# Angelfish on hungerstrike



## Chavawm (Aug 1, 2012)

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place, so if I'm not, can the mod's please move it to the right section?

My problem is that one of my angelfish has stopped eating, he won't even taste the food. He use to be very lively, greeting anyone who walked by, now he's just hanging out in the back and occasionally will swim around. I do about 60% water changes once a week, have been since I started this tank 2 years ago. I've had the angel for 1 year, everyone else in the tank is perfectly fine. It's just him that has stopped eating for the past 3 weeks. My heater just stopped working recently, I don't know if that affected him.
Any ideas?
Please and Thank you.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

That is strange. Both my angels are pigs. What is the water parameters? Also you mention the heater broke, what is the temp since it broke? What all have you tried to feed? They love fresh hatched baby brine shrimp so perhaps try some of that.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Try frozen bloodworms.Everyone loves them.If it won't eat anything I would be looking for symptoms of an internal parasite.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The only time any of my fish have acted like that it was usually something going on inside. Did the temp go up and down when the heater broke? How about now...is it stable? Any recent water softner install...change anything you do with the water?


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## Chavawm (Aug 1, 2012)

jrman83 said:


> The only time any of my fish have acted like that it was usually something going on inside. Did the temp go up and down when the heater broke? How about now...is it stable? Any recent water softner install...change anything you do with the water?



I've done everything the same, nothing different when I do water changes. The temp definitely went down. Use to be at around 81-82, and now it's around 70
I haven't been able to get a heater for the tank, it's a 50g, but I did have a spare 20g heater and put that in, just for now.
Everyone else is completely fine, he and his girl run the tank so it's strange seeing him hanging out by the temporary heater all day


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## Tolak (Mar 10, 2013)

70 is way too cold for angels. This is a typical cichlid thing, most often seen in angels & discus. Get a smaller tank, 10 gallons works well, & a 100w heater. Bring the temperature up to 88-90F, dose 40mg/gallon metronidazole daily for the first 3 days with a daily 50% water change, don't feed for 3 days. On the 3rd day sprinkle a little metro on some frozen brine shrimp, feed only this once daily. I like to add a bit of epsom salt to the water, as well as a bit on the brine shrimp, helps with digestive issues. Continue for 10 days, make sure the tank is well aerated, as warmer water holds less O2.


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## Chavawm (Aug 1, 2012)

Tolak said:


> 70 is way too cold for angels. This is a typical cichlid thing, most often seen in angels & discus. Get a smaller tank, 10 gallons works well, & a 100w heater. Bring the temperature up to 88-90F, dose 40mg/gallon metronidazole daily for the first 3 days with a daily 50% water change, don't feed for 3 days. On the 3rd day sprinkle a little metro on some frozen brine shrimp, feed only this once daily. I like to add a bit of epsom salt to the water, as well as a bit on the brine shrimp, helps with digestive issues. Continue for 10 days, make sure the tank is well aerated, as warmer water holds less O2.


Before i start medicating, do you think the heater missing is part of the problem? I'm buying a new one today, then doing another water change. Gonna get live bloodworms too, my angels love those. If none of that works today, then I'll have to do the metro thing. Is there any other meds that work the same just in case i cant find metro?


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## Tolak (Mar 10, 2013)

Could be, but I wouldn't be feeding a protein rich food like bloodworms to angels who've had a slowed metabolism from being cold, just asking for digestive issues.

Seachem sells Metroplex, anyplace that sells Prime can order it in. Hex A Mit is another commonly found metro product, either one of these can be found online from a variety of places.

This is a real common problem with angels, I do a lot with angels so I always have some on hand. If the fish is eating apparently folks have had some success with just epsom salt in the feed; Treating Hexamita aka Spironucleus

If the fish isn't eating metro is what works.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

70 is too cold for most tropicals, especially Angels. Do you plan to get a heater? You'll start seeing issues in your other fish before too long.


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## Chavawm (Aug 1, 2012)

jrman83 said:


> 70 is too cold for most tropicals, especially Angels. Do you plan to get a heater? You'll start seeing issues in your other fish before too long.


I got a 200 watt heater, I've set it to 85F, the Angel is definitely more lively, he still isn't eating but he tried to last night, so I'm gonna start the metro treatments and hope he makes it
Would hate to lose him


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