Flame Angel not eating

[nate213]

I got a flame angel about 6-weeks ago from a very good LFS. Their livestock is always in premium shape and they have tons of SPS tanks. I spoke to the owners son, and he said they had the angel in for about 3-4 weeks. It was feeding on just about everything and was fat & healthy. I have been eyeing them for a while, so I couldnt pass up a fat, healthy one. I brought it home and acclimated to my 40 gal QT tank. The other inhabitants are currently a Midas Blenny, zebra goby and our permanent QT resident an ocellaris clown. The first 3-weeks went great and the angel ate well. Just after the 3-week mark, I noticed 1-2 spots of ich on the goby and angel, so I decided to hypo. I know I should have done it right away, but have had pretty good luck with that particular store.
Anyway I'm now 3-weeks into hypo and the angel isnt looking so hot. It hasn't eaten much for the last 2-weeks and is getting pale. It still appears alert and chases all the food offerings I give, but wont eat any. (I typically make my own recipe with blended seafood mix, Selcon, algae sheets and garlic.) I have also tried mysis, brine shrimp, flake food, algae sheets and pellets of several different brands. I'm getting pretty bummed as the angel appears to be going downhill. The other fish are doing fine and eating like pigs.
I took one more step today and added a plastic mesh / eggcrate divider down the middle of the tank to separate the angel from the rest, just in case she was stressed from the other tankmates. So far it hasn't appeared to be picked on, but I am getting frustrated as I cant find the source of the health decline. I also spent the last 2-hours digging through the dozen rubbermaid tubs in the shop / garage / fishroom to try and fine some brine shrimp eggs I have. I thought if I hatched some out, maybe the movement would spark her appetite.
My water parameters:
SG 1.009 (hypo)
Nitrates <20 ppm
trites undetectible
ammonia undetectible
PH 7.9 (little lower than I would like, but have been slowly adding buffer)
temp 78F
QT has been running full time since last July and is fully cycled.
Any suggestions on what to try next / other things to look for?

 

[beth]

It sounds like you are taking all the right steps. Try doing a gal water change daily, and see if you can bump up the pH very slowly to the parameters of your display.
What are you using to measure salinity? Can you post a picture of your listless fish?

 

[villi]

I had the same issue last week with a flame angel in my QT.
After I separated him from the other fish, I tried formula 2 (small broken-up, defrosted pieces from a frozen cube). He went right for it. Don't know if it was the stress from the other fish or the formula 2, but he has been eating since. Currently working on raising the salinity to reintroduce into my DT.
Someone also suggested the Ocean Nutrition Pygmy Angel formula as well, but I could not find it.

 

[beth]

I will comment that QTing more than one fish at a time should be the rare exception. QT provides fish with, not only the opportunity for the hobbyist to adequately treat diseases that arise, but also gives the fish the isolation and stress free environment needed to gain good health.

 

[nate213]

Here are some photos. They aren't great, my wifes a pro photographer so I have a hard time with her cameras (I should take some time to learn from her, but have been lazy & I dont need another hobby).
Beth -thanks for your suggestions. I'll start with the daily water changes. I have been moving the PH up slowly, but maybe too slow. It was about 7.7 last week. Im using a refractometer to check salinity.
I just noticed the whitish area around the gillplate. I didnt see that yesterday afternoon.

 

[villi]

Looking at the angel's fins, it looks like he may have been picked on by another fish. I think the separation will definitely help.

 

[lil.guppy]

My coral beauty angel did not eat for almost a month. Good thing I had some algae for him to graze on.
I finally mixed some baby brine (frozen) with a couple drops of that Kent garlic extract and he gobbled a couple peices up. Since then he eats whatever I put in the tank

 

[nate213]

I hadnt seen any aggression, but Im hoping that is the reason. Its been a couple of days since I separated them out. I tried fresh garlic and brine shrimp last night. Still nothing.

 

[beth]

Originally Posted by villi
http:///forum/post/2976275
Looking at the angel's fins, it looks like he may have been picked on by another fish.
Yep, unfortunately, that is what it looks like. And that will certainly cause undo stress of this fish. The fins should start regenerating if it is aggression since the fish is isolated now. Are they? Some areas, though, actually look like fin erosion, and that would be due to poor care, inadequate diet, environmental stresses, malnutrition, etc.
See if you can get a feeder syringe, used for feeding birds, and try to coax him to eat by target feeding.

 

[villi]

Did you try an algae based food? When my flame angel stopped eating mysis and brine shrimp, I gave him formula 2 and that worked right away. Algae sheets didn't work either.

 

[nate213]

The fins dont appear to be growing back. Target feeding hasn't worked yet. I have been doing daily water changes and parameters still seem to be in check.
Im going to try and find some formula 2, any other foods that may spark an appetite?

 

[beth]

Zoecon or zoe are excellent supplements.

 

[nate213]

Ok, bought some Formula 2 and that worked the first day. Ate 2 small bites. That was an improvement. Yesterday and today nothing. It appears to be getting weaker. I had to shut off the powerhead because it was having a hard time swimming. Also their is a white spot on its side that is growing.

 

[nate213]

Well the little bugger finally gave up today. I'm pretty frustrated, I have never worked so hard to try and diagnose and recoup a fish before. And I was so careful to try and get a good healthy one from the start. Oh well, I guess it happens.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Nate213
http:///forum/post/2986846
Well the little bugger finally gave up today. I'm pretty frustrated, I have never worked so hard to try and diagnose and recoup a fish before. And I was so careful to try and get a good healthy one from the start. Oh well, I guess it happens.
He died? I am sorry for your loss.