New angel fish mysteriously died?

Added them on Sunday, but I just floated the bag. I did not drip acclimate. I'm guessing that is the problem? I woke up today and one was dead and the other was near the top breathing heavily. On Sunday, I noticed that one had a fun that was nipped a little. I was not sure if that was from my fish or not though. I have a 55 gallon with an upside down catfish, lace catfish, two ropefish, and a bristlenose. 0 nitrites and ammonia. 5 nitrates. 80 degrees in the tank. About 8.1-8.2 PH (kinda hard to read). The angelfish don't seem to have any signs of sickness on them (I'm looking at them as they're dead). Any input of why they died would be appreciated.

 

Pictures of angel fish

 

HI there!

Sorry for your loss. Beautiful Angels

How long did you acclimate them for? Just because you didn't drip acclimate them doesn't mean that they died because of that but, acclimation process is very important because the water parameters from where they came from is not going to be the same as your tank.

For example, if the ph was different from the store, the difference can shock them. Think of it like altitude sickness. One needs to get accustomed to the environment otherwise they can get very sick. Fish are the same way. Its not so much the difference in ph levels but the shock of going from too high or too low. They CAN adapt to almost any levels as long as they are acclimated to it.

They also could have been ill/stressed from the store and or have had a disease but usually if they die within a few days, water is usually to blame.

 

Sorry for your loss. You don't have to drip acclimate, but next time after the temp of the water is the same then start adding a 1/2 cup of tank water to the bag every 15 minutes until you have added an equal amount of tank water to the bag , then wait 15 more minutes and net them into the tank. Angels can be a little more sensitive to abrupt water changes. IMO. Alison

 

Thanks for the input guys. I didn't do much acclimation at all bessides for floating the bag for 20 minutes. Will definitely do some better kind of acclimation next time.