sick emperor angel, I have no idea what it is!

[hqgc]

My emperor angel is not looking very good for the last week or so and getting worse. This is what I'm seeing :
-color is way off, she is very spotty with inconsistent "patches" of white and the blues and yellows have turned very dull
-looks like the eyes are turning glazed
-fins look like they are deteriorating
Other than this her temperment and appetite is same as usual.
I just changed tanks aprox. 1 month ago, I used 50% percent of my cycled water and all the live rock and sand from the old tank.
The only problem I've been having with this tank is inconsistent temprature, it fluctuates between 76.2 and 77.7 on a daily basis. I think this is because I have the thermometer is in the return section of my sump with a fluctuating water level.
Any help with this would be great, would hate to lose this fish because she is our "prize" fish of the tank.
thanks.

[viperfish]

That's not a huge fluctuation in temperature, 78-80 might be a little better range though. There are a lot of other agressive fish in the tank and I'm a trigger guy myself so I know first hand they can be stressful on an Emperor. What about parameters? These guys can be very sensitive to poor water conditions.

[Delphinus]

I immediately suspect skin and gill flukes. Angels in particular are very susceptible to them and the more I am learning about them myself, the more I am realizing how prevalent they are in many systems, private tanks, LFS and distributor tanks. Odds are VERY good you have them.

Faded colour, hazy or spotted eyes, and frayed fins are 3 of the classic symptoms. There are other symptoms as well but they do not have to display all symptoms.

The good news is it is treatable if caught early enough, and the medication is safe enough for use in a reef tank, although it will be hard on your tank, things will pull through.

Here is some additional reading for you:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=57604&highlight=fluke

This thread has been a real eye opener for me.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260067&
I'll summarize some key points:

The obvious symptoms:

1) Fish twitching the head side to side once in a while like if wanted to shake something off his head.

2) Discolored blotches of skin (Most people think this is velvet or some bacterial infection and misdiagnose it with antibiotics)

3) Frayed fins or tail.

4) Sudden loss of appetite. Fish was fine yesterday but today it's not eating at all.

5) Cloudy eye(s)

6) Rapid breathing


The treatment is with a pharmaceutical called praziquantal. You can get it as a powdered form in the bulk as Praziquantel, or in hobbyist packaging in the product name "Praz-tastic" (both made by National Fish Pharmaceuticals, more info here: http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products4.html {scroll down to about 1/2 way}) .. or in liquid form "Prazipro" (made by Hikari, more info here: http://uskoi.com/prazipro.htm ). If you can't find any locally, check with pond suppliers as it is commonly used to treat flukes on koi as well.

Flukes are a flatworm. You do need to act on this as once they move into the gills of a fish the fish will stop eating and death can become imminent.

You can try a FW dip in the meantime (match temperature and pH, some good tips for "how to" in that reefcentral link I posted above), the flukes will fall off and will be visible to the human eye ... however bear in mind that this is only a temporary measure as it will not get any free floating flukes in the tank, fluke eggs, or flukes that have spread to other hosts (ie., your other fish).

If you use the powdered form (it is stronger), you first have to dissolve it in vodka as it is insoluble in water. This makes it harder to use but it is a stronger dose. Prazipro on the other hand may be weaker but it is already in liquid form so easier to use.

In a bad infestation you will have to do more than one treatment one week apart.

Good luck. As you can tell from the first link I posted I have recently went through this myself. The good news is that after treatment my fish are recovering, so I can attest to the effectiveness. I decided to treat my whole tank as it had escalated quite badly before I realized what had happened and all my fish were at risk.

[hqgc]

got home from work, angel is dead.:sad: currently doing a new parameter test , then a water change.
will update with parameters.

[hqgc]

ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 40ppm
salinity 1.022
on with the water change, the trigger and my clownfish are starting to look the same.

[Coleus]

sorry to hear. Did you check if the ph or temp is good? Anychance it is lack of oxygen ?

[Delphinus]

I'm sorry for your loss. If you have not disposed of the fish yet, do a FW dip on him (at least now you won't have to match temp and pH anymore) and see if any flukes fall off. You need to confirm if this was flukes and if so treat your tank accordingly, especially if you suspect it is spreading to the others.

[bvlester]

I would also say skin flukes treatment Prazi pro 5ml per 20g for 5-7 days do the whole 7 day teatment. You have to remove carbon and adjust skimmer os it does not skim but you want it to inject air into the water so make it as dry as bosible. It's the only thing I have found that is a liquide and seems reef safe. The only thing it afected in my tank was a long pink tip Nem but he recovered with no noticable afects. It will also get rid of any flat worms you have also and tape worms and a few others. Ithink the dose is so small it only kills off the very small bugs.

Bill

[naesco]

It could also be a bacterial infection.
Place your fish in a QT and treat with neomycin. Follow the dosage carefully.
What is the size of your tank?

[hqgc]

It could also be a bacterial infection.
Place your fish in a QT and treat with neomycin. Follow the dosage carefully.
What is the size of your tank?

size of tank is 180. All fish look affected.

[hqgc]

just found dogfaced puffer dead. this is quickly going south.