Help! whats wrong with my veil angle????

[bowhunter2284]

So i'v had this angle in my tank for about a week now and the past 2 days it just kinda sits their and doesn't eat? and its tale looks scrunched up? the tank itself has been set up for about a month maybe a little more. my nitrites are kinda high so i'v done 2 30-40 percent water changes this week. i also just recently put in a bubble stone, could the noise from the pump be doing something? all post pics. (sorry for bad quality) p.s. their is also a power head in my tank, its not too powerful tho. IMG_0073[1].JPGIMG_0076[1].JPG

[Limming]

First we need more info; size of the tank, filtration, levels of ammonia/nitrates and other stock. Aside from that you need to read the cycling with fish sticky and do a 75% water change fast. Since you still have nitrites your tank is not cycled, while it is cycling keep the nitrites under 1 ppm as from the info you provided I'd say it was due to the presence of nitrites.

[bowhunter2284]

It is a 29 gallon, with 12 neon, 1 angle, and 2 blue rams (only chase each other been watching carefully) nitrate 40 ppm, nitrite off the chart, alkalinity about 150 ppm, ph 7.2 ppm, chlorine 0, amonia 0, and my waters pretty hard. All the other fish are fine and active and eating (alot) What should i do? i have all the chemicals and stuff but nothing is working! ughhh

[Limming]

Like I said before you need to do a 75% water change. Since the ammonia is 0 that is a good sign that the tank is partly cycled but still not done. With the large amount of fish you put in without cycling you put a lot of stress on the fish. Nitrates should be below 20 and nitrites should be under 1 ppm. After you get the levels down test once a day till ammonia and nitrites are both 0 and do a water change when needed to lower the levels. Just a warning that this might take awhile but stick with it and eventually you'll work through it and hopefully not lose any fish. I'd suggest feeding as little as possible maybe only a single time a day to control the amount of waste and improve the water quality a little. Another tip is to get a few floating plants , horn wart is a good choice, what this well do is suck up the nitrates and help filter the water. Don't use chemicals that aren't necessary as they might cause unneeded stress for the fish and hurt them even more plus some chemicals can slow down the speed of the cycle. It is extremely important that you follow the pinned thread at the top about cycling with fish at this point it is the best thing you can do.

[bowhunter2284]

Thank you for the help, i had it up for a week then added the rams, then the neon's a week later, then the angle a week after that, even added that beneficial bacteria in the beginning to help with the cycling. I'll see if my lfs has any horn wart tomorrow and do another water change, its really a beautiful angle, hope he springs back.

[Limming]

Not a problem :) I'm still very new and just trying to help others. The beneficial bacteria doesn't do anything. Being honest from what I've read it doesn't sound like the angle has a good chance of living but all you can do is be very rigorous with water changes and just wait it out. Another thing unless it is 100 percent not doable tonight you need to do a water change even if you can't do a large one until tomorrow every bit helps. What are you using to test with? If its the strips then they are very unrealible and you need to get a liquid test kit, I and most people here use the API master liquid test kit. It contains test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph all are important to keep track of.

[CrazedMichael]

First off i would have to say that im surprised the neons are not showing signs off stress when the Angelfish is.

But i can tell you the problem straight away, and that the tank isn't cycled properly. A properly cycled tank would show 0. ammonia, 0. nitrites and 5-10ppm nitrates (safe levels) which will get higher as time goes on till next water change. The fish are suffereing due to high amounts of nitrites. The other water params such as hardness, PH etc, are the least important right now and the most important thing for them to be is stable.

If you can ask a LFS (Local Fish Store) to give you a handful of their filter media to put in your own filter, it would also help tremendously.

Stop dosing with any meds etc. Reduce feeding to once every day, and feed minimally as over feeding can contribute to high nitrates.

Do a large 75% water change every 2 days until your tests start reading 0. Amm, 0. Nitrites and a low count of nitrates (preferably 5-10ppm). Then reduce the water change schedule to 20-30% a week.

Try reading up the cycling stickies on the forum and read the FREE E-Book as it helped myself and many other newcomers on the forum.

[Honey Badger 1]

my nitrites are kinda high

nitrate 40 ppm, nitrite off the chart,

You answered your own question, this is your problem.

Stop adding chemicals to the tank (other than dechlorinator) and start doing bigger water changes more often. When cycling a tank with fish, ammonia and nitrite needs to be kept around .25ppm and nitrates should always be kept below 20pmm.

[bowhunter2284]

Limming: The angle died over night :( he seemed to perk up after i did a 50% change. i dont get it though, all my other fish look healthy as can be and are darting around the tank constantly, and yeah i'm using the strips, gonna buy a new test kit today and maybe some horn wart if they have it.

[bowhunter2284]

CrazedMichael: That's the thing, the neons look really healthy, darting around the tanks sometime chasing each other.