Help Please

[crash103k]

Ok i just walked in the door and found my tang lying at the bottom of the tank. still breating but veary heavy gasps. what do i do now. i took him out of the tank and i put him in a bucket that i am driping in right now to move him to a lower salinity tank. any help would be great
Ammonia = 0
no2 = 0
no3 = 0
ph = 8.0
temp 80
only fish to be sick is my tang
i just added some new coral and some new anemones today.
any help would be great

 

[scubadoo]

Hmmm.....tangs are very sensitive to stray voltage in a tank. DO you have a meter so you can see what the voltage reading is in your tank? Do you feel a slight shock when you place your hand in the tank?
I would think this is a long shot if the other fish do not show signs of stress.
Is this a large yellow tang? If so they require a larger tank or they will develop stress. If a medium or small yellow then probably not stress due to the tanks size but it is a possibilty.
Any chance he got caught in the anemone..anemone sting?

 

[scubadoo]

After giving the matter some thought...I'm leaning towards the anemone sting possibilty. Just added anemones today...hmmm could be.

 

[crash103k]

NOt to mention i added 4 of them so i have 5 total now how long will he be down for or is he doomed. and to answer your question he is a small tang. veary leen

 

[scubadoo]

Sorry, in my 30 plus years in this hobby I i have not kept many inverts. I mainly have/had agressive tanks. I am not even certain if an anmone sting could do this...just throwing it out there as a possibilty. I am hoping somone with more experience with inverts can either stamp this theory or say I am full of fish crap. Good luck!

 

[crash103k]

No need time of death was 9:30 MST just above the DSB. he will be missed. no breathing no eye movement. today was a sad day. my tang just turnd in the towel

 

[scubadoo]

Sorry for your loss....hmmm...I still think a good possiility he got stung by the anemone(s) ..some corals also sting. Any other thoughts/theories out there?

 

[dmc888]

I'm thinking anemone too.
With 5 anemones in there i'm sure he got stung.
Considering Tangs like to swim all over the tank.

 

[scubadoo]

Be careful with the rest of your fish in there with the anemones. We often view anemones as good for commnunity tanks but they can injure/kill/eat fish.

 

[guineawhop]

i think it could be either one of two things....obviously the anemone sting possibility...but also the pic he looked really lean to the point that i think he might have starved...unless you saw him eating but it doesn't look like he did...and if he did maybe a parasite in his intestines possibly eating what he ate causing him to get that skinny

 

[scubadoo]

Originally posted by guineawhop
i think it could be either one of two things....obviously the anemone sting possibility...but also the pic he looked really lean to the point that i think he might have starved...unless you saw him eating but it doesn't look like he did...and if he did maybe a parasite in his intestines possibly eating what he ate causing him to get that skinny
The fish should have exhibited some outward problem before today if an internal parasite(s).
Unless the fish exhibited loss of appetite, listlessness and erratic swimming over a few days then I doubt it was from internal parasites. It is a possibilty ...but only if it exhibited the above before today. JMO

 

[crash103k]

As for the skinny thing he was always a small tang I picked him due so I could fit him in my 55 gallon tank. as for the anemones the only reason I got 5 was that I have a 2nd tank ready for them but no live rock as of yet and I still need to add a second power cord for the lights. So once I get my 2nd tank up and running it won’t be so many in one tank it will be 2 and 3. As for how skinny he was though I did see him eat however he did not like a regular tang diet I would try to feed him seaweed but he would not go near it. He loved brine shrimp and bloodworms and general flake I feed during the week. I just think he was stung. When my brother called me he said that he was swimming in place strait up and down like he was going to jump out of the tank but never actually went for it. When I got home he was laying on the bottom of the tank. I immediately took him out and put about a gallon of the tank water in a 2 gallon bucket I then started a drip from the other tank(tank 2 with nothing in it cause I just got done with the cycle) the salinity was lower in that tank. The only thing that was still not at 0 was the nitrates and it was very low almost at zero but not quite the same color as the card shows for zero. I drip acclimated him for a god hour before I got him in the new tank. Still nothing he just lay on his side and died. Nothing more I could have done. Its people like SWF.COM with the 79.00 min order that makes us get 4 anemones in one shipment. LOL I’m just kidding. Nobody’s at fault, just a poor fish that is now swimming with the other little fishes in fishy haven.