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I put this post on the hospital link and no one responded. This morning the angel is dead. I have other angels. Does anyone know what caused the sore? See picture link below.
Will my other fish catch the disease? Any feedback would be so much appreciated. My tank seems very healthy. My readings are OK. I am very puzzled.

POSTED ON HOSPITAL THREAD 1-20-2005
My angel is not eating. The problem seems to be an a small bead-size bludge on one side near its gill with a light red center. It's opening and closing it's mouth more oucely, and stays at the top. Otherwise, it looks great. I've had it for about 18 months and has always been a big, agressive eater. It's body is about 3-4 inches. I do weekly water changes of about 20%. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My tank has been doing great... no losses in a long time. This angel is my biggest fish.

PICTURE: http://community.webshots.com/user/lrooth

Tank particulars:
55 gallon
wet/dry 75 filter
planted
nitrate: 20
nitrite: 0
amonia: 0
hardness: 100
total alkalinity: 60
PH: 7.0
Temp: 78

Fish:
5 Angels
2 bala sharks
5 columbian tetras
2 clown loaches
4 rainbows
6 black neon tetras
2 black skirted tetras
4 albino corys
1 pleco
2 chinese algae eaters

Sorry to hear about the loss of the angel. As much as I can see from the picture, it looks to me as if it's been wounded by something, or someone. Do you have any decor in the tank that could have wounded it?

As for possible tank mate who might have caused it, I would point my finger at the chinese algae eaters (although I can't be 100% sure). Those fish are okay when small and new, after a while, especially when bigger (they may grow up to 11 inches long!), they become very territorial and aggressive towards all other fish (including their own specie). They scare other fish by violent swimming (which might look to the unsuspecting fish keeper as clumsy swimming) which might have scared your angel and made him wound himself. They may also suck flat slow swimming fish. It's been many years since I've had angels and I don't remember them as slow swimmers, but perhaps that particular angel was a bit slower, or was just weak, and was victimised by your chinese algae eaters. My advice is to get rid of them -- try to see if your shop will take them, and if they don't, then it would be best to end your relationship with them amicably (in other words, chop their heads off). Your albino cories would appreciate an addition of two more fish to their shoal (and they would probably appreciate them gone too, as would the pleco, as they are the natural enemies of chinese algae eaters because they share the same territory in the tank).

If you have an algae problem and need a replacement work force, siamese algae eaters would be much better. They're better algae eaters, they don't grow as big (up to 3 inches), and they are not aggressive. You can find more information about algae eaters here.

I don't know how much help that was to you, but I hope it has been a little help. If I were you I would dose Melafix for three days, just to be on safe side, bacterial-wise.

Last edited by untitled at 21-Jan-2005 09:47

WOW.... I had no idea that the Chinese Algae eaters were so rough. I have another 30 gal. tank, I call my "small" fish tank with one in it. All three are 3-4 inches right now. I'll talk with my LFS about giving them a new home.

Thanks for the feedback. Its good to hear the injury theory. That's better than bacteria.

Lucy

lrooth

I had a very similar with all my Angles. I made some inquires from wholesaler. He explained that the Angles secrete a slime from their bodies to inform the others they are wanting a mate or they are starting to develop sexually. It is this slime the SAE clean off the angles. I did watch this several times just before each of the Angles died.

Keith

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Agreed. I have two Angels along with 3 CAEs in my 72 gallon bowfront. After reading a similar article about the CAEs and how they feed off of the slime of their tankmates, I couldn't get them out of there fast enough. They are really fast boogers too! I nearly tore the tank apart trying to get the three of them. As for the rest of the fish in the 72, they seem much happier and their colors even look better.

One of the AEs died in the transition to a new tank (beware, they can jump really high when cornered), but the other two are doing fine in a 20 gallon "green" tank all on their own. "Green" meaning lots of light, iron fertilizer, and out of sight. If they continue to do well in this tank, I might add a chiclid or some other fish that won't freak out when they start chasing each other around.

Same thing that was said before. Get the AEs out of your tank.

Dean