Redness on base of pectoral fins on Rock Beaty Angelfish

[AlpineM5]

Hi All, I’ve noticed a weird redness at the base of both pectoral fins on my Rock Beauty Angelfish (see pic). It’s also slightly red at the base of his pelvic fins. Tank parameters are as follows:

1.024
PH ≈ 8.0
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30-40
Temp 77

I’ve had him for about 9 months and he’s acting and eating completely normal. All the other fish are fine. I’m about to add Metro and Kana to their food but before I do so, I wanted to see if anyone has seen this kind of redness.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like either post injury or bacterial.
A bigger concern I have is:

What is age of your tank?
What test kits are you using?

Not sure if youre aware but this is a member of group of angels that get very large and for the most part, aren’t reef safe. Although a number of people have been able to keep them in reef tanks, most will pick at corals, clams, and worms in the tank, so if you introduce one into your reef tank, they need to be carefully watched. For the most part they do very well in FO or FOWLR tanks, but they need tanks that are at least 6 feet or larger. They need to be fed a large amount of greens and meaty foods which will put a heavy load on a filtration system.
This is an angel that doesn’t always eat; smaller sizes seem to do better but they are still a tough fish to keep.

 

[AlpineM5]

Looks like either post injury or bacterial.
A bigger concern I have is:

What is age of your tank?
What test kits are you using?

Not sure if youre aware but this is a member of group of angels that get very large and for the most part, aren’t reef safe. Although a number of people have been able to keep them in reef tanks, most will pick at corals, clams, and worms in the tank, so if you introduce one into your reef tank, they need to be carefully watched. For the most part they do very well in FO or FOWLR tanks, but they need tanks that are at least 6 feet or larger. They need to be fed a large amount of greens and meaty foods which will put a heavy load on a filtration system.
This is an angel that doesn’t always eat; smaller sizes seem to do better but they are still a tough fish to keep.

Thanks for the reply! Some more info on the tank. It’s a 180 FO and technically it has been running for about 15 years, however I rebuilt a lot of it at the beginning of quarantine so it’s been running like this for about 1 year. Here is a pic of the set up from behind. I use Red Sea test kits.

And thanks for the info about the angels. Although my R2R account is new, I’ve been in the hobby for about 20 years and I’m well versed when it comes to angels . However you’re probably right and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a bacterial infection related to diet. He‘s the only fish in the tank that doesn’t eat pellets or nori. So his main diet is vitamin enriched frozen preparations. I started adding Angelixer last week. No improvement yet from that anyways.

 

[00W]

Probably my favorite angel of all time.
That's quite a set-up. Lot better than the one I kept mine in.
I fed mine vitamin soaked peas, broccoli and spinach.
You could try that if you want.
I had mine in a 75 by himself for 6-7 years. I finally gave him to a friend of mine who had a very large tank.
Mine was so friendly but took a lot of babying as far as food.
Formula 2 cubes. He was also very sensitive to salinity changes and ph. I'm pretty sure he'd get that wierd redness too. It would go away and that's the only thing I could attribute it to.
Anyway hope that helps and thanks for the pictures. I haven't seen one for a long time.

 

[AlpineM5]

Probably my favorite angel of all time.
That's quite a set-up. Lot better than the one I kept mine in.
I fed mine vitamin soaked peas, broccoli and spinach.
You could try that if you want.
I had mine in a 75 by himself for 6-7 years. I finally gave him to a friend of mine who had a very large tank.
Mine was so friendly but took a lot of babying as far as food.
Formula 2 cubes. He was also very sensitive to salinity changes and ph. I'm pretty sure he'd get that wierd redness too. It would go away and that's the only thing I could attribute it to.
Anyway hope that helps and thanks for the pictures. I haven't seen one for a long time.

Thanks! I agree. I’ve owned and currently own different angels, but this little Rock Beauty has such a great personality. And their beauty is definitely underrated.

That’s very interesting that you remember yours having the same redness. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this with this species. It’s also interesting you noticed a sensitivity to ph and salinity changes. My salinity is pretty rock solid but my ph has been dipping below 8 more than I would like during the winter months. I’ve been thinking of adding a C02 scrubber to my protein skimmer and this might have just sealed the deal lol.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the reply! Some more info on the tank. It’s a 180 FO and technically it has been running for about 15 years, however I rebuilt a lot of it at the beginning of quarantine so it’s been running like this for about 1 year. Here is a pic of the set up from behind. I use Red Sea test kits.

And thanks for the info about the angels. Although my R2R account is new, I’ve been in the hobby for about 20 years and I’m well versed when it comes to angels . However you’re probably right and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a bacterial infection related to diet. He‘s the only fish in the tank that doesn’t eat pellets or nori. So his main diet is vitamin enriched frozen preparations. I started adding Angelixer last week. No improvement yet from that anyways.

Havent used angelixer but heard its good.

Some good foods are:
Hikari angel formula (contains sponge)
spirulina brine shrimp
LRS Herbivore diet
Mysis shrimp
small plankton
Formula 2 flake and frozen

Add if you are not already Selcon vitamins for stamina and Garlic extract to the foods for immunity health.
For the bacteria, Ruby Rally Pro or maracyn 2 would likely help.
Are you using API kits by chance to check Ammonia-nitrate and Phosphate ?