# Angel Fish not eating



## Britishbookbug

Does anyone have any experience with an angel fish that stops eating? He looks healthy in all othe respects. The water parameters are zero on ammonia and nitrite and 20 on nitrates. He is paired with a female. They spawned (fourth time) 4 days ago. They seem to spawn every 2 weeks. The eggs are getting covered in fungus this time. They laid the eggs on the heater which is almost flat instead of the intake tube which is vertical. I put some algae fix in the tank 5 days ago. Would any of these things cause him not to eat?

I have also lost two small neons and an otto. Could he have eaten these and still be digesting them or are they stuck in his throat? There are no visible signs of them being stuck. He tries to eat and then spits it back out. His behavior is normal other than this.

Tanks mates are 7 large neons (too big to eat) and 1 otto. They have recently killed the yoyo loach and a flying fox. I have to find a cleaning fish that will survive the aggression. Any suggestions on a resilient cleaner fish? The last otto seems to be doing ok.

Thanks

Any suggestions?


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## lotsofish

First, it is best to avoid algae fix. I've heard of lots of cases where it seems to harm the fish.

Second, angels might eat neons but it sounds like something else is going on in your tank. Perhaps parasites, maybe worms. I can't imagine an angel killing a yoyo loach or a flying fox.

I would try levamisole. http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1/

Once you get the tank under control, try getting a bristlenose cat.


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## hey_wood1981

hey, i delt with an angel that stopped eating shortly after a spawning. I wasn't so lucky and lost him. what types of food are you feeding him? try frozen blood worms, angels love them. if you haven't feed blood worms before make sure you don't leave any leftovers in the tank to spoil. keep a close eye on him for anything out of the ordinary, hanging around the top, swimming differently, change in color of the fish, etc. what's the temp. of the tank?


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## DirtyBlackSocks

Post this in the illness/disease discussion forum for more constructive help then what you'll get here.

Have you done anything different to the tank recently, to include new tanks mates that weren't QT'd, feeding live foods, or any other introductions of foreign sources to the tank?

Have you tried live blood worm to see if he'll take it? Is he showing interest in food and just not taking it, or is he ignoring it completely? Have you seen any white or broken up feces come out of him, is his stomach area plump or going concave?


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## Britishbookbug

Thanks for your responses. I will try to answer all your questions:

Temp 80 
Food: Flakes bought from Ken's Fish Food online especially meant for Angel fish and freeze dried blood worms
He has shown a little interest in food a couple of times, but then spits it out. Mostly, he doesn't appear hungry. Hence my wondering whether he had eaten the other smaller fish that went "missing".

Behavior: He is acting normally. He is aggressive to other tank mates (normal for him). The aggression is heightened by the spawning too. He is looking after the fry. Currently moving them back onto the heater. There are no other signs of ill health. Belly looks normal. Not gasping at the surface. He's showing an interest in tank life. No abnormal poop. No worms hanging off him. I have a book on common diseases.

No recent additions to the tank.

Aggression towards his tank mates:

The loach and flying fox had shown signs of being bullied before they were finally killed. They hid in their caves most of the time. I had nowhere else to put them, so I felt quite sad that they were stuck in the tank with the angels. I saw the angel attack the loach when it came near the fry. It went after it whenever it saw it. Same with all the cleaner fish.

Thanks for the idea of a bristle nose catfish.

The problem with the algae (dirt cobweb type) started after I tried to keep the first lot of fry in a fry net. I fed them frozen brine shrimp which didn't all get eaten. It was hard to keep clean without harming the fry. The nitrates went up to 40 and the algae grew. The nitrates are down to 20 now. I've cleaned the plants and ornaments 3 times now. I've sucked out as much of the algae as possible. I added the algae fix to finish off the algae. It seems to have worked, but worried that it harmed my fish.

The tank looks good. Just don't want to miss the opportunity to help my male angel if he is sick from anything I've done. Even though he is aggressive, I do like him. He was picked on as a juvenile and lost most of his dorsal fin. I nursed him back to health. His fin grew back too. I'd hate to see him die before his time.

Thanks for all your help.


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## Britishbookbug

Thanks for your responses. I will try to answer all your questions:

Temp 80 
Food: Flakes bought from Ken's Fish Food online especially meant for Angel fish and freeze dried blood worms
He has shown a little interest in food a couple of times, but then spits it out. Mostly, he doesn't appear hungry. Hence my wondering whether he had eaten the other smaller fish that went "missing".

Behavior: He is acting normally. He is aggressive to other tank mates (normal for him). The aggression is heightened by the spawning too. He is looking after the fry. Currently moving them back onto the heater. There are no other signs of ill health. Belly looks normal. Not gasping at the surface. He's showing an interest in tank life. No abnormal poop. No worms hanging off him. I have a book on common diseases.

No recent additions to the tank.

Aggression towards his tank mates:

The loach and flying fox had shown signs of being bullied before they were finally killed. They hid in their caves most of the time. I had nowhere else to put them, so I felt quite sad that they were stuck in the tank with the angels. I saw the angel attack the loach when it came near the fry. It went after it whenever it saw it. Same with all the cleaner fish.

Thanks for the idea of a bristle nose catfish.

The problem with the algae (dirt cobweb type) started after I tried to keep the first lot of fry in a fry net. I fed them frozen brine shrimp which didn't all get eaten. It was hard to keep clean without harming the fry. The nitrates went up to 40 and the algae grew. The nitrates are down to 20 now. I've cleaned the plants and ornaments 3 times now. I've sucked out as much of the algae as possible. I added the algae fix to finish off the algae. It seems to have worked, but worried that it harmed my fish.

The tank looks good. Just don't want to miss the opportunity to help my male angel if he is sick from anything I've done. Even though he is aggressive, I do like him. He was picked on as a juvenile and lost most of his dorsal fin. I nursed him back to health. His fin grew back too. I'd hate to see him die before his time.

Thanks for all your help.


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## lotsofish

It sounds like your angel is a good parent defending the young. This causes much stress to the fish so trying to feed richer foods like frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp would be a good idea. Also, your cleaning the tank and the algae fix might have caused him further stress. His immune system may not be as strong as usual. He could be ripe for catching a disease that normally would be caught by the fish's natural defenses.

Taking in food and spitting it out is not a good sign. If there are parasites or a bacterial infection of some type, by the time you see worms or gasping at the surface it may be too late.

If he doesn't start eating soon, I would try a course of treatments.

I don't know too much about flying fox, but I have heard of odd occasions of yo-yo loaches killing angels. Loaches are equipped with spines as defenses. I still would find it difficult to believe the angel would kill the loach unless it was a very small one. Chasing it away from fry is different than killing it.


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## hey_wood1981

i've found that my angels have done best in a little warmer temps. around 82-84. i don't know if that's suitable for the other tank mates. if you do decide on using meds. i've been told that a product called metro+ works well on angels.


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## star rider

I'll second the warmer temps. I keep my angels no cooler than 80..many of my tanks are 82-84f

I have several spawning pairs and none of them will not eat at spawning time..they eat pretty normal.
you should bump the protein up tho..add bloodworms, brine shrimp ,beefheart..

I also feed small feedings twice per day.

BTW, one of my angels recently stopped eating..(internal parasites) it went several weeks and just started eating this morning(over the course of several days of trying to eat)


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## Beverly

Britishbookbug said:


> Thanks for your responses. I will try to answer all your questions:
> 
> Temp 80
> Food: Flakes bought from Ken's Fish Food online especially meant for Angel fish and freeze dried blood worms
> He has shown a little interest in food a couple of times, but then spits it out. Mostly, he doesn't appear hungry. Hence my wondering whether he had eaten the other smaller fish that went "missing".
> 
> Behavior: He is acting normally. He is aggressive to other tank mates (normal for him). The aggression is heightened by the spawning too. He is looking after the fry. Currently moving them back onto the heater. There are no other signs of ill health. Belly looks normal. Not gasping at the surface. He's showing an interest in tank life. No abnormal poop. No worms hanging off him. I have a book on common diseases.
> 
> No recent additions to the tank.
> 
> Aggression towards his tank mates:
> 
> The loach and flying fox had shown signs of being bullied before they were finally killed. They hid in their caves most of the time. I had nowhere else to put them, so I felt quite sad that they were stuck in the tank with the angels. I saw the angel attack the loach when it came near the fry. It went after it whenever it saw it. Same with all the cleaner fish.
> 
> Thanks for the idea of a bristle nose catfish.
> 
> The problem with the algae (dirt cobweb type) started after I tried to keep the first lot of fry in a fry net. I fed them frozen brine shrimp which didn't all get eaten. It was hard to keep clean without harming the fry. The nitrates went up to 40 and the algae grew. The nitrates are down to 20 now. I've cleaned the plants and ornaments 3 times now. I've sucked out as much of the algae as possible. I added the algae fix to finish off the algae. It seems to have worked, but worried that it harmed my fish.
> 
> The tank looks good. Just don't want to miss the opportunity to help my male angel if he is sick from anything I've done. Even though he is aggressive, I do like him. He was picked on as a juvenile and lost most of his dorsal fin. I nursed him back to health. His fin grew back too. I'd hate to see him die before his time.
> 
> Thanks for all your help.


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## Beverly

Britishbookbug said:


> Thanks for your responses. I will try to answer all your questions:
> 
> Temp 80
> Food: Flakes bought from Ken's Fish Food online especially meant for Angel fish and freeze dried blood worms
> He has shown a little interest in food a couple of times, but then spits it out. Mostly, he doesn't appear hungry. Hence my wondering whether he had eaten the other smaller fish that went "missing".
> 
> Behavior: He is acting normally. He is aggressive to other tank mates (normal for him). The aggression is heightened by the spawning too. He is looking after the fry. Currently moving them back onto the heater. There are no other signs of ill health. Belly looks normal. Not gasping at the surface. He's showing an interest in tank life. No abnormal poop. No worms hanging off him. I have a book on common diseases.
> 
> No recent additions to the tank.
> 
> Aggression towards his tank mates:
> 
> The loach and flying fox had shown signs of being bullied before they were finally killed. They hid in their caves most of the time. I had nowhere else to put them, so I felt quite sad that they were stuck in the tank with the angels. I saw the angel attack the loach when it came near the fry. It went after it whenever it saw it. Same with all the cleaner fish.
> 
> Thanks for the idea of a bristle nose catfish.
> 
> The problem with the algae (dirt cobweb type) started after I tried to keep the first lot of fry in a fry net. I fed them frozen brine shrimp which didn't all get eaten. It was hard to keep clean without harming the fry. The nitrates went up to 40 and the algae grew. The nitrates are down to 20 now. I've cleaned the plants and ornaments 3 times now. I've sucked out as much of the algae as possible. I added the algae fix to finish off the algae. It seems to have worked, but worried that it harmed my fish.
> 
> The tank looks good. Just don't want to miss the opportunity to help my male angel if he is sick from anything I've done. Even though he is aggressive, I do like him. He was picked on as a juvenile and lost most of his dorsal fin. I nursed him back to health. His fin grew back too. I'd hate to see him die before his time.
> 
> Thanks for all your help.


----------



## Beverly

Britishbookbug said:


> Thanks for your responses. I will try to answer all your questions:
> 
> Temp 80
> Food: Flakes bought from Ken's Fish Food online especially meant for Angel fish and freeze dried blood worms
> He has shown a little interest in food a couple of times, but then spits it out. Mostly, he doesn't appear hungry. Hence my wondering whether he had eaten the other smaller fish that went "missing".
> 
> Behavior: He is acting normally. He is aggressive to other tank mates (normal for him). The aggression is heightened by the spawning too. He is looking after the fry. Currently moving them back onto the heater. There are no other signs of ill health. Belly looks normal. Not gasping at the surface. He's showing an interest in tank life. No abnormal poop. No worms hanging off him. I have a book on common diseases.
> 
> No recent additions to the tank.
> 
> Aggression towards his tank mates:
> 
> The loach and flying fox had shown signs of being bullied before they were finally killed. They hid in their caves most of the time. I had nowhere else to put them, so I felt quite sad that they were stuck in the tank with the angels. I saw the angel attack the loach when it came near the fry. It went after it whenever it saw it. Same with all the cleaner fish.
> 
> Thanks for the idea of a bristle nose catfish.
> 
> The problem with the algae (dirt cobweb type) started after I tried to keep the first lot of fry in a fry net. I fed them frozen brine shrimp which didn't all get eaten. It was hard to keep clean without harming the fry. The nitrates went up to 40 and the algae grew. The nitrates are down to 20 now. I've cleaned the plants and ornaments 3 times now. I've sucked out as much of the algae as possible. I added the algae fix to finish off the algae. It seems to have worked, but worried that it harmed my fish.
> 
> The tank looks good. Just don't want to miss the opportunity to help my male angel if he is sick from anything I've done. Even though he is aggressive, I do like him. He was picked on as a juvenile and lost most of his dorsal fin. I nursed him back to health. His fin grew back too. I'd hate to see him die before his time.
> 
> Thanks for all your help.


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