Sick Queen Angel

[bdrogers2000]

My Queen Angelfish has been lethargic for the past three days and is seeming to hide in the rear of the tank near the bottom. I noticed this morning that her left eye is significantly bulging and that she wasn't making any attempts to eat at feeding time. I was able to get her to eat some krill that I put on a feeding wand and placed very close to her head.

I went to the local fishstore thinking that I would leave with azithromycin. The store manager convinced me to use Artemiss instead. It claims to be completely reef safe, but now that I have put in the first dose my carpet anemone looks pretty distressed (nearly turned inside out).

I guess I am here to make sure that I am doing the right thing. I am willing to quarantine the Queen and use antibiotics if I need to, but I am not entirely sure that I can catch her where she is hiding; especially with the bulging eye.

My water quality is little off, but I have been steadily getting it back in line.

Tank:
240 gallons
pH- 7.8
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- ~30 ppm
S.G. - 1.0225
Calcium- ~400 mg/L
KH- 8 dKH
Phosphate- 1 ppm

Stocked with:
Juvenile Queen Angelfish
Lemonpeel Angelfish
Blue Hippo Tang
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
Carpet Anemone (Hadoni)
1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
5 Peppermint Shrimp

[leebca]

Sorry to hear about the problem.

Large Angels are very suseptible to water quality issues. Some also just don't do well in captivity. They often get bacterial infections which kill them. To do well the water should be low in organics to keep the bacteria population low. They need a lot of space. They need excellent nutrition which includes a lot of macro algae. Because they tend to pick at food, they should be fed often during the day. What I am saying is that the fish may be treated and recover, but things need to change to prevent re-infection.

Forget 'reef safe' products. No maker can tsst everything on their product.

Quarantine the fisH. Treat with a double dosage of Maracyn Two (for saltwater or freshwater fishes) This fights Gram Neg bacteria which are the most likely to cause infection in marine fishes. Also this particular antibiotic will pass thru the skin and fight systemic infections.