flame angel with ich, popeye, fin rot and possible velvet!!!??

reiko1078 · #1 11/05/2007, 08:52 PM

i acquired a flame angel about a month ago. he had only been at the store for a few hours when i bought him and i do not have the means to keep a QT tank running so into the main display he went. within 3 days he had very visible signs of pop eye and also white dots on its fins which i assume to be ich. a few days later its lower rear fin (the blue one) got a tiny hole which ended up being a large tear. im guessing this is fin rot. then today i noticed when i see the fish from an angle you can see a white fuzziness evenly coating the fish. could this be velvet!? i was doing hypo salinity with formalin dips and putting bio bandage on the eyes (both eyes are now infected). does anyone have a picture of a flame angel with velvet? is velvet usually a certain color? can anyone recommend how to treat this fish? hes ina 50 gal reef tank. sorry for the long post im just desperate and i dont want to loose my whole tank if this is serious thanx

kevin2000 · #2 11/05/2007, 10:32 PM

My 02

Based on your signature it looks like your show tank is a ten gallon setup .. if so its too small for a dwarf angel and you might save yourself some time/trouble and return the fish rather than treat.

As far as treatment - depends on what problem the fish has. If the fish has ich and/or velvet then copper would be effective against both. If the fish has only ich then hypo salinity (SG 1.009) might be preferable to copper since its less harsh.

Bulging eyes are often a sign of an eye injury (netting etc) and can clear up on their own .. but when they don't you need to treat with an antibiotic (maracyn 2 is readily available).

Torn fins are often a sign of conflict with another fish .. sometimes a bacterial problem (fin rot) - if its a bacterial problem then the treament for eye injury will help as well.

Copper, hypo and antibiotics are treatments that should be done in a QT.

A std QT tank is a simple 10 gallon setup - you can purchase a ten gallon tank for $10 bucks .. add an inexpensive filter/heater and some pvc pipes for the fish to hide in .. not a big investment.