Unusual angel behavior?

**jwal90** · 02-03-2013, 02:01 PM

Hi everyone, registered here as I purchased a 90-litre tank second hand the other day and have a question I thought you may be able to help with.

Bought the tank, including fish on Wednesday, got it back to my flat and all set up, ran it for a couple days then went and purchased more fish on Friday. One of the fish I bought was an angel fish and he seems to be acting strangely.

When I turn the lights on, he disappears in a corner and doesn't emerge again until I turn them off. He won't feed or do anything until it's dark in the tank. Is this usual behavior for an angel?

Thanks

**jeffs99dime** · 02-03-2013, 02:08 PM

I noticed you set this tank up on Wednesday and there are fish in the tank already. That would lead me to believe that this tank is not cycled. Is that correct? Are you testing for ammonia, nitrites? Have you read the stickies on cycling?

**mizzoutank** · 02-03-2013, 02:10 PM

welcome to the forum,

we'll need to know a bit of information to help.

90L=24gallon tank, for all non metric people :P

have you cycled the tank? or just added water, then added fish?
what is your filtration?
and what are the other inhabitants in the tank, the other fish.

**Goes to 11!** · 02-03-2013, 03:41 PM

What are the dimensions of this tank, I balk at the idea of a mature angel [Which I am pretty sure that this isn't yet .. But one day will be] in such a small tank.

DO read the cycling with fish sticky, It's relevant. Can you list all your stock in this tank please?

**Indian Woods Angels** · 02-03-2013, 04:26 PM

Have you ever kept an aquarium before? If this is your first one you have a few things that you will need to know.

**fishmommie** · 02-03-2013, 04:31 PM

Welcome. You need to start making immediate water changes to save your fish. Unless you had an established filter with media seeded with beneficial bacteria, you have set up a tank without properly cycling it and will need to do diligent water changes to save your fish.
please go to the beginners section and read the stickie on cycling with fish. It will tell you what you need to track your tank's water perimeters and what you need to do to keep the fish alive. As soon as you do that, come back to us with questions and we will attempt to help.

**jwal90** · 02-03-2013, 07:36 PM

I should clarify I bought the tank second hand, so it was already established when I brought it home. Apologies, I probably given you guys a bit more info there.

When I bought the tank it came with the fish, rocks, plants etc. The fish were 4x neon tetra, 4x harlequins, 4x glow-light tetras and a chinese algae eater. I had to add some extra water to the tank to top it up but I treated it first. After I'd done all that and the fish looked happy I bought 4 more black phantoms, a shrimp and the angel fish.

I wouldn't say there's an issue with the size, I picked out the smallest angel fish I could find and he's only around 3 times bigger than the tetra.

I did changed one of the filter pads but it doesn't seem to have caused any issues. I also added some 'general tonic' which came with the tank when I bought it because it was supposed to help with diseases etc.

Hope I've given you enough info there, let me know if you need to know anything else.

Thanks

**fishmommie** · 02-03-2013, 08:40 PM

Okay - back to square 1 :o)
Please tell us what your water perimeters are so we know first if it's a water quality issue. what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? And are you using an API liquid test kit or strips when you test? And if you are NOT testing, best advice is to go purchase an API liquid test kit (not strips as they are highly inaccurate) and test right away then let us know the readings.

In the meantime, since water quality issues can be attributed to many problems, I'd make a 50% water change today if possible to see if that doesn't improve things with the angel. Make every effort to keep the new water temp the same as the existing water temp in the tank to avoid shocking the fish.

It's possible that changing out your filter pad MAY have cost you some of the beneficial bacteria that had been established in the tank and could be causing an ammonia spike which could affect the angel's behavior.

It would still be to your benefit to read the cycling stickies so you can get a grasp on the nitrogen cycle in a tank and how best to maintain good water quality.
Fingers crossed that things go well.

Again - let's start with the water and see what's up from there. We can address stocking issues once we know what shape your water is in.

**Goes to 11!** · 02-03-2013, 11:02 PM

It's not how big he IS - fish grow.. Again, What are the dimensions of this tank?

It is how big & territorial he will be and if he decides that entire tank is his at sexual maturity there will be nowhere to run for the entirety of your stock. You cannot say you weren't warned.

Btw did you know that neons are a natural part of the diet of angelfish in the wild? You have that to potentially look forward to also.

At any point when you brought this tank home was your filter media dry?

**Indian Woods Angels** · 02-04-2013, 01:57 PM

I'd like to see you keep these fish alive, I'm not so certain that your tank is what we call cycled fully. There is a bit more to keeping fish in an aquarium than water, add fish. People with an experience in keeping fish generally know the most important stuff. New fish keepers tend to not know these basic things. It can be sort of complex and over whelming at first, that is why I ask if you have ever kept fish and have the basic knowledge of keeping them. Some of the first things you need to keep fish are test kits or the ability to have your water tested at a shop that sells fish. These tests tell us what the condition of the water is as far as able to house fish with a quality of life. Most often people are not patient enough with an aquarium and stock it too soon with pretty fish. This causes the fish to act incorrectly or to become sick from poor water quality. If a fish keeper is not patient and thorough they will usually have problems, these problems become very disappointing and the keeper will usually be off put by the situation and the tank ends up in the next garage sale.

There are several information threads on this site that explain how to cycle a tank, with or without fish. If you are a fairly good keeper you may get away with taking a tank and moving it and having no troubles, if not you may have a couple of issues. The main issue is that what is thought to be established (little poo eating bacteria) is alive. If it did not survive the move...it is no longer established. If you have lost or damaged your poo eating bacteria you will need to worry about the stuff they ate getting to be too much in the water. That is what you will be testing for. Fish tanks are a bit of work and require a certain amount of dedication. About as much as a cat.