Regal angelfish in QT

[Lucas815]

Hi,

To keep a long story short, i'll just start by listing some bullet points...

• I got a 4" Regal Angelfish almost 3 weeks ago, and put it in QT.
  The QT had no fish in it for like 6 months, but was kept in water and filter powered on.
• The regal was fine for a couple days, started picking and eating oysters and mussels at day 2.
  No visible sign of disease.
• On day 3, I added a rock full of sponges so it could eat them.
• On day 5, it started flashing and having some weird behavior.
• I did a freshwater dip the next day to check for flukes. No flukes.
• The regal kept flashing and having some strange behavior, like spending most of it's days upright, next to the water heater.
  I did water changes and checked water parameters. Everything was fine.
• On day 10, it stopped eating.
• On day 11, it was really weak and barely moving.
• On day 12, it was dead.
  Again, no visible sign of disease.

Theory #1 : It had some kind of internal disease.
Theory #2 : Sponges released some kind of toxin that killed the fish.

Fast forward a week later, I visit my LFS and they just happen to have another regal angelfish, pretty much identical from the 1st one.

I take a chance, hoping that what killed my 1st regal was not something that stayed in the water.

• The 2nd regal had no visible sign of disease and looks healthy.
• I acclimate and put the fish in QT
• After about 10 min in QT, it starts flashing and having strange behavior.
• It picked at a mussel, but did not eat it completly.
• I'm now on day 3, and the fish is still having strange behavior, is moving all around the tank, and is looking really annoyed by something.
• I just put a mussel in the tank, and is not going for it.

The behavior is, again, consistent with flukes, but freshwater dip on the 1st regal revealed nothing.

So, what the heck is going on with this fish???

Note that i'm in Canada, and most fish meds are now illegal.
In case this is indeed flukes, I ordered Prazipro from the US on ebay, but its gonna take a couple days to arrive, and might get intercepted by customs.

I'm really bummed out by this, the regal angel is my dream fish, and would REALLY want it to work this time...

Thanks

 

[mtfish]

I have not have any luck on regals larger than 2 1/2 inches. Wait until you can get a juvenile with the spot still on the dorsal fin.

 

[Uncle99]

Stray Voltage?

 

[Lucas815]

Stray Voltage?

Theres's only a small Hydor powerhead and a eheim heater in there.

I disconnected the hydor, see if that changes anything.

Thanks for the input !

 

[Lucas815]

I'm currently making preparations for a freshwater dip

 

[Lucas815]

Well in the last 2 hours this spiraled down really fast.

Just as I was ready for the freshwater bath, the regal looked almost dead.

I still did the freshwater bath, and I saw exactly one fluke that came out.

It's moving a bit now, and looks more relaxed, but not sure if its just on the brink of death.

By now I would be really surprised if it's still alive in the morning.

 

[Lucas815]

The regal is still alive this morning, but barely... I checked in half an hour later, and it was dead...

So, there is something in my QT that killed these fish.

I'm gonna have to go back to basics, and relearn how to do a QT, because I really feel like a failure right now.

 

[guppyken]

Looking at your logs it is pretty obvious your QT was contaminated by the stone with sponges on it. Probably some parasite from the stone. One not-so-wise move I can tell is adding any live stone after QT started, Unless the rock is from your display which is running well and healthy. And I don't feel the need to add that stone if the regal was already eating on day 2, according to your logs.

Did you sterilize the QT tank before trying the second one? I mean cleaning up the whole QT tank and resetting it. If not it is highly like the cause to the second one's dead. I bet any fish going in there could end up dying.

Good luck on your next try.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

If your qt was running fishless for several months, were you feeding it at all?

if there’s no Visible sign of disease, and the fish is eating and fine at first…I’m curious as to if it’s not an ammonia issue.

edit: could also be how the fish was collected. Cyanide can cause fish who appear healthy to suddenly decline really rapidly and die. Lost a mimic chocolate tang who was fat, happy, and a pig like this.

Idk. I could be wrong. These are just my guesses.

since I can’t see your system, check your water, see your nutrient export methodology, or even look at the deceased fish, I’m hesitant to tell you it’s “definitely” anything.

 

[Lucas815]

Indeed there was something definitely wrong with the water.

I tried to take multiple shortcuts and hoped for the best, but this is how it ended up.

This experience is rather humbling, as I completely avoided the basics of reefing and failed a simple QT.

Nothing good ever happens fast in a tank : this event is a good reminder of that.

I will then go back to basics. I'll empty the QT and sanitize everything, do the cycle again for a good couple weeks, and only keep PVC pipes.

 

[MnFish1]

Indeed there was something definitely wrong with the water.

I tried to take multiple shortcuts and hoped for the best, but this is how it ended up.

This experience is rather humbling, as I completely avoided the basics of reefing and failed a simple QT.

Nothing good ever happens fast in a tank : this event is a good reminder of that.

I will then go back to basics. I'll empty the QT and sanitize everything, do the cycle again for a good couple weeks, and only keep PVC pipes.

I think a best practice - is not to add live rock to a QT tank. Second - between QT - always change the water, clean the tank, etc. What PVC are you 'keeping'? But my guess is that you're correct - it wasn't one thing -but multiple short-cuts - which a lot of people try - so don't beat yourself up about it. Lastly - sorry about your fish.