bye, Precious

My last angelfish died last night. She'd been gradually getting worse. Darting around the tank, acting "twitchy"-jerking her head to the side, or her pelvic fins as if something irritated them. Lately doing this odd thing where she'd drift down and then turn and swim body horizontal to the tank floor, across the length of it. Pushed by the gentle filter flow? she must've been so weak. Yesterday I thought she was looking poorly- didn't eat, and sat nose kinda angled up for most of the time. I thought: oh, she hasn't got long now, and did a partial water change. This morning she was gone. Still looking stunted. I don't feel terribly sad like I have loosing other fishes in the past- I wasn't really attached to this one, she reminded me of how badly I cared for my angel tank the past two years . . .

There was still a zebra nerite in her tank. I acclimated

and moved it into the 33L, as I have no other tanks running now. And then realized my error: if the angelfish had a contagious disease (probably) I've just now introduced it to my healthy tank. Facepalm. How could I have done that. Now I feel I should pull and just euthanize the snail- but it's been alive for four or five years! - but it's probably too late. Here below the crypt moehlmanii patch (they're looking rather pale, another thing I need to fix)

The white clouds have been flirting and darting in and out of plant thickets in here- breeding again. The few I had put in the smaller QT did nothing of the sort. I gave up and moved them all back in. Fat female is still fat- I was trying to get a photo of Tucker here who got excited that I might feed him and was going too fast back and forth- she's just visible there in the background. Now I notice she has a hunched spine, so probably it's bloat not eggbound and I might as well end her suffering.

Fish stuff is not going so great. Mainly because I somewhat neglected my tanks over the past two years of: accident, illness, low energy due to near-anemia, surgery and now an injured finger! I can at least manage water changes with that, as long as careful to keep my hand dry. Sheesh. But it's the errors I make from not thinking clearly, that are the worst.

one angelfish

is all I have left. And she still looks stunted, and shows signs of the same illness the others died of. The reddish marks under the skin behind dorsal fin, degraded fins, startling at little things and dashing across the tank. I've been doing my best to keep up with water changes, and feeding lightly when I can't for the week. I feel bad I haven't cared for her as well as I ought. Or she came to me already ill, who knows . . .

angel gone

 My second-favorite angelfish, Shirley, died sometime last night. She looked okay yesterday- alert and came eager to eat just like always. But this morning I didn't see her in the tank, had to search. She was on the tank floor behind a filter sponge, not moving. She rests in the garden now. I don't want to keep a large tank running for just one fish, so I am breaking down the 55 and moving Precious into the 20H.

I knew her end was probably coming within the year, I didn't expect it to be so soon. Even though it was half-expected and I've never been quite as fond of the gold angels as I was of Miss Beautiful, I still feel very sad and glum.

my 55

Is faltering. I just don't feel able to keep up with it right now, and fear the angelfishes will suffer. Slacking off on water changes is not at all good for them. Disheartened still since the death of Miss Beautiful, I decided it would be best to rehome the golden sisters and sell this tank. So far have sold some of the plants- anubias and bolbitis that were in here, plus a half dozen hornwort stems. Moved some buces into my window tank. Still hoping the fish will go with the tank, or at least one of them will find a new home. I could keep the other in the 20H, frequent water changes on that would be much easier to do.

My ankle still gets stiff, sore and swollen with any work that requires me to be on my feet for much time, especially if I carry something heavy around (like gallons of water). I've done better of late with performing two five or ten gallon wc's on the tank per week, instead one 20 or 30 gal wc. But it's not enough.

golden sisters

I didn't write about this before, because it just made me too sad. A few weeks ago, my favorite angelfish Miss Beautiful died. I hadn't even noticed she was unwell but that morning she was hiding low in plants when I fed the tank, didn't come out. I saw her down there looking as if struggling to swim, but going nowhere. Crashed. Looked closer saw her fins were ragged too. I tested the water- nitrates between ten and twenty. Did a partial water change. But that night she died. It happened when we were watching television in the same room. I looked in during a break, and she was unmoving. Lifted her out into a paper towel and buried under a hydrangea. 

I don't think I could have saved her. She'd been unhealthy for so long, these last few weeks of neglect were just the end. Now only the two gold angels in there, and three kuhli loaches still. I'm feeling very despondent about the tank. Some of my plants are doing poorly too (but the hornwort is really thriving!)

I am undecided what to do about the other fishes. In the past three months, my maintenance has slid to water changes once every other week, or once every ten, twelve days at best. It's not enough. I do ask for help but the response is "do we have to do that today?" or "can't it wait until the weekend" and then it ends up being two weeks again. I just got re-evaluated by the doctor and have to take it easy, do physical therapy for the next six weeks, for my ankle. I want to keep up with tank care like my usual standard, but I have a feeling of dread that in spite of best intentions, I simply won't be able to.

The white clouds in my window tank seem to be much tougher- they're even still breeding and there's two half-grown fry, one much smaller a few weeks old now, and several more just little specks with tails in there. I am sure Tucker my paradise fish is suffering from the lack of steady water changes, too- his color is fading again and tail fin lost its filament.

But I feel worse to see the angelfishes suffer. My gold sisters both have missing filments now, too- Shirley has a small fungal patch on her caudal fin and maybe some white showing on the lips. One of them has ragged edges on the pectoral fins- and they both have that ominous flush of inflammation near the spine behind dorsal which makes me think they're ill the same way Miss Beautiful was. (Also makes me think now that Miss Beautiful's broken pectoral fins weren't from crashing into tank walls after all - I've never seen these golden angels dash across the tank in fright like she used to- but probably from bad condition)

I was thinking to just sell the tank and re-home the fishes, hoping someone else can give them better care- but I feel guilty to dump my problem on someone else. Now considering to transfer the two angels in my spare 20H, strip and disinfect the 55. The 20 is a lot smaller, but will be easier for me to keep up on the water changes, maybe I can get them back into good enough health to re-home confidently.

Crazy thing is that, even though they look ill to me, they've finally settled their differences (there was lots of angry rushes at each other lately) and are in breeding mood. Just yesterday Shirley was laying eggs (and Precious eating them immediately). So I tell myself- they can't be doing too badly?

Kuhlis look just fine. Fat and active as ever. And I still think some of the plants are beautiful.

angel relationships

My angelfish attempted breeding again- I say 'attempted' because they're all female, so when two pair off, one lays eggs and the other just protects the area from the third. (My kids think it's hilarious that I have lesbian fish). They usually only do this when food is rich- if I've been giving them flies or frozen mysis shrimp, etc. It's always been Miss Beautiful and the golden Precious before, with Precious laying the eggs. This time I was surprised- after some threats and chasing around the tank (which I didn't pay much attention to) in the previous week, Miss Beautiful paired off with Shirley, and my older angel laid the eggs

on aponogeton bolivianus leaf.

Shirley helped clean the leaf and chase Precious away on the first day. Next day shirked her duties and hung out in the opposite corner,

while Miss Beautiful continued to fan the eggs futilely. A day later they were eaten, of course. It made me sad to watch Miss Beautiful working so hard, with her truncated pectoral fins. (She hasn't run into the walls for a very long time now, but they never grew back completely after the last time were damaged).

I'm curious why they switched pairs, and also why Miss Beautiful was the one to lay this time- but of course I'll never know. Did Miss Beautiful get tired of Precious? Did she decide it wasn't working so time to change partners? Is she dominant in the pairing with Shirley, so she got to lay this time? No idea how they work that out between them, just interesting to think about.

angel tank cleanup

I've noticed the hornwort continues to struggle- not that it's my favorite plant, but I do miss the plumes filling up that side wall. I suspect it's because the pothos roots are growing and growing- taking up yet more nutrients. I missed the midweek water change both last week and this- yikes- and only did 36% wc on the usual day, but shouldn't have worried much, the nitrates were below ten (tested before the wc) in each instance. I like the pothos roots. Instead of cutting them back, or removing some of the vine, I decided to remove a few of the other plants. 

I pulled out the three medium-sized driftwood chunks (about as big as my two fists together). One had java fern on it, the others anubias- which did kinda poorly at the higher level to the light anyway- the ones on the tank floor fare better. Kept them in a bucket with tank water (refreshed daily) for a week, both so I could be sure I didn't miss having them in the tank before sold, also so I could pick off snails (most people don't want to get snails). I found I didn't miss them at all. A bit more open space for the angels to swim now. 

Tried to get a few fulltank shots after that, but my camera didn't cooperate well. This picture is too green/blue 

and this one too yellow! (photoshop has issues on my computer lately so I can't adjust) 

These closeups of the areas are better: far left, 

middle (where I still hope the crypt boliviana and aponogeton capuronii will eventually grow to fill in)

and right

I have other plans in the making- for subtle changes. To make a new planter basket for my vals americana, a slightly deeper one. And maybe a slightly shorter one for the crypt boliviana and aponogeton- so they are more or less all the same height.

how are the angels

Angels doing fine together now

Shirley's condition the same (no fungus on the lip, small pale spot on tail fin, lingering redness . . .) 

same with her golden sister Precious

Not sure about Miss Beautiful. One one side, she no longer has redness where pectoral fin meets the body- 

and the lumps on corners of her mouth are much smaller- mostly because Precious has been nipping at them- but now she seems to be unable to close her mouth quite all the way. I feel this is a bad sign.

tank news

I'm glad in the angelfish tank, to see the pothos roots all extending down branching, healthy and fast-growing. Nitrates are remaining below 10 every time I test, now. Still doing the twice-weekly wc.

Sad that I lost one of the minnow fry- I only had two, in the ten gallon. Was doing a partial wc today and one accidentally got sucked up by the hose. Not a problem- small enough it didn't get any injury in trip to the bucket, but when I went to catch it, the little fish darted at last minute and got pinched against bucket side by frame of the net. Looked okay, but couldn't swim straight. Hanging at the surface, or spinning in circles head up. I think either its swim bladder or its brain got injured. 

Also sad that the best, close-up photos I ever get of these fish is when they're sick or hurt.

I watched it struggle for a while, (and the other one immediately hid, probably alarmed by the unusual movements). Then feeling very morose and guilty, I netted it (far too easy this time) and dropped in the big tank. Miss Beautiful had a quick snap. 

So now just one. It's only a few months old and I'm still leery to put it in the 33L with the adults. Sometimes, particularly when he hasn't eaten in a while (although I feel like I feed him well), Tucker now doggedly pursues a white cloud around and around the tank.

I'm pretty sure he's trying to catch and eat one. They're too quick and agile, but I don't know if this younger one could evade him.

Shirley's turn

Saw all three angelfish fussing in one corner the other day, but not actually chasing each other-

I stepped closer to see what was up. 

Shirley was attempting to lay eggs on the crypt balansae leaves. 

Without much success. She had no help, of course. She often missed the leaf edge, and the other two crowded close behind her to snatch and eat the eggs as they fell. Sometimes so close behind her, it looked as if they were eating the eggs immediately emerged, or actually biting her protruding breeding tube. 

I felt kinda bad for her. At least the disruption in their normal calm routine doesn't even last a day when it's Shirley laying, as there's nobody to defend her and chase the third angelfish from the area, no aggression happens.

angelfish- good news, and discouraging

Well the good is that my two younger gold angels have improved. The plain gold one, Precious, doesn't have pale marks on her fins anymore.

Shirley's lip is almost completely better- only a tiny white mark remains, and the spots on her fins mostly gone, just a small bit still on tail fin.

The inflamed look where Miss Beautiful's pectorals join the body, has diminished. But they all still have red flushed appearance under the skin, on edges of the body. And now there's a new issue with my older angel. Who still sometimes sits "tilted" nose up in the water or darts around jerking her pelvic fins alarmingly. White lumps have grown out of the corners of her mouth.

It reminds me of the lump Foxface had near his mouth. I don't know if the same thing.

The lump on her left (right in the picture) looks torn because Precious has been biting at it. When Miss Beautiful sits motionless nose-up, one of the other fish sometimes nips at her. I don't know why. But I saw it many times with Perry and then Laddie, and I'm feeling very glum about it all, that an end might be near.

I suspect Miss Beautiful won't last out the year- or maybe she'll live a long time lingering in suffering. (If she's suffering, it's hard to tell but the long moments she sits staring at the back wall makes me think so). Wish I could figure out what it is. Could be a lip fibroma- benign tumor that has to be removed when it gets to the point of preventing the fish from eating- or euthanize before she starves. Not uncommon among freshwater angelfishes- I found quite a lot of forum discussions and a few articles on it. But all the picture I've seen of that, it causes the lips to appear bulbous or swollen. I didn't see any where it was on the corners of the mouth. Or could be early stage of lymphocystis, or something else I know nothing about. Which is also viral. . . 

angels update 10

It seems this might resolve on its own, the mouth fungus. I've kept to my new cleaning schedule and maybe it's helping. Or having less stress, fewer aggressive fish in the tank is. Perhaps her immune system is finally fighting it off. Shirley's improved another margin.

The bruising under skin and odd behavior isn't any better, though. My family has started to notice: "Mom, why is your fish acting weird?" My husband has seen them wildly thrashing the pelvic fins, and today I was in the other room, replied "I don't know, what are they doing?" Ten-year-old told me that Miss Beautiful was at an odd angle, nose up, and the other fish was picking at her. Dread in my heart. This is just what I saw going on with my prior paradise fishes before they died . . . 

Well, for the little help it will give in keeping nitrates low, most of the pothos vines I cut have sprouted roots long enough to reach.

So I've put them on the back of the tank- the stem sits on the rim lip, and the roots just touch the water through gap behind the skirt.

One didn't grow much yet and is still in the cutting tray.

yesterday

the eggs turned white- all dead (unfertilized). Precious kept fanning and protecting them, Miss Beautiful wanted to eat them- and aggressively drove Precious away so she could do so. Now Shirley is plump and her breeding tube showing, Miss Beautiful's tube is out also. I'm expecting Shirley to lay eggs next, but not sure if she will pair up with one of the others? Last time she laid eggs was with one of the males I removed. Perhaps Miss Beautiful and Precious have a strong enough bond they simply won't allow her to lay eggs.

Precious has a few fin tears from Miss Beautiful chasing her, I think that will heal okay but Shirley has flat white marks on her tail fin that weren't there before. Her lip is the same- a small white blot in center. I didn't do a salt bath yesterday or today- but am still testing the water daily. Nitrates started to get above 10ppm so I did a wc today.

My plan is to do 30% wc twice a week on a regular basis now. Every other wc I either rinse one of the filter sponges or gravel vac the planters, and I made a little chart so I won't forget what I did last time. I'm thinking of making new baskets, to have them all uniform height and a bit less depth- maybe that will help me keep it cleaner. When I bought new food recently, I immediately tossed half the amount of each package, because I know I will only go through about half in six months, and this will easily remind me to buy new food for them again.

Upset because I think they have viral septicemia. I was going to try putting all of them- the three angelfishes and three remaining kuhli loaches- in my 20gal QT and treat with triple sulfa, but that would only help if this is the bacterial form of the disease, and most accounts I read of that say the fishes die very quickly of that, within days. Whereas some can be resistant to the viral form. And there's no cure. So basically I can't add any fish, and have to just give them the best care until they're suffering too much, then euthanize and leave my tank empty for 2 weeks. After that the virus should die out lacking a fish host. If the info I read was correct.

I suspect this is what my two prior paradise fishes had. I don't know for sure, though. I treated the angelfish tank with praziquantel twice before, as I thought the jerky motions and twitchiness Miss Beautiful displayed, was from external parasites irritating her? She only got marginally better though, and the symptoms came back. She sometimes looses color and sits nose up, motionless or drifting, in the middle of the tank. Other times she twitches and darts around like something bit her, or shakes her ventral fins wildly (not the same jerking as when threatening another fish). The other day I saw one of the gold angels jerk the pelvic fins in the same way. And she's for a very long time, often startled and crashed into the walls (though not recently)- I thought she was just nervous, or being bitten by the black skirt tetras- but now I wonder if it was the virus affecting her brain all this time. They all show the red streaks still, which fades sometimes and is more vivid other times.

Sorry if this is repetitive, I've been thinking about it a lot and reading a lot, trying to find symptoms described that match- and viral septicemia seems what it is because of the redness where the fins meet the body, or as if bruises under the skin. It makes me feel very glum. Upset that I adopted fish and put them in this tank which is probably infected, that my beautiful angels suffer, that I gave fish to someone else who might be carrying it. The festivums didn't have symptoms but I did tell the guy who took them, that they'd shared a tank with fish I suspected were ill. And I showed him the angels, pointing out the symptoms and telling him my suspicions. He didn't seem too concerned, said he'd keep them in their own tank if he needed to. But now I feel like it would be have better had I just euthanized them instead.

So here's the surprise

Yesterday, Precious laid eggs again.

This time on a narrow crypt balansae leaf.

One that already has a few holes in it from somebody trying to eat it. So not only did she miss the edge sometimes, but also made her pass over the gap, so eggs kept falling. Then Miss Beautiful, in attendance, would dart down to grab (and eat it).

It's been amusing to watch Precious try every angle to get eggs on the leaf-

turning sideways to try and lay them on the narrow edge, 

or upside down to put them underneath, when she ran out of top surface. I don't know if those stuck!

I used to feel a bit sad watching them go through all this, knowing they'll never see the process to completion. Do they wonder why it isn't working, when they have a partner now? Do they feel disappointed the eggs don't hatch. Well, now I think: hey at least they have something to do, other than eat, sleep, and drift in circles. Maybe it feels purposeful, even though they never get fry.

Miss Beautiful sure is in fine color again. Her tail fin is almost completely healed, from the tear it got when I netted her out to add her companions a month ago. But can also see the red streak on edge of body is back, and worse. I'm dreading it really is viral septicemia.