Marisseas

2 of my angelfish have a bright red fungus growing on their gills. They have no other symptoms of gill disease. They eat and swim around as they usually do. Just to be safe we've bought medicine that treats gill disease and moved them to a smaller 35g tank. When treated, it didn't go away. IT never spread to other fish and one only has it on one gill. No one can figure out what this is. Do any of you have ideas?

Shawnie

can you get us a pic? that would help allot! do you know the water parimeters? red gills can also be a sign of ammonia ....but a pic would help allot..also, what kind of angels are they? some koi/blushing angels have natural red around the gills

Marisseas

The 2 fish are Pterophyllum scalare(long finned type) I'm fairly sure it is not due to their coloring as when I bought them, they showed no signs of it. I also bought a third one all from the same parents as young fry and they've grown to "teenages" at this point. However, the third one is fine and has no coloration changes by the gills. My camera is acting up, but I'll try to get a few pictures of them tonight. As far as I know, the ammonia level is fine and has been since we've gotten them, but I'll get it checked again. Thank you!

Shawnie

my blushing angels didnt have red around the gills when I got them either...but they do now as adults..not saying yours should or shouldnt, it was just a suggestion ....do you have to take your water out to someone else for tests? if so, it would be a good idea to get your own kit for many reasons...some are that LFS use test strips (for easier access and faster results for customers) which are not very accurate, and they also will say things are fine or not fine to sell you more products..having your own will ALWAYS let you know where your tank stands ....an API liquid master kit is great as it has all you need and will do 100 of tests...good luck with your angels and I hope things get better!

Marisseas

Thanks. I'll buy one. But would they just have it on one side? And the other one doesn't have it at all...

Shawnie

not usually, thats why I was suggesting ammonia

Marisseas

http://photobucket.com/Marisseas These are the two fish. I've taken a picture that shows both sides of the one that only shows signs of it on one side, thanks!

Butterfly

Marisseas
Thanks for the pics. It's much easier to see what the problem is when we can see it. From what I can tell your angels don't have a fungus. The gill plates are shortened and you are seeing the fishes gills. Fish take oxygen in through their gills and this makes their blood very bright red. So what you are seeing in the highly oxygenated blood circulating through your angels gills. The shortened gill plates are a genetic defect kind of like a birth defect and can be on both sides or just one side. Most breeders cull these out and they are not sold. They can live out full happy lives and be great fish but should not be bred as this defect can be passed on to a large percentage of the fry.
Keep us posted on how they are doing.
Carol

Marisseas

Awesome! Thank you so much!

Butterfly

Welcome
Carol