Flame Angel found laying on side

[FireUnderwater]

Just found my flame angel who I’ve had since early April laying on his side in the sand bed. He’s been active eating, swimming, model citizen for the entire period I’ve had him. Other tank inhabitants are still doing great, same with coral.
He’s still attempting to swim around or well flailing. Any ideas on cause and if it’s worth attempting to save him?

 

[TX_REEF]

not sure what's wrong with him, others will chime in. Other fish? how are they doing?

At any rate, having him in a bucket with no aeration, flow or filtration certainly is not helpful to his health. Do you have an isolation box you can keep him in in the tank?

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

Closer pictures under white light will help too. It looks like there’s an injury or something on its belly in the second picture but it’s not clear enough to try and diagnose.

EDIT:
List of tank mates, tank size, water parameters, and any recent additions or changes to the tank will all be helpful information.

 

[FireUnderwater]

not sure what's wrong with him, others will chime in. Other fish? how are they doing?

At any rate, having him in a bucket with no aeration, flow or filtration certainly is not helpful to his health. Do you have an isolation box you can keep him in in the tank?

Hermits were trying to pick at him on the sand bed so I had to move him to a bowl temporarily while I get an QT setup. Other fish are acting fine and no behavioral or eating changes.

 

[FireUnderwater]

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Just found my flame angel who I’ve had since early April laying on his side in the sand bed. He’s been active eating, swimming, model citizen for the entire period I’ve had him. Other tank inhabitants are still doing great, same with coral.
He’s still attempting to swim around or well flailing. Any ideas on cause and if it’s worth attempting to save him?

Additional information:
Tank Size: 32G while waiting for a new Waterbox to come in
Tank Mates: Small snowflake clown, small royal gramma, few blue leg and red leg hermits
Tank Parameters
Salinity- 1.025
Nitrates-10ppm
Ammonia-0ppm
PH-8.3
The last addition to the tank was a Duncan coral and a chalice over a month ago.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just found my flame angel who I’ve had since early April laying on his side in the sand bed. He’s been active eating, swimming, model citizen for the entire period I’ve had him. Other tank inhabitants are still doing great, same with coral.
He’s still attempting to swim around or well flailing. Any ideas on cause and if it’s worth attempting to save him?

This fish is moribund and will likely not eat or swim normal going forward. I cant quite tell if aggression played a role as fish is distant in pics but likely stemmed from some type of trauma. You can add an air stone and see if it perks up but recovery looks grim.

 

[FireUnderwater]

This fish is moribund and will likely not eat or swim normal going forward. I cant quite tell if aggression played a role as fish is distant in pics but likely stemmed from some type of trauma. You can add an air stone and see if it perks up but recovery looks grim.

By the looks of it, a hermit tried to get him while sleeping and he beat himself against the rocks escaping. I think euthanizing him is the most humane option at this point. Sad day.

 

[vetteguy53081]

By the looks of it, a hermit tried to get him while sleeping and he beat himself against the rocks escaping. I think euthanizing him is the most humane option at this point. Sad day.

That or fish had trauma and weakened and hermit took advantage of fish laying on bedding

 

[MnFish1]

By the looks of it, a hermit tried to get him while sleeping and he beat himself against the rocks escaping. I think euthanizing him is the most humane option at this point. Sad day.

With apologies - a hermit would not get to him while sleeping - hermits may attack a nearly dead fish - not a healthy one - and if they did the fish would swim away. Euthanisation may be the best option

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

By the looks of it, a hermit tried to get him while sleeping and he beat himself against the rocks escaping. I think euthanizing him is the most humane option at this point. Sad day.

Sorry to hear. I don't see any clear treatment option here. If you do go the route of euthanasia, here is a post I made about that:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

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