flame angel problem

[Ross]

Ive had my flame angel in my reef for over a year now, he had ich at the beginning but hes been healthy for the last 10 months, no ich, eats anythign i drop in the tank, is the boss of the tank. As of yesterday he was doing fine. Today i wake up and hes breathing hard, can barely swim and has several large white spots on him. Its bigger than ich or sand or anything but i have no idea what it is....It doesnt look like he will make it. He still eats if the food comes to him but he cant really swim that well and is breathing really hard. Im very upset about this because the flame angel is the whole reason i got into sw and this fish is by far my favorite and if he dies then i think im just gonna tear my tank down i will be that upset. Anyways...if anyone knows anything im all ears....

[Thunderkat]

There is no way of knowing without a picture but if you had it for 10 months, there might be a chance your fish is just getting old (who knows how old it was when you obtained it).

Post some pics or try to give a detailed description that way the folks here that are really knowledgeable on that can help ya out.

[CD]

Flame Angelfish are very susceptible to Brooklynella and Amyloodinium infections (maybe your flame has Brook?). They are also very easily affected by water quality...if water quality degrades, you will first notice them having difficulty breathing and having a hard time closing their gill covers. Another common illness for angelfish is Lymphocystis - clumps of lumpy white or gray matter at the base of the fins.

Is there any way you can post a pic Ross?

W.

[schoeplein]

Sounds like it could be a temp and/or water quality issue.

What are your water specs? NO3, NO2, PO4, Ammonia, temp, and whatever else... :wacko

[msuengin]

I'm not sure what the symptoms are necessarily, but I have read from more than one reference that Flame Angels are really sensitive to elevated levels of copper. Like everyone else said, more info would help in diagnosing, but that might be something you'll want to check. I think anything close to or above .15 is considered very dangerous for them.

Have you done any copper treatments to the tank recently? You could also be getting gradually increased copper levels in your tank from the tap, if you're not using RO/DI filtered water.

[Ross]

Dont dose anything in the tank, but i do use tap water so that could potentially be a problem but i think i would have figured it out over the last year that my tank has been set up. Everything else is doing fine, all the corals and inverts and the other fish are fine. I dunno this is just weird that he would be fine and the next day barely alive. Yesterday he actually looked like he was getting better, coming out to eat but today hes just lying on his side breathing really hard with white patches......not like ich but its just like he lost his color in some spots....

[Ross]

ohh yeah i tested my water and its fine...0,0,10