Angelfish feeding  -01/30/08
Hello,
I just bought my first freshwater angel and it does not seem to be eating. I have checked the nitrate and nitrite levels as well as ammonia and can't find any problems there. The tank mates are 2 smaller blood red parrots, 2 gouramis, 1 Geophagus, and 2 clown loaches. The angel is the biggest in the 45 gallon tank and nobody is bullying it.
It seems to be swimming just fine and cruises around the tank (a bit nervously, but that seems to be the nature of angels by the research
I've done) but it just won't eat. The fish has been at a LFS for a few weeks and was doing well there every time I went by and saw it. I was
thinking of doing a 20% water change but was concerned that it might stress my angel out even more. I've also tried feeding a variety of
food but haven't had luck there either. If you could provide me advice I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Harold
<Harold, the short answer is that assuming water quality is good, Angelfish tend to be good feeders. Do try changing the food offered. Angels are fondest of wet frozen bloodworms (or live bloodworms and mosquito larvae!). Old, stale flake food might be rejected out of hand. Do also try small bits of seafood and white fish from the kitchen. Angels do feed from the surface, and don't feed from the bottom (much) so make sure the food floats, or at least sinks slowly. Angels aren't nervous fish by any means, at least the standard hybrid ones sold in most pet stores aren't. But they are easily bullied, and I certainly wouldn't mix them with Blood Red Parrots, and male Trichogaster trichopterus (three-spot) Gouramis can also harass them. So check this issue, too. In any case, it can take several days for fish to settle in. Cheers, Neale.>

FW Angelfish Not Eating   2/23/07
Dear  Mr. Fenner and the Wetweb Crew: I currently have a 55 gallon freshwater tank, with 4 (4inch) angels (purchased November 2006), and 2 (quarter sized) angels, purchased approximately 3 weeks ago),  of which one I am questioning about. Ammonia, and nitrate levels  are at 0.The 4 original angels are feisty, eat voraciously and cruise the tank as angels do, along with one mutated ( it looks like its side fins have been chopped in half) small angel that was purchased in 2007. My concern is: the one small angel is not eating at all, it swims up like the others to eagerly eat but then looks and swims away. It will eat the odd flake but usually spits it out. When I first purchased  the fish its size was just under a dime, it is now quarter-sized, so it is growing and getting nourishment somewhere. I don't see it browsing for food like the rest do, unless it does it at night. Its feces at times, of what little it has, is a white clear color, not like the others. Should I be concerned or just let things be as is? At times the fish will flutter one fin, as if it is agitated, but other than that, it does not hang at the top, or the bottom , as would indicate perhaps a bacterial infection or poor water quality. I do not have a hospital tank available to me, but am worried that if this fish is carrying some kind of infection it will pass it along to the other inhabitants. I feed them all a varied diet of Mysis flakes, blood worms(as a treat only), earthworm flakes, regular flakes and Spirulina flakes on a rotational basis. Your advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated, and I would like to  commend you for a wonderful informative and user friendly site you provide. Thank-you. Sincerely, Debbie
< Thank you for your kind words. Whoever I have a cichlid like your angelfish that does not eat, I always treat it with Metronidazole for internal infections. It will not hurt the other fish. Follow the directions on the package.-Chuck>

Re: FW Angelfish Still Won't Eat After Treatment   3/4/07
Dear Chuck & WW Crew: Thank you for your prompt reply. Since then I did put the two smaller angels in a hospital tank (one mutated, no side fins) and the other (not eating ) angel. I have dosed them as instructed on the meds for 3 sessions being , one week, and still no improvement. Both either swim suspended at the top or bottom of the tank and no longer come to *greet* me  when I offer food. I believe both of these came from  not so favorable stock but still I don't want to lose them. The mutated one has fight, but cannot maneuver well, this is showing up to be a deterrent, and its survival precarious, the other angel that isn't eating, is still not. However, the only improvement I see is that it doesn't have the once in a while trailing slime.  I have read on your site that it is beneficial to have them ingest the Metronidazole, but they wont eat so that is out of the question. I have tried to offer various types of food but still no response. I don't know what else I can do, and this has been going on now for aprox. 3 weeks. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I read your website on a daily basis and find it the best on the web. Kudos to all the wet web crew. Sincerely, Debbie
< The key to a successful treatment is to treat as soon as the fish stop eating. The Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace are still the best treatments, but if you are getting no response then treating with Clout. Thanks for the kind words.-Chuck>

Re: FW angelfish still not eating ~ UPDATE~ – 03/17/07
Dear Chuck and/or a WetWeb Crew Member:
<Ashley>
To bring you up to date on the status of my leopard spotted angel fish that wouldn't eat, it still isn't eating, however its behavior has changed.
After treating with Metronidazole,  I had given up all hope that this fish would recover as it still refused to eat, was listless, and did not act like a normal angel. Upon reading more on this site, I added aquarium salt to my 10 gallon QT tank, and waited. As per the reaction to the salt, it did increase its slime and remained listless and unresponsive. I gave it the night, thinking I would do one more water change (50%) and then see what happens. Subsequently, it seemed to  perk up after the change.
<Good>
I left it one more night and had thoughts of putting it down, by way of a clove oil bath. The next morning I gave it one more shot ( I really didn't want to euthanize it, but I didn't want it suffering either), low and behold it was perky and came up to the water line and ate one tiny flake, and didn't spit it out. YAY! So it dodged the bullet and now it still doesn't eat, but it is lively, it cruises, and at times it looks like it is nibbling something here and there off of ornaments, etc, but the naked eye cant see.
My question to you is, have you ever seen this type of behavior? Is this the dreaded hunger strike? Do you think my fish is still sick? (To date, I have not seen the slimy clear snot trail I like to describe from its anal passage.)
<Have seen this behavior many times... there was a span of time, some fifteen or so years ago, when there was a "Angelfish Plague"... Octomita/Hexamita... imported, virulent... was killing most all Pterophyllum... exposed to and with imports...>
This fish has been like this for more than a month, and I really do not know how it is surviving.
Your thoughts/advice  on this would be most enlightening, and perhaps the moral of this whole story is, its not over till its over, never give up on the little gaffers!
<There is no more I know to relate>
On another note,  I am a cichlid-a-holic and have kept all sorts when I had small children. Geophagus, Convicts, Firemouths, Severums, Jack Dempseys, Oscars, and my favourite Angels. I gave up the hobby once the children got older, but now with the empty nesters gone, I have returned to this relaxing and wonderful hobby.  
<Is great>
Thank you Chuck and the WetWebMedia Crew for such a great informative site, when I first started fish keeping all that was available was the library and one or two books. This site is a gold mine of information, and  I read and look forward to learning from it every day.! Thanks again for providing your expertise.
Regards,
D
<A search in the print literature re this time, trouble perhaps... Bob Fenner>

Re: FW angelfish still not eating ~ UPDATE~ Apr.20/07
Dear Mr. Fenner, Chuck/ or Crew Member:
<Ashley>
Upon reading your reply I did read more literature on the "Angelfish Plague" and tried to relate whether my leopard fish had fallen under such diagnosis, the only thing I can say that would be the same is that the lack of eating (which could be also environmental/stress or internal infection), and feces being lack thereof, or white and stringy, but whether it had the more severe symptoms that are related to that illness I would have to say no. In saying that,  I continued to monitor the two angels in the QT tank and they had improved greatly and ate as normal cichlids should, only the leopard still refused other types of food except Oscar Bites, a pelleted sinking food. In turn I returned the two back into the original 55 gallon tank, of species only Angelfish. At that time during quarantine I had also quarantined and treated a small black marbled angelfish the size of a dime, it had grown to a size of a nickel, this too I added to the main tank.
For the first two weeks all was great, the one angel fish ( which has side fin deformation) ate everything and still does regardless of its handicap, and the leopard continued to eat only pellets refusing all of the other various foods I fed the main tank,
<Do try the "Spectrum" brand of pelleted food here>
the black angel too ate as normal. Then in the last week both the leopard fish is once again refusing to eat, and now the black angel. No other signs of stress are apparent, they do go up to the food but turn away. I am very frustrated with this fish, as I can't figure out what is the problem and now another one has fallen under the same behavior.
I still do my regular water changes weekly 20%, and condition the water with Prime. My recent tests have shown to be Ammonia O, Nitrate 5, and Ph 7.0. I had a diatom problem before that has dissipated, and in fact most recent my other bigger Angels spawned, but ate their eggs (which is fine I am not keeping this tank for breeding purposes), so I must be doing something right. I have a total of 7 Angels in this tank.
My LFS doesn't carry an abundance of products where I live and I am going to get Garlic Guard by Seachem  by mail, to try one more time to perhaps boost this fish's appetite if you think that it is even worth it or can I make a home remedy that would suffice the same.
<I would try an appetite stimulant based on vitamins and HUFAs... like Selcon, instead>
  I do give a variety of food to my angels being Spirulina, Mysis flake, earthworm flake, dried blood worms, river krill, and now Oscar pellets on a rotational basis to keep their interest.
Now on another note. I turned my QT 10 gallon tank into a species only Golden Ram Dwarf Cichlid tank, numbering a total of 5.
<Mmm, would like for this tank to be about twice this volume>
I read on this site the requirements and have managed to give 2 out of the 3 conditions these little fish need. I know they needed soft water and I read they should be kept in de-mineralized water which I have done by buying this at the local grocery store. (Note: my hard water test kit is on order so I cant test the water, but I know our water is very hard where I live.) I still condition this bought water with Prime by Seachem. I have the water temperature at 32 C, and have decorated the tank with various plastic plants and hiding places, along with changing my lighting from 15w to 7w bulb. The Ammonia is 0, Nitrate 0, but the Ph is way high at 7.6, and I have tried to bring it down by adding PH down drops by AP, 80 drops each time to be exact, but the PH still bounces right back.
<High alkalinity... alkaline reserve... Covered on WWM...>
My question is, at the moment they seem fine, but I know that Ph level is unacceptable and would like bring it down to a more acidic level of 6.O which I read they prefer. My LFS hasn't even heard of a soft water pillow, or peat filter, and thinks Am nuts when I am trying to lower the level so low for these fish. Do you have any suggestions?
<Yes... read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwph,alk.htm
and the linked FAQs files at top>
I read that drift wood may bring the water down but they sell only huge ones, and will be way too big for the tank. I read that one of the readers put peat moss in a nylon sock and used that, but I thought I would ask first what you thought of that. Right now all seems good and I don't want to disrupt anything, but I realize that in time these fish will probably succumb to ailments because of the incorrect Ph.
<You need to first understand what the phenomenon of alkalinity is, its relationship with pH... then to have test kits for both... then to formulate a plan for regular water treatment, storage for use... Not hard to do... You might, depending on your source water chemistry, do well to start with a less solids-laden water... R.O....>
Your advice would be most appreciated in this matter, and I apologize for the lengthy email, but I felt that a detailed explanation would give you more a background for any advice you could give me.
Thank you again for reading this and taking the time to acknowledge. Your expertise is very much respected and valued.
<Bob Fenner>