New Angel Wont Eat....Has Bacterial Infection...Help!

[ronsgirl520]

Ok, so I am new to this hobby and need some advise. My "fish guy" called me and said he had one of my fish on my wish list. A extra large emperor angel had just arrived off the truck at the wholesalers. It was still in the bag it came in. I asked if he had seen it and he said no as he didnt want to open the bag and then have to re bag it if I wanted it. So I took the risk and said, OK get it!

Well, I knew better and now paying for it. I brought the fish home and did a fresh water dip for 10 mins before adding him to my quarantine tank. When I added him he spazzed out and started running face first into the sides of the aquarium like he had never been in one before. Im assuming he came straight from the ocean...no clue! I noticed he had a red sore on his chin and started bleeding when he was ramming his face into the side of my tank 6 times. He wouldnt eat, which i know is common due to the stress. I was told that angels wont eat for up to 2 weeks sometimes and very hard to get them to eat. 2 days later, I noticed a red sore on his side about a half inch behind his fin. I took a pick with the conclusion it was a bacterial infection. I went to a local fish store and showed the owner my pic. He said it looked like a bacterial infection and told me to treat him with Furan.

I have done 5 days of treatment so far and the red spot on his chin is gone and the red spot on the side is about a 1/4 of the size it was, but still there. I plan on continueing treatment untilt its gone. He will not eat though. Ive tried dried seaweed and pellets. Im sure he has no idea what the pellets are so not surprised he wont eat those. But the seaweed will float right in front of his face, he will look at it, then swim away from it. He is swimming great and doesnt look skinny.

How can I get him to eat? Should i try mysis shrimp? I read blood worms would be a good option. He will pick at the bottom of the tank like he is looking for food but its a glass bottom hospital tank with PVC pipes.

Any advise you can give me on treating this fish and getting him to eat are greatly appreciated. I do have a 3.5" clown trigger in there with me I got from the same place and he is eating like a champ and looks great.

Thanks!

 

[Mike&Terry]

freshwater dips can be stressful. Fish will usually calm down if you turn out the lights.

How large is the angel? If it were me, I would offer the angel some meaty frozen foods: Mysis, frozen angelfish preparation, frozen spirulina/brine shrimp preparation. If you have access to live black worms, they can usually entice a finicky eater. Also, adding a bit of garlic to the food can also stimulate appetite.

I would not try to ween the fish over to pellets until the angel is eating well and it's injuries have healed.

 

[o2manyfish]

How new to the hobby are you? How mature is your aquarium?

You definitely need a wider assortment of meatier type foods. What size is your QT tank? Make sure you remove the food thats not eaten from the QT so it doesn't foul the tank.

Dave B

 

[ronsgirl520]

The Emperor Angel is about 5" long...maybe slightly larger. I do not have any lights on the quarantine tank. They only have small amounts of daylight coming into the hallway they are in and when I turn my lights on in the house.

I just purchased some mysis shrimp thats supposed to have higher amounts of protein in it than others. I also got some other kind of meaty frozen blend that has some seaweed in it too. Hopeing this will help. Ive done 6 treatments of Furan 2 and the 7th will be done tonight. The spot is almost gone on its side but I am prepared to keep doing them until it is completely gone. Thank you so much for your feedback!

freshwater dips can be stressful. Fish will usually calm down if you turn out the lights.

How large is the angel? If it were me, I would offer the angel some meaty frozen foods: Mysis, frozen angelfish preparation, frozen spirulina/brine shrimp preparation. If you have access to live black worms, they can usually entice a finicky eater. Also, adding a bit of garlic to the food can also stimulate appetite.

I would not try to ween the fish over to pellets until the angel is eating well and it's injuries have healed.

 

[ronsgirl520]

Im very new but did a lot of homework before starting. I have some friends that have been in the hobby a very long time who have given me some advise but find posting on here has been very helpful to me. My quarantine tank is a 56 gallon tank with a quiet flow filter (took carbon filters out while doing Furan tx's), 2 air stones and PVC pipes. It is glass bottom so it is set up more like a hospital tank.

My levels are good and I test them every 2 days. Ive been having to do 25% water changes every 2 days because of the Furan tx's. My show tank is a 210 gallon marine land tank. It recently finished its cycling process a few weeks ago. The cycling process took about a month. The levels are great in there and its ready for fish. I have no problem letting it establish longer though without fish until my fish are done in quarantine. I will be quarantining each fish for 6 weeks. I only had to remove uneaten food once because the little Clown Trigger in there gobbles any extras up. I'll keep an eye on it though. I picked up some Mysis shrimp today and another meaty frozen blend angels like. I asked the LFS if they had any frozen bloodworms because a lot of people recommended to give that to Angels to get them to eat. He said he had never heard of giving angels that and its normally used for freshwater fish. Is he right? did I misread something? Thank you for your feedback! It is much appreciated!

How new to the hobby are you? How mature is your aquarium?

You definitely need a wider assortment of meatier type foods. What size is your QT tank? Make sure you remove the food thats not eaten from the QT so it doesn't foul the tank.

Dave B

 

[ronsgirl520]

I forgot to add in my previous post to you that I also have a maxijet in my QT tank as well for extra flow.

How new to the hobby are you? How mature is your aquarium?

You definitely need a wider assortment of meatier type foods. What size is your QT tank? Make sure you remove the food thats not eaten from the QT so it doesn't foul the tank.

Dave B

 

[o2manyfish]

Bloodworms are usually for freshwater fish, but salt water fish love them too. See if your LFS has live black worms. Most fish devour them. Even if the angel ignores them your trigger will be delighted with them.

Dave B

 

[ronsgirl520]

Thanks!

Bloodworms are usually for freshwater fish, but salt water fish love them too. See if your LFS has live black worms. Most fish devour them. Even if the angel ignores them your trigger will be delighted with them.

Dave B

 

[o2manyfish]

Also emperors usually like to lurk behind rocks and kind of watch what's going on, not always swimming out in the open water. Perhaps add a couple of pieces of rock that he can hide behind and feel safer.

Angels also like to feed off the rock, so perhaps you could rubber band the nori to the rock and that might be more enticing to the angel as well.

Dave B

 

[ronsgirl520]

Thank you! I have two large PVC pipes and she has been going inside those. I like your idea about the rock and will try that if she doesnt go after the frozen mysis shrimp tonight.

Also emperors usually like to lurk behind rocks and kind of watch what's going on, not always swimming out in the open water. Perhaps add a couple of pieces of rock that he can hide behind and feel safer.

Angels also like to feed off the rock, so perhaps you could rubber band the nori to the rock and that might be more enticing to the angel as well.

Dave B

 

[mike007]

If he doesn't start eating you might see if your lfs has any live food such as brine shrimp or maybe some small feeders. He is probly stressed and it may take awhile for him to accept food. If he was wild caught you will have to train him to eat regular fish foods. So try the live stuff and get him eating and slowly acclimate him to regular food. Good luck.

 

[miyags]

You could go to your local grocery store and buy a fresh clam. And feed it on the half shell. maybe fresh scallops or fresh raw shrimp also. Any thing to get it to eat. Good Luck!!

 

[palvyre]

I recently bought a large emperor as well. I was able to get him started with nori algae sheets clipped in an algae clip. He also liked frozen meaty items soon after. Now he eats pretty much everything.

 

[ronsgirl520]

I will check with my LFS and see if they have any live food there. I will try anything! Thanks!

If he doesn't start eating you might see if your lfs has any live food such as brine shrimp or maybe some small feeders. He is probly stressed and it may take awhile for him to accept food. If he was wild caught you will have to train him to eat regular fish foods. So try the live stuff and get him eating and slowly acclimate him to regular food. Good luck.

 

[ronsgirl520]

Man, I wish I had your luck! I think this guy came straight from the ocean. I tried algae sheets and also broke them up into little pieces so they would float around the tank. He didnt want them.

I recently bought a large emperor as well. I was able to get him started with nori algae sheets clipped in an algae clip. He also liked frozen meaty items soon after. Now he eats pretty much everything.

 

[ronsgirl520]

Im bumbed but not giving up. I tried frozen mysis shrimp tonight and another meaty frozen mix for angels mixed with some garlic guard. The shrimp flew right infront of his face and he would turn away...wanted nothing to do with it. My little clown trigger thought it was christmas though and gobbled it all up. I put enough in there so even though the trigger was going at it, it still gave the angel plenty of time to eat if he was going to. Im going to put some rock in there tomorrow and see if that helps. I just did another 25% water change and all levels are good. Do you guys recommend I switch up treatments? Ive been doing the Furan 2 for 7 nights now. Its working but not gone yet. Should I continue with that or switch to something else?

 

[jdl513]

This sounds like a shock issue more than a disease.
I would worry less about diseases, parasites right now and focus on getting the stress levels down.

At this point I would put in some live rock and keep things as calm as possible.
If you can find some rock that has SPONGE growing on an underside even better.
The sponge angels really like is the filamentous stuff that grows between the rock.
Place that rock in so the sponge is accessible and get out of the room.

You can peak in, but try to stay hidden.
She can see you just as well as you can see her,

Oh in the future I would suggest acclimating a new fish to QT without the brute force shock of a FW dip.
Once acclimated to normal salinity and picking at things you can proceed with hyposalinity treatment.

Anyway hope the sponge does the trick.

Good luck!