# Help my poor angel fish!



## kira782 (Jun 4, 2010)

I just got a new angel fish two days ago and from the beginning he wasn't quite right. Now I know I should just take him back to my lfs and exchange him for another one he's so sad and pathetic but I was hoping there was something I could do to "fix" him! He is continuously in this none stop frenzied swim in which he is always head up, looks like he's always pulling this tremendous weight behind him. He swims like this to the point that he becomes completely exhausted and has to stop moving. The first day he was in the tank he kept hiding behind a rock and laying on the ground looking barely alive. Yesterday he'd swim along the bottom and stop and rest for several hours before moving again. And today he's lodged himself into place by the heater. I had to turn my filter off when i fed the tank because he couldn't keep up with the food to get any. Does any one have any suggestions or is he a lost cause?


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

I think we'll need a bit more info to determine the problem here.

1.) Was he acting funny at the fish store?
2.) What is the size of the tank?
3.) Who are the tankmates?
4.) What are the water stats? Specifically Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph and temp?
5.) How much light do you have and how long are they on for?
6.) How long has the tank been set up? (is it cycled?)

Sorry for answering your question with more questions, but this will help determine what the problem may be.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

+1. More information will definitely help us figure out what's going here. In the meantime, sorry to hear about your angel. Hopefully we can fix things soon


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## kira782 (Jun 4, 2010)

1. From what I noticed he was acting just fine in the pet store but wasn't swimming right from the second I put him in my tank.
2. It's a 55 gal tank.
3. 3 angel fish, 6 black skirt tetras, 1 tiger loach, 1 red tail shark, 1 bushy nose pleco. All of whom are very chill, no one has paid much attention to him or bullied him. 
4. Ammonia is 0 and pH is 7, temp is 76. as for the rest Im not sure but i'm planning on taking some water into my lfs to be tested just in case something is off.
5. 32w light which is on for 8 hours aday.
6. And last but not least the tank has been cycled for about 5 months now with no problems at all.

Thanks for the help!


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

kira782 said:


> 3. 3 angel fish, 6 black skirt tetras, 1 tiger loach, 1 red tail shark, 1 bushy nose pleco. All of whom are very chill, no one has paid much attention to him or bullied him.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the help!


This is the only one of those things that i could see being a potential problem. Unless some damage was done to him while he was being netted at the LFS....which isn't unheard of, i took over for the last girl when i was buying some Khuli's, as i thought if she didn't squish them first they would die from a heart attack being chased frantically all over the tank.


I know you say no one is bullying him but sometimes bullying only takes place at night when the lights are off. With 3 other angels and a red-tailed shark, there's always a possibility that he is being stressed by the other fish. 

Nothing is certain though as your tank seems fine otherwise. Have you tried to add more hiding spaces/decor? Are any of the other angels breeding or pairing off? How big is the new angel? I really hope we can help you figure this out.


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## kira782 (Jun 4, 2010)

I'd be inclined to believe that the other fish might have some thing to do with it if the behavior hadn't started the instant the fish entered the tank. Lots of different kinds of hiding places and he's actually bigger than the other angels. Looks like he'll be heading back to the fish store later today.

Oh and I just noticed that a molly in my little 10 gal tank is dead! What a crummy fish day!

Well thanks for trying to help, I really appreciate it!


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