Potters Angel Issues

[thewbell]

I picked up a Potters Angel this past Saturday morning and found him dead when I woke up this morning. The tank is completely cycled and currently has a pair of clowns and a damsel that are all doing great, but for some reason the angel starting going downhill yesterday afternoon. I acclimated it for about an hour (drip until water matched salinity) and he ate Saturday evening and Sunday Morning (Rod's and pellets) but spent most of his time swimming around in my rock work. He was pretty active and you would see him on both sides of the tank going in and out exploring so I did not suspect any issues. I was gone most of the day Sunday and when I came home and went to feed the fish I noticed the angel at the surface seeming to gasp for air. My first reaction was to check Ammonia (0) then verify my temperature (77.7-78.3 Apex controlled). My pH varies between 8.1 and 8.2 between day and night and I did not see any anomalies there as well. All of the other fish are doing great and ate both Sunday night and this morning. I have also not noticed any aggression at all in the tank.

Any ideas on what could have happened to my Potter's Angel? He was in copper at the LFS and had been there for 2-3 weeks at the time of purchase. He was also very active in their tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Potters are a more delicate angel to begin with.

Gasping indicates difficulty breathing, so something attacking his gills, such as flukes, ich, or velvet.

An hr is a bit long for acclimation, if it was shipped it would cause more of an issue than being from an lfs though.

 

[thewbell]

Acclimation may not have been a full hour as I was not watching like a hawk, but it was close. Temp was maintained throughout the process, but next time I can speed up the drip. The fish was only in the bag for a total of about 45 minutes between the drive and floating so I don't think I had an ammonium issue similar to what can happen when fish are shipped.

If the fish was living in copper for a few weeks what are the odds he brought something in? The other 3 fish are all doing fine and showing no signs of distress.

 

[eatbreakfast]

It's not o much that he brought something in, but rather the current fish can be carriers of something.

Getting caught, bagged, transported, acclimated, and introduced to new surroundings and established fish can be very stressful. This cumulative stress can really negatively impact his immune responses and make him more susceptible to pathogens than the established fish that may have been exposed to the same pathogen, but whose immune response has not been comprised.

 

[4FordFamily]

Acclimation may not have been a full hour as I was not watching like a hawk, but it was close. Temp was maintained throughout the process, but next time I can speed up the drip. The fish was only in the bag for a total of about 45 minutes between the drive and floating so I don't think I had an ammonium issue similar to what can happen when fish are shipped.

If the fish was living in copper for a few weeks what are the odds he brought something in? The other 3 fish are all doing fine and showing no signs of distress.

When you say it was in copper, I'm assuming you mean at the LFS. They only keep copper levels enough to prevent infestation they will not eradicate anything. It is likely it had velvet as angels come in with it very frequently.

I agree with every point @eatbreakfast has made

 

[thewbell]

When you say it was in copper, I'm assuming you mean at the LFS. They only keep copper levels enough to prevent infestation they will not eradicate anything. It is likely it had velvet as angels come in with it very frequently.

I agree with every point @eatbreakfast has made

That is good to know. Should I ask what the level of copper was? This has me concerned about the rest of the fish now. I was lazy and didn't QT like I should have.

If the fish had Velvet, would it have done gasped at the surface without any physical spots? It looked perfectly fine externally both last night and this morning (obviously the color had dulled slightly after death) but had no spots or swelling in the gills. I also did not notice it scratching at all on any rocks.

 

[4FordFamily]

That is good to know. Should I ask what the level of copper was? This has me concerned about the rest of the fish now. I was lazy and didn't QT like I should have.

If the fish had Velvet, would it have done gasped at the surface without any physical spots? It looked perfectly fine externally both last night and this morning (obviously the color had dulled slightly after death) but had no spots or swelling in the gills. I also did not notice it scratching at all on any rocks.

Certainly possible as velvet eats the gills of the fish so it suffocates, but so too does ich, and other ailments can lead to the same behavior. Being an angel and knowing it wasn't quarantined properly (no lfs keeps fish at therapeutic level of copper for full 4 weeks) I would worry unfortunately.

 

[4FordFamily]

I might also add that treating them in copper needs to be done, but they need to be established in captivity first for as long as possible and then copper needs to be increased very slowly (over one week) to the therapeutic dose. These and yellow coris wrasse (and other halichoeres) IME need to be treated this way.

 

[thewbell]

So I talked to the owner at the LFS about the Potter's and he said that after I left he realized which fish I got (he had 2) and that the guy working for him was not supposed to sell that fish. It had been in his shop for 4 weeks and he suspected it was a cyanide fish because it would eat great but would never put on weight. He had been holding it to see if it would ever come around but had been steering people away from it. We chose that one because it was the more active of the 2. Regardless, I feel a little better about the situation and now have a store credit.

 

[eatbreakfast]

So I talked to the owner at the LFS about the Potter's and he said that after I left he realized which fish I got (he had 2) and that the guy working for him was not supposed to sell that fish. It had been in his shop for 4 weeks and he suspected it was a cyanide fish because it would eat great but would never put on weight. He had been holding it to see if it would ever come around but had been steering people away from it. We chose that one because it was the more active of the 2. Regardless, I feel a little better about the situation and now have a store credit.

I highly doubt cyanide for a potter's. They are only collected in Hawaii, and Hawaiian fisheries are pretty well regulated. I would more likely suspect internal parasites.