Angelfish Aids or the Angelfish Plague?

Question

Ok...I have been posting questions about what is wrong with my Angelfish today. I finally got home from work and have been unable to sleep because of my concern for my fish whcih are doing much worse today. I tested my water parameters are fine. All of my other fish are fine...not showing any signs of sickness. I have 3 angels and my two oldest ones are sick but the one I just bought is fine. I was doing some research and heard of a disease back from the 1980's called Angelfish Aids or the Angelfish plague and how it may be making a comeback. What are the symptoms of this disease? I have looked at all the common diseases and seriously nothing looks like what I am seeing. Has anyone dealt with this disease before and if so what were the symptoms...also it is hard to find anything about this disease online so if you could send me a website or a picture of this disease that would be great!

Answer 1

I have also read your questions from earlier describing the symptoms. Ice Queen's suspicions are right, your fish have fungus.

Here's the thing with fungus: It is very contagious and very deadly.

What you need to do is get any and all affected fish out of that tank and away from your other fish. I would do a massive water change on the whole tank (at least 50%) and begin treatment with Pimafix or another anti-fungal treatment in both the main tank, and the hospital tank you put your sick guys into. Keep the water PRISTINE.

You must act quickly - especially in getting the sick fish out. I know, because I lost almost an entire tank of fish to this disease once.

In the future as a preventative method, I think you should do at least a 30% water change instead of the 15% that you do.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I read your other questions and to me it sounds like a fungus just like my 2 cichlids started out yesterday with.

I am treating with pimafix not melafix you can use the two together but i was advised to use pimafix

Answer 3

Since your water parameters are fine check to make sure there isn't any stray current in the aquarium.  Turn off and take out your heater to make sure it's strong and solid without any water or current leakage.  Do the same with your filters.  Look at the fish closely and check for any parasites or bacterial infections.  If anything is noticed then treat appropriately.  Go to the pet store where you purchased the new addition and talk to them.  Ask them what disease they have in their aquarium because the other fish should be showing the same signs.  

If it is the Asian Plague then it's a diffilcult disease to cure because the fish usually don't last long enough to be properly treated.  The Asian Plague decimated the Angelfish, Discus and Guppy stocks.  In Discus the fish turn very dark, have fins closed, hide and don't eat.  The only way I know of to eliminate this was told to me by Jack Wattley.  He would take his discus from Asia and lower the ph significantly.  He brought some fish down to the upper 3s.  The first thing I would do if I truely thought this was the Asian Plague is to get a low ph good quality Canadian Peat Moss and add it to a filter.  You can also add Indian Almond Leaves though I would only add 1 of these leaves per 10 gallons.  The peat will lower the ph in a safe manner though if you have hard water it won't work very well due to the buffering capacity in the hard water.  If you have an RO unit I would slowly start to use this water along with the peat moss.  Wattley added acid to lower the ph though I don't like messing with this.  You should be able to get the ph down significantly through RO water as well as the peat.  I would leave the ph low for 3 weeks.  Be careful when feeding.  The important part is getting the uneaten food out of the water.  Be very careful about water changes because ph fluctuation going from lower to higher will hurt the fish.  Make your changes small and over a long period of time.  Good luck.  As stated above check for other problems first because eliminating the Asian Plague is long, diffilcult and time consuming.  Starting by purchasing from a local breeder and getting locally bred and raised Angelfish is the best way to start.  Good luck.  It's nice to see someone that is so concerned about their fish.