What's wrong with my Potters Angel?

[NorCalTRD]

So today I got my rather new potters angel some new frozen food rather than the dry flake that he doesnt seem to eat much. After about 30 minutes and eating a lot he started to rub up against some of the rockwork in my tank. It doesn't look like there is anything wrong with him physically but what is he doing? Is it ich? I'm still new at this so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Jordan

[Six]

The fish has been in the tank 30 minutes? or thristy minutes after feeding it frozen, it's flashing on the rocks?

 

Potter's Angels aren't an easy Centropyge species to keep. How big is it and in what size tank? how long have you had it and was it eating before you bought it?

 

GL, those are beautiful fish.

[NorCalTRD]

Well... I'm sorry to say all it is right now is a 24 gallon NC but I will be sizing up by the end of the year. I just got him for a really good deal that was impossible to pass up. He is still pretty small i'd say maybe 2" right now. He has been in there for about 3 weeks now and has been eating mostly off the live rock and algae in the tank but I also feed him flake every few days. I wanted to vary his diet so I bought some frozen cube stuff at the LFS. That's where we leave off... He doesn't seem to be rubbing on the rock anymore as of now but I will keep an eye on him tomorrow. Any idea what it could be?

[Six]

Did you get it local or online? If it's local it could just be acclimation problems. If it's ordered it could be anything since we dont know what it was kept in or looked like before. thats one good thing about buying local, the fish can be seen and hand picked by you. You can see it disease free and eating.

 

It's not going to eat on it's first day up to a week or so. It's not going to eat flake, I really wouldnt mess up the water quality by feeding it. Get some various frozen foods and get it eating a variety of fresh foods. Centropyge arent fish that do well on all flake or pellet diets. Try some seaweed in it's diet as well. Rubberbanding some nori to a rock and putting in his favorite grazing spot is a good was to simulate natural feeding.

 

ich (cryptocaryon irritans) is a visible external parasite. have you seen anything on the fish's fins or flanks? Does it rub it's body or gills? Crypt can start in the gills, thats why i ask.

 

GL

[NorCalTRD]

Nope... I don't see anything externally and he is seeming fine now. It just freaked me out when I saw him rubbing purposly against the rocks. A lot of websites recommend angel specific food... What is this and also what fresh food can I feed him. Would a garlic supplement help him to eat or benefit in any way? Thanks a lot for all the help.

 

Jordan

[NorCalTRD]

So Im pretty positive he has ich. He has been rubbing his gills again for a couple days now and this morning I noticed really small white spots. They are gone now at lunchtime. Is it normal for them to dissappear that fast. Im sure they will be back. Im going to buy a QT tank today. I don't need to let it cycle before I put him in do I? Any recommendations as to what I need in there besides the pump, heater, and some sort of filter? Sand? Rock? Help. This is the first real problem I have encountered. I want to do this right.

 

Thanks,

Jordan

[Six]

When do you see the spots? I've had a Centropyge aurantia get spots every morning (and she still does)... but it was and is only sand particles. If you've ever gotten to touch an angelfish, they have scales that feel almost sandpaper like (ever touch a shark? very similar feeling...) so, sand and the like can adhere to the roughness of it's flanks. Note: Also, if you notice, there are tang that are centropyge angelfish mimics... this is because these angels are not as easy or fun to eat as a smooth scaled tang.

 

Cryptocaron does not disappear that quickly. If so, that's a really odd lifecycle, and not normal.

 

Pics would really help.

 

Setting up a QT tank is easy. Get a 10 gallon, put dark paper on the back and sides to shade the fish from cats/dogs/children than may stress it more. A reliable heater (not a HOB type. something that has a thermostat... its more expensive but it's very important)and a thermometer to have a double check for the temp. I use the little digital thermometer that has a probe, they are like $6 and well worth it. No substrate. Dry rock, like lace rock to offer hiding places... or cut PVC tubes work well. Seeded filter (get a HOB model and add filter media from your exisiting tank) and 10 gallons of water from your main tank.

 

Like I said, I seriously doubt it's crypt, but if you want to, there's some simple instructions for a QT tank. Frankly, if you didn;t QT the fish to begin with you should set up a QT tank for your next aquisition as this is a good learning experience as to why it is best to QT first. Having a QT on hand is always good anywho.

[NorCalTRD]

I'm pretty positive that he is. I bought the QT tank yesterday and it has been up and running overnight. I put some dry sand in the bottom and seeded the water with about 5 gallons of my existing tank water. I put a large pvc elbow in there for him to hide in if he so pleases and a heater. There is no filter media in my display tank except for my chemical filtration such as chemi-pure and purigen and some chaeto algae. I have the digital thermo placed in the QT tank now and it looks to be the perfect temp. I just tested the water and all the params look amazing! Better then I have ever had in my display tank. What about a freshwater dip during the move from the display to the QT tank using straight RO water? Beneficial? Too stressful? Help me out as this is still all new to me. Thanks again Six for all the help. On a side note... I would give you pics but the spots are hard even for me to see in person. They are TINY and even I can't see them sometimes. I think I am catching this early and it might be mainly in his gills right now.

 

Thanks again,

Jordan

[NorCalTRD]

Hmmmm..... okay.... new problem has come up. HOW THE HELL DO I CATCH HIM!? I am sooooo frustrated right now. I tried for an hour and a half to get him out of my tank. He is soooo fast its impossible. I know I can't be the only one that has had to catch a fast fish so are there some tricks I might be able to use? Please help me. I want to help him ASAP.

 

Jordan

[Six]

Don't feed him for a day. Get a big net and set it into the tank in the path of one of his regular routes through the rockwork. Get a sandwhich/beer/whatever and wait. I caught my centropyge that way, a little cleverness and patience.

 

You'll have to leave the net in for a while so the fish learns to 'trust' that it isnt going to be something that wants to eat him.

You can tempt the fish out and into the net if this process is taking more than an hour. ive seen people try to put the food into the net, but i;d just put your hand on the net handle, let the fish pop out and see that you arent going to swing at him, add the food and wait til he comes out to eat. THEN swing at him. Make sure it's the right time, if you miss, you'll have to wait another day, most likely.

 

hope that helps. good luck

[NorCalTRD]

Okay,

so last night my angel took a huge turn for the worse. Its very strange. I can't see anything now externally and he seems as though his equilibrium is all out of whack. He swims around and gets all disorriented and gets upside down and on his side and stuff. Any idea of what I can do? I finally got him into QT and I gave him a freshwater dip for about 2 minutes. Any other ideas to relieve him of his pain?

 

Thanks again,

Jordan

[Snoop]

do the dip for 8 minutes id say 50/50 chance treet both tanks dor ich

[NorCalTRD]

I am treating the QT tank with Malachite green against my best judgement but I want to help him and i can't get him to eat at all. Hopefully that helps but he is just laying on the bottom breathing heavily. How many fresh water dips is okay to do and how far apart should they be? Help save my angel! Please help him.

 

Jordan

[Caesar777]

Sorry to say, but Potter's angels usually do poorly in captivity. I hope he makes it, poor fella.