Coral beauty angel acting weird

LaloJ · Jul 26, 2022

So I've had this fish for a year now, this guy must be at least 3.5" and he eats like a champ since I got him, he's a big aggressive fish maybe approaching 2cm thick, he eats several times a day but this past weekend he started acting weird, he started spending a lot of time inside the live rock and refused to eat, I didn't have time to do a water change so I waited until yesterday, surprisingly he ate before the wc, not with much enthusiasm but he did, did the water change and expected to find him today eating and acting normal but that didn't happen, this guy hasn't touched the food and is acting strange, he looks disoriented, he doesn't have any signs of Cryptocarion, velvet u another external disease, but he gasps and breathes faster than normal so there must be something internal, however I don't understand what could be happening to him, I have searched for information all afternoon so many experiences are based on the symptoms that I described in my fish and also a white fibrous poop which has not been presented yet, internal parasites are the most common here, something I also found information about was gill flukes and some type of blockage or stomach discomfort, can anyone here give any other opinion?? I feed my fish mysis, flakes and seafood porridge containing squid, peas, garlic, clams (I think) and I don't remember the other ingredients.

thatmanMIKEson · Jul 27, 2022

LaloJ said:
So I've had this fish for a year now, this guy must be at least 3.5" and he eats like a champ since I got him, he's a big aggressive fish maybe approaching 2cm thick, he eats several times a day but this past weekend he started acting weird, he started spending a lot of time inside the live rock and refused to eat, I didn't have time to do a water change so I waited until yesterday, surprisingly he ate before the wc, not with much enthusiasm but he did, did the water change and expected to find him today eating and acting normal but that didn't happen, this guy hasn't touched the food and is acting strange, he looks disoriented, he doesn't have any signs of Cryptocarion, velvet u another external disease, but he gasps and breathes faster than normal so there must be something internal, however I don't understand what could be happening to him, I have searched for information all afternoon so many experiences are based on the symptoms that I described in my fish and also a white fibrous poop which has not been presented yet, internal parasites are the most common here, something I also found information about was gill flukes and some type of blockage or stomach discomfort, can anyone here give any other opinion?? I feed my fish mysis, flakes and seafood porridge containing squid, peas, garlic, clams (I think) and I don't remember the other ingredients.

I dont know if this is a symptom, but have you investigated any stray voltage?

Calvin · Jul 27, 2022

LaloJ said:
So I've had this fish for a year now, this guy must be at least 3.5" and he eats like a champ since I got him, he's a big aggressive fish maybe approaching 2cm thick, he eats several times a day but this past weekend he started acting weird, he started spending a lot of time inside the live rock and refused to eat, I didn't have time to do a water change so I waited until yesterday, surprisingly he ate before the wc, not with much enthusiasm but he did, did the water change and expected to find him today eating and acting normal but that didn't happen, this guy hasn't touched the food and is acting strange, he looks disoriented, he doesn't have any signs of Cryptocarion, velvet u another external disease, but he gasps and breathes faster than normal so there must be something internal, however I don't understand what could be happening to him, I have searched for information all afternoon so many experiences are based on the symptoms that I described in my fish and also a white fibrous poop which has not been presented yet, internal parasites are the most common here, something I also found information about was gill flukes and some type of blockage or stomach discomfort, can anyone here give any other opinion?? I feed my fish mysis, flakes and seafood porridge containing squid, peas, garlic, clams (I think) and I don't remember the other ingredients.

Have you checked the PH of the tank? And how is the surface agitation of the tank?

Calvin · Jul 27, 2022

Another thing that could cause gasping is flukes. So if you can catch the fish an do a freshwater dip in a black bucket if you have it you will seem them at the bottom of the bucket when they fall off.

LaloJ · Jul 27, 2022

thatmanMIKEson said:
I dont know if this is a symptom, but have you investigated any stray voltage?

I have no idea how to do that, but I guess my other fish would be acting the same, I have a blue damselfish that sometimes feels stressed because my angelfish pulls her off the rocks or leaves her little food, still she is quite
pretty and very fat.

LaloJ · Jul 27, 2022

Calvin said:
Have you checked the PH of the tank? And how is the surface agitation of the tank?

The pH shows as 8.0, I'm sure I can catch the fish and do the procedure with fresh water, bit is it possible that the flukes just appeared out of nowhere in the tank?? after a year and without new fish it seems a bit strange to me. The surface agitation is very good.

LaloJ · Jul 27, 2022

I don't know what's going on with my angelfish, but today it's swimming a bit more and off the rocks, it also seems that its labored breathing has decreased, I've taken a closer look at its scales and it definitely doesn't have any ich or velvet traits, It even seems that he is a little more interested in the food since he swims close to it but withdraws again, I have a video I hope it can work.

LaloJ · Jul 27, 2022

LaloJ · Jul 27, 2022

Sorry for the double post...

LaloJ · Jul 29, 2022

Hello again, It seems that my angelfish is beginning to improve, I can say that the heavy breathing has disappeared, today he has tasted the food although not with much enthusiasm since most of the time he approaches the food but rejects it, it's almost as if he had just arrived to the tank, it's a good indication for me, so I will do a water change this weekend and I will hope that in a few days he will be eating like a glutton. If that happens I have no idea what could have happened to it, I have read that sometimes angelfish just stop eating for a few days and then return to feeding as if nothing had happened, I don't understand why this behavior could be caused.

ABQ_CHRIS · Jul 29, 2022

I hope your fish continues to improve. Keep us posted, please.

LaloJ · Jul 29, 2022

Thanks, it's pretty fat and strong so hopefully after the next water change everything will be back to normal, I haven't tested the pH again and don't know if that was a factor.

LaloJ · Jul 31, 2022

Well the matter looks pretty bad now, I have noticed that my angelfish has a kind of "white thing" on the right side (0.5 cm maybe), which I don't know what it could be since it is too big to be flukes or velvet, also it has already started to lose weight , unfortunately I can't take a photo because it lives inside the rocks again, needless to say that it no longer eats, in addition to this my blue damselfish seems to have a blow to its eye and right side, I see some raised scales, yesterday it was very well and continues to eat, so I guess he must have hit himself and got that wound, I guess I'll have to take the angelfish out and medicate him, I don't know why I don't even know he has it but I could do a fresh water bath just before the hospital to rule out flukes.

LaloJ · Aug 1, 2022

I'm going to put the fish in a 50 lt hospital tank, before that I'm going to give them a fresh water bath and then medicate with general cure, but I have a doubt, flukes are also supposed to have a life cycle and they get embedded in the rocks and sand, so does anyone have an idea if the tank should be fallowed and for how long.

LaloJ · Aug 2, 2022

The fish is in a hospital tank with General Cure, I gave him a freshwater bath before admitting him and it seems to have helped him a lot, I must assume that with the medicine he will be much better after treatment, but I still have doubts about the fallow, any ideas?

LaloJ · Aug 7, 2022

My angelfish was transferred to the main tank yesterday, frankly I didn't see the point of putting it in the qt tank and repeating the process as if it were a new fish, since my blue damsel is still in the main tank there is no fallow period, and I prefer that the Coral Beauty feeds on the live rock, but fortunately it's already eating much more, it seems that it has worked.