Angelfish swimming weird and on his side

I recently bought an angelfish. This morning to be exact. Once I got him home and into my big tank he was fine for about an hour. Then he started swimming weird and on his side. So I took him out and put him in my hospital tank. He's been in there for a few hours now and he's upside down on the bottom of the tank. He's still alive and his fins are moving but he can't swim. What is causing this? Is there any cure? I've never had an angelfish react this way.

 

What are your parameters? pH, ammonia,nitrite,nitrate. Is your tank cycled? How much fish and what kind? How big is your tank?


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I believe his swim bladder is out of whack, so if you feed him some peas I think that will do the trick. Make sure you peel the peas and just drop them in the aquarium in front of him.

 

I though swim bladder as well but he wants nothing to eat. He can't even move to get it. All my parameters are normal. My tank is 65 gal in my normal tank. It's a little high on nitrates but I've been treating the tank for that simple reason. The tank he's in now is totally normal

 

Reviewing your previous threads shows this is an ongoing problem, so probably not swim bladder.
Please post your exact water parameters for your tank and for your tap water.
Temp
Ph
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
Hardness if known

What chemicals/additives are you using?

What do you mean that you're "treating" your tank for nitrates? The only way to "treat" for nitrates is water changes. The more nitrates, the bigger the water changes.

 

How did you acclimate him to your tank and do you know the ph of your tank compared to the ph of the store you bought him from. If there is too big of a difference that can cause the fish to go into shock and die. Alison

 

That's true with all my fish I use the drip acclimation. Its way better I noticed my fish being much better then a simple place a bag in the tank. My lfs don't know what they talking bout.


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I recently bought an angelfish. This morning to be exact. Once I got him home and into my big tank he was fine for about an hour. Then he started swimming weird and on his side. So I took him out and put him in my hospital tank. He's been in there for a few hours now and he's upside down on the bottom of the tank. He's still alive and his fins are moving but he can't swim. What is causing this? Is there any cure? I've never had an angelfish react this way.

Please note that angelfish mate for life. Did you buy 2? Or have another one already in the tank?

 

I have been doing water changes. That's how I'm treating it. I don't have him in my big tank due to that. I acclimate all my fish by placing their bags in the tank and let it warm to the temperate of the tank. I know my temp. Is always set at 76-80 degrees. I have three other angelfish. When you said mate for life is that with one partner or what? I have been wondering that question for awhile since I recently lost my male angelfish. That's why I have bought a new one

 

According to the store when I bought mine it just needs another angel. My friend had 2. One of them died so she placed a mirror in the tank. It worked!

 

Next time after the bag comes to temp, then add 1/4 cup of water to the bag or a 1/2 cup if the bag is bigger, then I wait and do the same thing every 10 to 15 minutes x 4 then net the fish into the tank. That allow them time to adapt to your tank water. I have never heard of angels mating for life. Where did that info come from? Alison

 

Angelfish do not breed for life (I think there is one species that might, but most don't). They form attached breeding pairs, but if one dies or is moved they can form a new pair with another.

A lack of a partner is not causing the OPs problems.


76-80 is in the right range, but why is it fluctuating? It should be pretty much locked in place.

You absolutely should switch to the drip acclimation method or do as aliray said.

You still have not provided any numbers for us to work with. We cannot see or put hands on your tank, we need those numbers to figure out why your fish are dying. I may be misunderstanding your other threads, but you've already lost a few angels and some other fish, right?

High nitrates can be fixed in 1 water change. I'm still baffled on what you have going on there. If you have continuously high nitrates, even after water changes, you have a tap water problem or you are way overstocked.

We need those parameter numbers.

 

I've never known if they did mate for life or not. A previous comment stated so. I was just curious. My angel had 3 other angel friends but went crazy and started swimming weird within an hour. So I moved him out so I could care for him and he hasn't gotten any better

 

Next time after the bag comes to temp, then add 1/4 cup of water to the bag or a 1/2 cup if the bag is bigger, then I wait and do the same thing every 10 to 15 minutes x 4 then net the fish into the tank. That allow them time to adapt to your tank water. I have never heard of angels mating for life. Where did that info come from? Alison

I read up on them after hearing about it and they told me at the pet store

 

When you were floating the bag in the tank, did you add water to the bag to acclimate?

 

lanas
Second paragraph.


I seem to remember reading that French angelfish may breed for life, but I don't see anything to support that in my quick google search now.

 

lanas
Second paragraph.


I seem to remember reading that French angelfish may breed for life, but I don't see anything to support that in my quick google search now.

Perhaps breed is the wrong word. I shall put it they want a mate. Meaning same species with them

 

All the numbers are normal in the tank. I just test stripes and all the colors match up to the normal colors on the bottle. In the 65 gal tank the nitrates are pink when it's suppose to be white. I've done multiple water changes and they haven't budged but a tad. There's no way I'm over stocked because in my 65 gallons I have maybe 15 fish. 20 at the most. I do not have a lot of fish at all for that reason. I think the store I got him the last two from (who have died within the first night of having) has something weird in their water that's way different from mine because I haut recently bought a few smaller Mollie's last week and they are just fine. None of them have a problem in my water. It's just these two last angelfish I bought from a separate store

 

Normal is not a number. We need numbers.
You need to invest in an API Freshwater Master Test Kit

Strips are inaccurate, do not give the right numbers, and are more expensive.

The number of fish is only part of stocking.
First, we need actual parameter numbers. Then we also need to know your stocking. You have fish dying, no one can help if you don't provide the information we need.

You have been told that you need a test kit before. You have also been asked for parameters and told how important they are before. Please follow the advice you have been given several times now. Starting new threads every few days without following the advice already given will not get you different results, it will only get you more dead and dying fish.

 

I concur with I3uckethead. What fish do you have with the angelfish? How often do you do water changes. How large are the water changes?

 

We need numbers for the test results, normal doesn't give us much to go by, as the results are variables that often correlate to each other, which gives us direction.

Don't feed that angel a pea, or anything else for that matter. With new purchases your best bet is a quar tank, not only because the new acquisitions can pass something on to your existing stock, but there may be a pathogen your current stock lives perfectly fine with that can affect a fish that has been stresses by transportation, thus lowering its immune response.

Sounds like an acclimation issue to me, hardness plays a big part in this, as does pH to some extent. Test strips can be pretty inaccurate, pick up a good liquid test kit.

 

Ok I don't have numbers or I would give them to you. I only have the test stripes and have done what I could. I haven't lost any fish in awhile except these two angelfish. I posted something months ago about losing a few but I found the reason for it. This isn't the same reason because these fish are floating and swimming strange. The others I just woke up and found them in the bottom. Not a warning or anything that they were sick. Also, my temp. does not fluctuate it is set between 76 and 80 on my heater.

I hope to go to my local pet store tomorrow and I'll look and see about getting a different test kit. I had no idea the stripes were inaccurate when I picked them up. That's just what I have now and go by. That's why I don't have any numbers. My angels live with different types of mollies, a few platties, two snails, and a few algae eaters. That's all I have in my tank with them

 

You need to get a test kit and a thermometer before getting anymore fish.
Its important to know your parameters, cycled or not.

*Any* time you come to this forum asking for help, the parameters are going to be the first (and most important) question you'll be asked.

 

How many mollies? What kind of algae eaters? How many of those?

 

Numbers from the strips are better than no numbers at all.
Please test and post them

 

swear my angel one of them likes to come up to the glass and communicate to me while hes not chasing around other fish maybe he knows I bring the supply of food. Hes doing it right now, moving his little mouth and all.

 

I have a thermometer. My temp is 78 degrees. My heater is just set between 76-80. Maybe I forgot to put the exact degree before. Most of my fish are mollies so probably 10, 4 Plattys, my two snails, and 4 algae. I had two pelco. And recently bought two twig catfish under the understanding they were just bottom feeders not actually algae eaters. It was not till later my research proved the woman wrong. However, there hasn't seemed to be any problems lately except my two angelfish. That's why I'm more so leaning to it being the stores water and my water being completely different. Whether it's mine or theirs something's not right. I will not be buying any fish from there again. Those I bought from my petsmart are still fine and nothing seems to be bothering them.

 

OK so you have:
10 Mollies
4 Platies
2 Snails
2 Plecos
2 Twig Catfish

What kind of Plecos do you have? Common? They may have just been sick.

 

Drip acclimation is only needed when bringing a fish from extremely hard water to softer water. Moving from soft water to hard water doesn't usually harm anything so long as it isn't extreme (300+ppm). There are a few species that are exceptions to this. However, one local store stopped doing drip acclimation on Angelfish, as they were losing as much as half of a shipment during the acclimation period. When they switched to just netting the fish from the shipping bag into a tank, losses went to zero.

Freshwater Angelfish do not "mate for life", I have changed mates around several times for genetic testing with no problems. Also, a lot of people keep them as singles, and they live long lives. But like most fish, they do prefer the company of others of their own kind. It's just not a necessity.

You've been asked what your numbers were, not whether they were "normal". Test strips are not very precise, most will recommend buying a liquid test kit. I would be particularly interested in an actual number for ammonia, as this is something Angelfish are very sensitive to.

I will ask a less obvious question. Do you add salt to your tank at water changes? I have seen similar reactions to a major change in salinity in freshwater fish. Some people still add salt, even though it isn't necessary. It could also be that the store adds salt to all their tanks (some do this to prevent disease in the crowded tanks), and when you put the fish into a tank that wasn't salted, that is almost guaranteed to result in death. You would have to ask at the store whether or not they do this.

 

Yes. I'm pretty sure they are the common plecos

 

Ok, common plecos get way to large for your tank. I would rehome them. The ammonia is a good thought. Common plecos are very messy fish and those along with your already overstocked tank might have made some ammonia and that may have harmed your angelfish. Of course, this is all speculation without knowing exact numbers. However, when this is all said and done, I would work on your stocking.

 

I would give the numbers from my stripes if I were home with them. That's why I haven't given them. I'm just trying to find a general reason. I do add a little salt but not every time I do a water change. It's for my Mollies. I didn't know Angels needed/didn't need salt.

Just trying to understand. Why is it in overstocked? Also, what size tank is recommended for the plecos? I was told my tank would be fine. Plus they aren't really big but I do know they get very large.

 

The plecos need at least 150+ gallons of water. The problem I see are the plecos. How often do you do water changes and how large are they?

 

usually every other week. One is bigger than the other. The biggest one is probably 3 inches long

 

Water changes should be done at least once weekly. How large are the water changes?

 

Usually 20% rarely more.