3" Angelfish with hole on the side of her face..

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FlanBurberry

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2015
55
5
13
Millbrook, NY
It seems to be away from the gills but just above. There are 4 medium to large angels and 7 giant danio in my 55gal, established take 0,0,10 weekly water changes, heavily planted? The angels are new in the tank and all seem to be displaying incredible let patterning and color and seem to be enjoying themselves, eating, etc. I'm concerned about whit ai first thought was a stripe and then realize it was open and pinkish and above the gills. Can someone please tell me what this might be. They had been in a very rarely shopped separate system tank at an lfs and I'd seen them for months and very healthy, they also appear healthy in my tank but I'm nervous about the "hole". Sorry for the poor quality photo, hopefully you can see the area I circled, if if it's not the clearest phot. Please help.2015-11-29 02.59.10.jpg
 
I've only had them less than a week and although I observe them frequently, I just noticed it, as from most angles in just likes like one of her stripes...
 
It hard to tell from pic but some fish are born with missing gill plates(operculum)or sections but also fish can develop gill infections that may resemble the same. A close up picture would help. Hopefully someone will chime in with another opinion.
 
As long as your fish doesn't look distressed(feeding well, interacting with other fish and no rapid breathing) I wouldn't worry, well could be a birth defect or a long ago injury that has healed.

Be careful netting this fish as it will be prone to injure gills, being they are more exposed.
 
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Nice angels. Yeah, as stated it could be a deformity. Years and years ago I had an angel with a deformed gill plate worse than that. It was healthy otherwise. It was a solid orange angel and I've never seen another one quite like it.
 
Nice angels. Yeah, as stated it could be a deformity. Years and years ago I had an angel with a deformed gill plate worse than that. It was healthy otherwise. It was a solid orange angel and I've never seen another one quite like it.
 
Nice angels. Yeah, as stated it could be a deformity. Years and years ago I had an angel with a deformed gill plate worse than that. It was healthy otherwise and lived for many years. It was a solid orange angel and I've never seen another one quite like it.
 
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