[Melificent]

Hello! I'm a total newbie on this board, yet I thought I would ask for a bit of help figuring out what is wrong with one of my Angelfish. I noticed today that his (I'm just assuming here, lol) pectoral fins are sickle shaped, when two days ago they were not. It's a pretty small fish, about nickel sized in body, and seems to be doing well otherwise. Any ideas?
Water tests out nearly perfect (slightly higher PH than I would like, but my water from the tap is hard as heck, and fighting it is futile) and the temp is 80.

The pic is not very clear, as the fish is rather small, and does not stop moving for very long, sorry about that.

 

[triple red]

welcome to the board :icon_smil
are you talking about those long trailing pectoral fins?
they usually dont stay straight...especially if the angelfish is moving

 

[Melificent]

Actually, no, I'm talking about his pectoral fins, not his ventral/pelvic fins. I'm a newbie, but not uninformed on my anatomy :icon_lol: http://www.angelsplus.com/images/antmy.jpg
You can see the fin in the picture, its turned downwards, the right side is only visible.

 

[Mangala]

hmm... unfortunately, it's impossible to see those fins from the photo - however, he could be a mutant. (no, not like a ninja turtle) but I have a male betta whose trailing fins stick straight out to the side like wings. sometimes you get an anomaly. he's perfectly healthy otherwise, but I wouldn't breed him for anything (it's a shame too. He's got REALLY nice crown tail finnage... Not that I breed bettas or have the space to do so)

Does your angel have any trouble moving? does he get picked on by the rest of them more than normal? is he the only one in the tank? Is he one in many that you are raising from a batch of fry? Really, it's probably just a birth defect. If you wanted to get a really good picture of it, you could get a white net, catch him, get him above the water line and snap a photo with the flash on. It should capture enough detail to give us a good idea of what's going on. (and being out of the water for two seconds won't kill him unless you're spraying for bugs in the house)

Anyway... those are my thoughts.

 

[Melificent]

Thanks so much for the reply Mangala, unfortunately, the little guy passed on last night some time I think it was something wrong with him health wise, that caused the fin to go all strange. He was perfectly fine up until a few days ago( have only had him since 3/2), then the fins took on that shape and he had trouble swimming with any kind of speed. The other little veil I purchased at the same time as him died as well, so maybe it was a bad batch?

I'm going to chalk this one up as a 'stuff happens' type of event I think, as there are no signs of anything amiss in the tank as a whole. All other fish are doing very well, the water tests out perfectly, the plants are doing great...just these two little angels having issues.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions, I hope it was just a streak of bad luck!

 

[Mangala]

Sorry to hear of your loss With my angelfish, I lost one due to internal parasites. He just wouldn't eat anymore, and I couldn't have him in the main tank and die in there and infect anyone else... and no matter what I did he wouldn't eat the medicated food... (or anything else) so he died.... (he was tiny tiny - like a nickle size) and I occassionally think I should get another to replace him, but the rest of my five seem to get along so well I'm afraid of upsetting whatever they've got going on... Good Luck for next time!

 

[joejoeg]

yea angels grown out in a small area of water will have defformities in the fins.

 

[triple red]

Actually, no, I'm talking about his pectoral fins, not his ventral/pelvic fins. I'm a newbie, but not uninformed on my anatomy :icon_lol: http://www.angelsplus.com/images/antmy.jpg
You can see the fin in the picture, its turned downwards, the right side is only visible.

i guess that makes me the newbie :hihi:

 

[Melificent]

:wink: No worries! Thanks for trying to help, I do appreciate it. :biggrin:

 

[mistergreen]

I think you left out some information... Did it eat? did it show signs of sickness besides weird fin shape?

Are you sure the fin didn't rot?

 

[Melificent]

I think you left out some information... Did it eat? did it show signs of sickness besides weird fin shape?

Are you sure the fin didn't rot?

It did eat, and appeared fine until about two days or so prior to his death, then the change in fins occured. The fins surprisingly looked normal after death, but they were sickle shaped when he would try to swim. The evening before he died, he retreated behind the rotala and just hung out there. I have 5 other Angels in the tank and they are all robust and healthy, knock on wood. The little guy was not being picked on either, as far as I could see. I have tetras and corys (and the other similarly sized Angels) in the tank and a few Bamboo shrimp, so they wouldn't mess with him either. Like I said before, I think it was a bad stock issue, and if I ever buy anything from the same place again, they go into my 6 gallon for a few days of observation to make sure they are OK. Thanks for the reply!