG (484.4 KB, 5 views)
	HPIM1202.JPG (436.9 KB, 4 views)

COBettaCouple

I'm not 100% on this, but I think he's got either Hole in the head disease or head and lateral line erosion. It is a disease that affects cichlids in particular but is still not clearly understood. Several causes have been explored such as water quality, mineral or vitamin deficiency, infection or parasite infestation.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...40&c=3578+4620 is said to be a good treatment for HITH/HLLE.

susitna-flower

I agree with CoBettaCouple, which is exactly why I am really glad you posted a picture...

This is one of those conditions that can be healed, if you give strict attention to tank conditions and food quality.

He had good advice, and I hope you can pull these guys through.

I just read several excellent articles on HIH..and one theory is even that it can be brought on by using carbon in the filter. as this pulls minerals out of the water that the fish need......but I have also heard it is scurvy related, and is a vitamin deficiency, especially of vitamin C....which is one of the reason in the food I make at home, I add a multivitamin and extra Ester-
C....

Good Luck and let us know how these guys are doing.

numbr1speedfreek

wow thanks a bunch for the tip! ill try it out! and you say you make food at home... would you mind telling me how exactly you do that? id love to know, i might try it myself. thanks again both!