something wrong with my flame angel or just paranoid?

[Klewtz]

I got my flame angel almost a week ago and every night it has been hanging out in the same cave. But tonight it is out in the open and is staying near the bottom. At first I was happy he was exploring but more I look at him the more it doesn’t seem right. Could be stressed from environment change. What is your thoughts

Salinity: 1025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15
Temp: 79

Tank mates:
Cleaner shrimp
3 stripe damsel
Watchmen goby
Pistol shrimp
CUC

Side note: earlier today when I got home from work the power to the tank was off, temperature only went down 1 degree so I imagine it wasn’t off for long.

I have a 55Gal tank with HOB filter that has foam, carbon, and live rock from LFS.

Can’t get my video to post but basicly all he’s doing is swimming in this small area

 

[crazyfishmom]

I got my flame angel almost a week ago and every night it has been hanging out in the same cave. But tonight it is out in the open and is staying near the bottom. At first I was happy he was exploring but more I look at him the more it doesn’t seem right. Could be stressed from environment change. What is your thoughts

Salinity: 1025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15
Temp: 79

Tank mates:
Cleaner shrimp
3 stripe damsel
Watchmen goby
Pistol shrimp
CUC

Side note: earlier today when I got home from work the power to the tank was off, temperature only went down 1 degree so I imagine it wasn’t off for long.

I have a 55Gal tank with HOB filter that has foam, carbon, and live rock from LFS.

Can’t get my video to post but basicly all he’s doing is swimming in this small area

How old is the tank? How many other inhabitants?

 

[Klewtz]

How old is the tank? How many other inhabitants?

Almost 2.5 months

Tank mates:
Cleaner shrimp
3 stripe damsel
Watchmen goby
Pistol shrimp
CUC
About 7 hermits 6 snails

 

[crazyfishmom]

Damsels are mean. Any chance this little guy is being terrorized by the damsel?

 

[Klewtz]

Damsels are mean. Any chance this little guy is being terrorized by the damsel?

If anything it’s the opposite, the angel has made it’s presence known to the damsel and has chased him off and they normal keep to themselves on different parts of the tank. Which is another reason I thought it was weird for the angel to be on this side of the tank near the bottom

Granted it is possible when I’m not around the damsel is getting the better half of him but no other signs besides this. I will check in the morning and give another update. Not sure what else I can do maybe pull him out tomorrow if thing still are acting weird

 

[slingfox]

Keep monitoring him. Some fish acclimate to a tank faster than others. I had a purple that hid in the rockwork for over half a years. I assumed it was dead. One day a rearranged some rockscape which forced it to find a new home. Eventually it started appearing and now I see it out every day. I also have a white tail Bristletooth tang which swam a small loop for 5-6 weeks. It is now happy, calm, and swimming everywhere.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got my flame angel almost a week ago and every night it has been hanging out in the same cave. But tonight it is out in the open and is staying near the bottom. At first I was happy he was exploring but more I look at him the more it doesn’t seem right. Could be stressed from environment change. What is your thoughts

Salinity: 1025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15
Temp: 79

Tank mates:
Cleaner shrimp
3 stripe damsel
Watchmen goby
Pistol shrimp
CUC

Side note: earlier today when I got home from work the power to the tank was off, temperature only went down 1 degree so I imagine it wasn’t off for long.

I have a 55Gal tank with HOB filter that has foam, carbon, and live rock from LFS.

Can’t get my video to post but basicly all he’s doing is swimming in this small area

May be intimidation from others but assure eating and breathing normal.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Tough to say without a clear video under white light.

Is the angel eating?
Is it breathing fast?

Jay

 

[exnisstech]

Can’t get my video to post but basicly all he’s doing is swimming in this small area

Sorry no help with the fish. Posting a video to youtube then pasting the link here is the easiest way to share videos inside threads.

 

[Klewtz]

He is acting different today being in the water colum and seems to be pushed around by power heads I put one of them in feed mode while I took the video. I do see some white spots on the fish but looking up close it seems to be either small bubbles or sand particles. But I might take him out of the water to look closer.

Any recommendations? I have a 10 gal tank I could QT him in not sure what would help?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

He is acting different today being in the water colum and seems to be pushed around by power heads I put one of them in feed mode while I took the video. I do see some white spots on the fish but looking up close it seems to be either small bubbles or sand particles. But I might take him out of the water to look closer.

Any recommendations? I have a 10 gal tank I could QT him in not sure what would help?

The angel is thin, but I've seen worse. It is struggling to swim, and then, is swimming in circles, that's a really bad sign. I presume it isn't eating at this point.

Was it eating for you before and has now stopped?

 

[Klewtz]

The angel is thin, but I've seen worse. It is struggling to swim, and then, is swimming in circles, that's a really bad sign. I presume it isn't eating at this point.

Was it eating for you before and has now stopped?

You are correct /: do you know what it is a sign of?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

You are correct /: do you know what it is a sign of?

IDK for sure - the white spots on the fish may be a sign of an internal infection, such as Ichthyophonus hoferi, a nasty, and untreatable internal fungal infection.

 

[Klewtz]

Another thing I noticed is his eye looks swollen and cloudy

 

[Klewtz]

Has anyone heard of Popeyes disease? This kinda matches what I’m seeing. I noticed my HOB filter is producing small bubbles. Could this be the issue or a long shot?

 

[Reefer Brent]

I would lower flow and feed treats like live brine. Mine also likes cyclops. If you think catching him for QT is too stressful you could do a dose of Melafix in the display. This helped mine with the stress of moving.

 

[Klewtz]

I would lower flow and feed treats like live brine. Mine also likes cyclops. If you think catching him for QT is too stressful you could do a dose of Melafix in the display. This helped mine with the stress of moving.

Yea i turned off all flow and I think he will be okay being moved, I might try to get a little breeder box to put him in so he doesn’t further hurt himself. He definitely seems blind and running into things

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Another thing I noticed is his eye looks swollen and cloudy

Icthyophonus can also cause bulging eyes. Are both eyes affected? If only one eye is, that is more likely a result of an injury.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Has anyone heard of Popeyes disease? This kinda matches what I’m seeing. I noticed my HOB filter is producing small bubbles. Could this be the issue or a long shot?

No - your HOB should be producing bubbles, that actually reduces supersaturation issues (like shaking a can of soda). The bubbles they are talking about in that article are static ones that form on surfaces as the excess gasses come out of solution (again, like soda in a glass).