Flame angel not eating

[cmonkey]

I just got a flame angel last friday and he has yet to eat yet. He is swimming about but does not appear pretty slowly. He is currently in my 15 qt tank with a whisper filter and a heater. Current water parameters are pH=8.3, NH4=0.25 ( i know not good, did a 3 gallon water change earlier today and about to do another one) salinity=13ppt with refractometer, and N03 at 10. Intially used water from my main tank (55 established 8 months) with is always RO, but when I did water changes to lower salinty I used tap with dechlorinater (prime). I have tried OSI flake, nori w/ garlic, w/out garlic, frozen brine, and live mysids (from local enviornmental consulting firm). Flame does have lymphocystis as well, which I thought was not such a serious dz.
Feed back please..

 

[cmonkey]

Beth, thank you for the reply but when I came home from class today I found my flame angel barely swimming. The pH was down to 8.0. I did another water change to bring it back up to 8.3. What could have caused its death? Is Cyanide use a possibility? Thanks for your help, I just don't want this to happen again.

 

[bang guy]

Cyanide will make the color of a Flame significantly brighter than normal. Did you notice if it looked unusually colorful?

 

[cmonkey]

Sorry Terry, thanks just the same. I noticed he had a fading in color as well as rapid breathing. ?

 

[beth]

It could well be Amyloodinium, however, ANY ammonia or nitrite could kill a fish.

 

[cmonkey]

I suspected that it could have been ammonia because I believe he displayed the symptoms, fast breathing ect. When I set up the qt tank I used the main tank water and I placed a sponge in my whisper filter from my main tank. I did 3 water changes of 3 gallons in two days after I got my salinity down to 13ppt. I had no lights on the tank and had pvc structures. Next time I will just use my 30 gallon as my qt tank (greater room for error).
Could it have been Amyloodinium even if there were no signs of cysts?

 

[flamehawk]

DO you know where the flame came from? Southeast asia(phillipines, vietnam, etc.) are known to use cyanide to catch these high demand type dwarfs. I've had absolutely no luck w. flames and am convinced that it's because of cyanide. I've kept s/w fish for 41/2 years and as many know am very particular about the keeping of fish. I'll go the extra mile to treat a sick fish or ensure it's acclimated properly including a Q tank. Have not had any luck w/ FA however.
Terry- Congrats on keeping yours for 6 years. That's the longest I've heard a FA survive. I did a post on fish board months ago asking this very question. There were very few people who have had longterm success w/ FA's and no-one came close to 6 years.
Great job.