New Flame Angel!!!

Kazzy

Active Member
My dad and I bought a flame angelfish just 2 and a half hours ago. We also bought a colony of very pretty bright green clove polyps. This definitely makes up for the jawfish! The angel was in the store for just 24 hours when we bought him. He looks pretty healthy, but we are still quarantining him for 2 weeks, unless of course he looks unhealthy, in which case we'll keep him until treatment is over. I tested our quarantine tank water and we have about .25 Ammonia and 0 nitrite. I didn't test the nitrate because I know it's low and fish aren't bothered by nitrates much. I am planning on fragging the green cloves as soon as they start multiplying. I will post a picture as soon as I can of both the angel and polyps! :D :D
 

tbittner

Well-Known Member
Any ammonia at all is really bad. It's terribly hard on livestock. Please do consider doing a water change of the QT. And as far as the nitrates, I'm guessing you would be shocked at how high it is. Please test for it and let us know what the reading is.
 

Kazzy

Active Member
Any ammonia at all is really bad. It's terribly hard on livestock. Please do consider doing a water change of the QT. And as far as the nitrates, I'm guessing you would be shocked at how high it is. Please test for it and let us know what the reading is.
Umm.. The nitrates are low. I know it for a fact because most of the water in the qt came from my main tank which has 0-5 Nitrates. I tested it just last week and have only done a water change since. The ammonia will probably be gone soon anyways since we are planning a water change for tomorrow. Don't worry, I was kinda irritated we had any ammonia at all too!
 

Kazzy

Active Member
Most likely it is from the traces of whatever was left from being in the garage, plus whatever stayed in there from when it was a heavily stocked freshwater community(with a hyperactive Long-Fin Rosy Barb LOL). I bet some of it stayed in there even when I hosed it out and scraped it with a aquarium scraper thingy.
 

Intranick

Active Member
flame angel's are beautiful. I also agree that QT is a good idea on that one.

mine did pretty well though, but I chose him out of about ten
 

tbittner

Well-Known Member
That very well could be, Kazzy. If there was any stuff left on the sides or corners, then it probably is the reason for the small ammonia spike. And it's impossible to get it all out.

I think that's the reason folks here recommend cleaning out used aquariums with vinegar and then rinsing with RO/DI water.

I have a flame too and he is constantly picking at the rocks. I did catch him picking at the corals a couple times but for the most part, he leaves them alone. Beautiful fish!
 

Kazzy

Active Member
I just turned on the lights in the qt. He seems very calm and is quietly exploring the tank. The temp was a little low, at 76-77 so I turned up the heater a bit. Do you guys think I should lower the salinity? I did think about it earlier, but I was wondering if it would be helpful.
 

prow

Well-Known Member
I just turned on the lights in the qt. He seems very calm and is quietly exploring the tank. The temp was a little low, at 76-77 so I turned up the heater a bit. Do you guys think I should lower the salinity? I did think about it earlier, but I was wondering if it would be helpful.
its very helpful, IMO. here you go give this a read, Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Aquarium Fish: Applications for Hyposalinity Therapy: The Benefits of Salinity Manipulation for Marine Fish :contract:
 

Kazzy

Active Member
what is it @ now. Watch the heater as well dont let it get to hot
I let the heater get it up to 81 and it seems to be stable now. I think the water movement helps keep it at a certain temperature. I think we'll probably lower the salinity a bit.
 

Kazzy

Active Member
Badish news. Ponch(the flame angel) is ignoring garlic soaked raw shrimp, green flake food(made of algae), AND pieces of algae discs. He doesn't look stressed out. We turned off the filter and powerhead before feeding. When I fed the shrimp, I thought maybe he just didn't know shrimp was food, or the garlic had worn off in like 5 days while it was in the freezer. But when he ignored algae I started worrying. The only thing he is eating are some tiny patches of algae growing on the pvc pipes. I am probably overreacting but after killing two of these beautiful fish, I don't want to lose a third. I did a 1 gallon water change and siphoned out some of the food to keep it from spiking the ammonia. I also added another gallon because for some reason we never filled it to the top. The saltwater is made from RO water and is perfect in water quality. I will do another water test and tell you the results. On a happier note, the clove polyps are really opening up. They are gorgeous. They look like Green Center Clove Polyps to me, except tons brighter.
 

tbittner

Well-Known Member
I feed my tank flakes and pellets, both soaked in garlic, selcon, and zoe. My flame seems to eat mainly the pellets. Plus he spends all day picking at the rocks.
 

prow

Well-Known Member
is this angel the only fish? wild caught fish will usually just try to do what they normally do. munch on the stuff on the rock. sometimes it takes another fish that is eating prepared food to teach the new guy. they usually figure it out on there own, but seeing other fish eating helps. try formula 2 all the angels i have had take it as one of their first foods.
 

Kazzy

Active Member
My dad put a small piece of live rock with some seaweed rubberbanded to it in the QT. Ponch is ignoring it, but hopefully he will get hungry enough to eat it soon. I will try the formula two at feeding time and see if he likes it.
 

Kazzy

Active Member
I think I figured out what is wrong. I just checked PH, and it is about 7.5. This is probably why he isn't eating, right? And is freshwater alkaline buffer different from saltwater, or it is just alkaline buffer? Because my dad bought alkaline buffer that says freshwater in the description and I didn't notice it until I we added some the recommended dose. Is it likely this is a problem? It is made by Seachem, which is kinda misleading. I assumed it worked for saltwater and freshwater.
P.S. I also did a water test and it came up as:
15 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
Seems like the water change and the extra gallon helped.
 

juvejazzman

New Member
hi kazzy,

i'm kinda having a similar "problem" with my flames (i have 2, 1 bigger 1 smaller).

they're munching diatoms off the LR and occasionally going for a nip on the red bamboo algae i have in my tank (that was meant to feed my tangs).

still no luck with pellets or the zooplankton i've been tryin to make them eat.. :(

the pH could be a problem, i've suspected that too, haven't yet tested my own pH, but since you've brought it up, i miht as well give it a go!

anyone have any suggestions/comments?
 

prow

Well-Known Member
I think I figured out what is wrong. I just checked PH, and it is about 7.5. This is probably why he isn't eating, right? And is freshwater alkaline buffer different from saltwater, or it is just alkaline buffer? Because my dad bought alkaline buffer that says freshwater in the description and I didn't notice it until I we added some the recommended dose. Is it likely this is a problem? It is made by Seachem, which is kinda misleading. I assumed it worked for saltwater and freshwater.
P.S. I also did a water test and it came up as:
15 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
Seems like the water change and the extra gallon helped.
AAAHHHH, dont add any buffer. what kit are you useing? most kits give you total NH3/NH4. of that total at a temp of 77 with a ph of 7.5 the ammonia(NH3) is only 1.77% of your reading the rest is locked up in its inactive form ammonium(NH4). if you raise the ph to 8.0 that percent goes up to 5.38. still you raise the ph to 8.5 the percent goes up to 15.3 percent. also if the temp is higher say 82 the % goes up too. (ex. temp 82 ph7.5=2.17 percent NH3)(ex. temp 82 ph8.5=18.2 percent NH3). its the H+ that turns NH4(not so toxic) to NH3(very toxic). big water changes would be what i would do. that and 24/7 running of good quaity carbon like seachem matrix or mairnelands blackdiamond. keep the ph down till you get the NH3 down. raise the ph with new ammonia free water.

i will try to explain more later just to tried right now.
 

Kazzy

Active Member
Most of it made sense. I will just do a 4 gallon water change. Thanks for the warning!
P.S. My dad managed to start a new mini-cycle by adding a little piece of live rock that had been in our main tank for a week, so all levels shot up a little.
Ammonia 15 still thankfully
Nitrate 17-18ish
Nitrite 10
I was planning a 2 gallon water change but now I will do a 4. EEP, this is stressful!
 
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