Excessive slime coat on angelfish

[Niki_up]

Have you tested your water?

Yes

If yes, what is your ammonia?

0

If yes, what is your nitrite?

0

If yes, what is your nitrate?

10-20

If I did not test my water...

1. ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.

Do you do water changes?

Yes

What percentage of water do you change?

81-90%

How frequently do you change your water?

Every week

If I do not change my water...

1. ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.

I’m not quite sure what would be causing two of my angelfish to be shedding slime coat. Both my large male and female are shedding small amount of slime coat from their bodies and fins. Almost looks like bubbles on their skin but it’s slime coat

they are eating, have clear eyes, no body wounds, and have not been fighting or causing stress to each other.

water maintenance has been regularly weekly 90% water changes, filter was cleaned with dechlorinated water approximately 2 weeks ago, nothing has changed in the tank. No new tank mates.

water is testing

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
And between 10-20 ppm of nitrates (closer to 20)

next water change is scheduled for Saturday

current tank mates, 2 other angels, plecos and cardinal tetras

 

[Caveden]

Same! I was going to ask about it as well. My bichir has been producing excessive slimecoat as well recently…

bump..

 

[duanes]

Looks like ick, or velvet (Oodinum).
If it were me, I'd add salt at 3 lbs per 100 gallons, as it can be effective against either or disease.
Problem is....... your cardinals might not be able to handle it. Some plants too.
Some people would suggest raising the temp....I don't.
Raising temp often allows secondary bacterial infections an easy pathway in, to take advantage of the pits the protozoa and diseases have opened on the fish..

 

[Niki_up]

Looks like ick, or velvet (Oodinum).
If it were me, I'd add salt at 3 lbs per 100 gallons, as it can be effective against either or disease.
Problem is....... your cardinals might not be able to handle it. Some plants too.
Some people would suggest raising the temp....I don't.
Raising temp often allows secondary bacterial infections an easy pathway in, to take advantage of the pits the protozoa and diseases have opened on the fish..

This is definitely not ick on my angels, there’s tiny air bubbles trapped in the slime coat.
I thought velvet was a gold/yellow dusting?
The tank is at 82-84 currently so I probably won’t be raising the temp any higher.

 

[RD.]

Hey Niki, this time of year our tap water here in AB gets excessive amounts of dissolved gasses in it, which is most likely what is causing this. It will get worse as temps continue to drop.

water change - fish shedding slime coat (simplydiscus.com)

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Same things happening with my Bichir. Ive noticed it twice.

 

[RD.]

It is for this exact reason why I got rid of my H. temporalis years ago. The only way that our tap water didn't cause the slime coat to shed like this, was if I did small water changes. In the winter months, as the tap water got down into the 40's, it became impossible, even when mixed with warm water from our heater. Lesson learned for me.

 

[Niki_up]

It is for this exact reason why I got rid of my H. temporalis years ago. The only way that our tap water didn't cause the slime coat to shed like this, was if I did small water changes. In the winter months, as the tap water got down into the 40's, it became impossible, even when mixed with warm water from our heater. Lesson learned for me.

This makes sense to me, so the only way to stop or prevent this I smaller water changes or don’t keep SA cichlids.
There’s nothing I can do to help them?
Would an extra dose of prime or slime coat proctor help?

 

[kno4te]

This makes sense to me, so the only way to stop or prevent this I smaller water changes or don’t keep SA cichlids.
There’s nothing I can do to help them?
Would an extra dose of prime or slime coat proctor help?

The link by RD showed ageing the water helped to stop the excessive slimecoat production.

 

[RD.]

An extra dose of Prime etc will not help. As Ron stated in the link that I posted that hobbyist aged their water, allowing the gasses to escape from the water. That was not an option for me, so I sucked it up, got rid of the fish, and moved on. This will of course vary with different species, not all SA species will have an issue with our local water. The H. temporalis that I owned were a stunning mated pair, but their slime coat would peel off like big sheets of snot on any water change beyond 20-25% or so. The larger the water change, the worse it was, especially in the cold winter months when the gasses were at their highest levels in our water mains.