Anglefish

Question
My son bought an Anglefish, it has been doing fine until he had to do a water change, when he put the fish back in after treating the water etc the anglefish just lay on its side.  It is still on its side and what looks like blood is around its gills, the water is at 27 degrees.  The anglefish has been like this now for 2 days going on three.  We have also treated it for Fin Rot what else can I do?

Thanks
Terry

Answer
Hi Terry,
Have you made sure the water was dechlorinated properly? What it sounds like according to the angelfish has gone into shock and severe stress from something bad in the water. Was the water conditioner able to neutralize both chlorine and chloramine? You may also have ammonia in your tapwater that could be poisoning the poor fish. Or it could even be pH shock from a large water change if the pH was different from the tank the angel is in to the tap water.

I would add a complete water conditioner like Amquel+ to the tank and maybe do another 50% water change and use the Amquel+ water conditioner. It sounds like you took the fish out and did a complete 100% water change. Although you had good intentions, the stress of being moved and then put in completely new fresh water may have been too much for him.

The best way to do water changes is to use an aquarium siphon and drain a percentage of water down and removing the fish during the water change is not necessary.

I'm not sure if the little angel will be able to make a full recovery. His gills may be damaged from some kind of dangerous substance in the water.

All you can do is try your best and add a complete water conditioner as a precaution as I highly suspect there is something bad in your tap water that maybe your water conditioner didn't remove...Or it could even be pH shock.

He doesn't need medication right now. It will stress him worse. Just try treating the water and doing a couple of water changes while using the good water conditioner, but just know that the damage may have gone too far for him to recover. I'm really sorry.

I hope this helps!
Karen~