I Cant Keep Tangs Whats Up With This???

[kwiknezy1]

well it didnt matter, i noticed after everything, ( all water tests ) that he was acting weird, so i moved him to a QT. he was dead by the next morning.. of course no warranty on the fish, but 24 hours later is was over. I do not understand this at all.. I can not keep tangs whatsoever, hippos, powders, yellow nothing.. here is my water parmenters..
Salinity- 1.027
temp- 78.0
Ph- 8.2
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
phosphate- 0.2
calcium- 425
I also have this posted in fish photography.
What is the deal.. to me, and by everything i have read, i shouldnt have any problems at all. Also i am doing the drip method for nearly 2 hours before placing them into the tank..Also after placing them into the tank i turn off all lights to calm down stress The powder didnt have ick, it just croaked over.. There was no white spots on him at all.. I am starting to feel really bad about loosing so many really beautiful fish.. let me give you a count of what i have lost so far.
3 hippo tangs ( 40.00 ea. )
1 powder ( 10.00 )
2 yellow ( 12.00 )
1 Blonde Naso Tang RED SEA ( 100.00 )
Any ideas??? they would be highly appreciated

 

[bbailey231]

How big is your tank? How long has it been set up?
You might want to take your water to your lfs to have it tested. There might be something wrong with your test kit.

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by bbailey231
How big is your tank? How long has it been set up?
You might want to take your water to your lfs to have it tested. There might be something wrong with your test kit.

Its a 75 gallon, and it has been set up for a little over a year.. LAready did that, that was their test results, without the temperature.. i added that

 

[bbailey231]

Have you been able to get anything to live or have you lost everything you put in your tank?
Your salinity is a little high it should be about 1.025 and I keep my tank at about 80 degrees. Powder blue tangs are one of the hardest to keep and need near perfect water conditions with a larger tank. The yellow tangs are easy, but also need a larger tank. The blue hippos get ick easily and are prone to disease (from what my lfs told me when I wanted one).
I really don't see a problem with your parameters that would cause them to just fall over dead.
What kind of water are you using?

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by bbailey231
Have you been able to get anything to live or have you lost everything you put in your tank?
Your salinity is a little high it should be about 1.025 and I keep my tank at about 80 degrees. Powder blue tangs are one of the hardest to keep and need near perfect water conditions with a larger tank. The yellow tangs are easy, but also need a larger tank. The blue hippos get ick easily and are prone to disease (from what my lfs told me when I wanted one).
I really don't see a problem with your parameters that would cause them to just fall over dead.
What kind of water are you using?

I have an RO/DI unit and the TDS >200. i use Reef Crystals salt. My Hippos got Ick, and a few days later they were ok, they just started dieing off slowly. after the first one passed, i put the other 2 in a QT and now they died too.

 

[sudc]

The salinity is ok, the ocean is 1.026-7.
All fish but ESPECIALLY tangs should always be qt'd before you put it in your display. Not only to prevent disease but to get them happy and eating.
Powder blues are very hard to keep and should be considered EXPERT only so forget even trying those.
Blonde Naso's are WAY too big for a 75g. I have a 180g and think it is too small for a naso so forget those as well.
Hippos and yellows are pretty hardy and you should be able to keep them.
For them to be dying that fast, there has to be a problem with your water or your acclimation.
If they are dying overnight, you didn't acclimate them nearly well enough or your water quality is off somewhere. IMO, it has to be one of those 2 things if they are dying that fast after being placed in your display.

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by SUDC
The salinity is ok, the ocean is 1.026-7.
All fish but ESPECIALLY tangs should always be qt'd before you put it in your display. Not only to prevent disease but to get them happy and eating. Agreed, I put them in the main tank a little early
Powder blues are very hard to keep and should be considered EXPERT only so forget even trying those. This is not my first salt tank, this makes my 3rd so far.. So i dont understand the expert part. I have been able to keep everything else so far.. just not tangs..
Blonde Naso's are WAY too big for a 75g. I have a 180g and think it is too small for a naso so forget those as well. I agree with you on that one, if he would have lived a couple more days i was getting ready to set up a 220. It was going to be a holding cell for him for a little while. plus when i got him, he was like 2 1/12 " so i had a little while before he was going to outgrow the tank.
Hippos and yellows are pretty hardy and you should be able to keep them.
For them to be dying that fast, there has to be a problem with your water or your acclimation. I have been acclimating all fish for nearly 2 hours by using the drip method explained on this site
If they are dying overnight, you didn't acclimate them nearly well enough or your water quality is off somewhere. IMO, it has to be one of those 2 things if they are dying that fast after being placed in your display. Where else could water quality be off.. am i missing a test somewhere..
My Answers are in red above.. I am thinking i might need to just order my fish from now on.. Everything i see it all looks great.. water is crystal clear, corals are thriving, rock has plenty of coraline and so does the glass, heck i have to scrape the front glass every month. I do monthly water changes.. I dont get it.. thanks for the advise.. i am just trying to figure out where i am going wrong.. As for another comment at the top, i was getting ready to purchase a 220 if the naso lived.. heck is was pretty much already paid for.. I cancelled the order when my naso croaked over..

 

[sudc]

I don't mean any offense so please dont take any but regardless of how long you have been doing this, if you can't keep yellows or hippo's alive, no way you should get a powder blue, they are tough to keep and ich magnets!
When you drip acclimate, how fast is the drip? I do about 2-3 drips per second and every half hour i take the water level back down to where it started. For fish, i would go more than 2 hours. I do 4-5 hours to be safe with fish.
I don't know where or which of your tests could be wrong but for a tang to die overnight, again, i gotta say its acclimation or water quality. The only time i ever had fish die overnight was when i was just starting and without knowing it had REALLY bad water quality.
What other fish and corals do you have living in this tank?
Check and recheck all your tests and if they are good, maybe try a yellow or blue again. Drip it EXTRA long(at least 4 hours), put it right into a qt and cross your fingers

 

[sepulatian]

There is something missing from the puzzel. Any of those tangs would be fine in a 75 for a few months to a year. 2hrs of drip acclimation is fine. Your water readings are in check. I am a little curious about your nitrate test kit. You have had this tank for over a year and do monthly water changes yet you have no nitrate? I do weekly changes on my 55 and my trates hover between 0 and 5. Can you get your nitrates double checked at your LFS? When you bought these fish do you watch them eat before you bought them?

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
There is something missing from the puzzel. Any of those tangs would be fine in a 75 for a few months to a year. 2hrs of drip acclimation is fine. Your water readings are in check. I am a little curious about your nitrate test kit. You have had this tank for over a year and do monthly water changes yet you have no nitrate? I do weekly changes on my 55 and my trates hover between 0 and 5. Can you get your nitrates double checked at your LFS? When you bought these fish do you watch them eat before you bought them?

You know, that is something that i have never witnessed on any fish that i have ever purchased.. Never really though of that.. now listen to this before the powder died, it was eating copeapods off the rock. I say this myself.. and was thinking to myself, heck hell be ok.. I will definately double check the trates again.. as a matter of fact i will run a complete test on everything and ill post them up here in about 30 mins or so..

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by SUDC
I don't mean any offense so please dont take any but regardless of how long you have been doing this, if you can't keep yellows or hippo's alive, no way you should get a powder blue, they are tough to keep and ich magnets! Hey no offence taken, i came on here to ask a question, and you are telling me what you know. I will definately try it again, it will just be a little longer before i spend that kind of money on another fish..LOL
When you drip acclimate, how fast is the drip? I do about 2-3 drips per second and every half hour i take the water level back down to where it started. For fish, i would go more than 2 hours. I do 4-5 hours to be safe with fish. I do it exactly like the video showed, maybe i am just not letting them acclimate long enough
I don't know where or which of your tests could be wrong but for a tang to die overnight, again, i gotta say its acclimation or water quality. The only time i ever had fish die overnight was when i was just starting and without knowing it had REALLY bad water quality.
What other fish and corals do you have living in this tank? At the moment, i have 2 devil Damsels, 2 peach damsels, 4 royla blue damsels, Xenias, Brain coral, lots of different zoos, red gargonian, yellow gargonian,2 sally light foot crabs, a coral banded shrimp, a crap load of snails and hermits, 200 lbs live rock, 125 lbs live sand ( 4 in or so) star polyps, 2 true percs..
Check and recheck all your tests and if they are good, maybe try a yellow or blue again. Drip it EXTRA long(at least 4 hours), put it right into a qt and cross your fingers
Ok, You see, most newbies would not have a QT set up, or a sump, or a fuge.. i have all.. plus a ro/di unit to be extra safe. I triple check all tests before purchasing them ( expiration date ) i feed maybe once a day.. no more, plus i also have 2 600 gph power heads, not including the flow coming back from the fuge, and the extra little filter i have on the main tank for safety measures..
Answers above in red

 

[oceanlover]

Are you getting all of your tangs from one source (store)? I wonder if they buy from a distributor who stuns the fish or something?

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by KwikNezy1
I have an RO/DI unit and the TDS >200. .....
First off, this post confuses me. Are you saying your TDS reading after your RO/DI is > then 200? If so, we have a problem right there.
Have you checked for stray voltage?
8 damsels in a 75, along with Tangs... could possibly be a stress issue.
Are you getting all Tangs from same location?

 

[kwiknezy1]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
First off, this post confuses me. Are you saying your TDS reading after your RO/DI is > then 200? If so, we have a problem right there. sorry wrong symbol <200 more like 185
Have you checked for stray voltage? How do you check for that???
8 damsels in a 75, along with Tangs... could possibly be a stress issue. Well those darned things. I was using them for cycling purposes.. I know that is cruel, but they all lived.. and now with all of the rock they are a real booger to get back out.
Are you getting all Tangs from same location?
I have purchased the 3 hippos, and the powder from my lfs, and i purchased the naso thru a website. i received the fish in 24 hours.

 

[1journeyman]

Your RODI filter should be producing water at 0.0TDS or close (as an example... my faucet water is somewhere in the range of 575-600. After RO/DI 0.0). When was the last time you replaced the filters on it? That's a seperate issue though, I suspect as I would think TDS would affect inverts before fish.
Hmm... there is a way.. I'm just not familiar with it. Do you use GFI plugs for everything associated with your tank?
Hehe, I suspect Damsels get aquarists back for torturing them in a cycle by being a pain in the rear to remove... In all seriousness, you now see another reason to avoid using them.
I'm leaning towards getting mauled by Damsels or stray voltage at the moment. Let's try to rule both of those out and go from there unless something else comes up.

 

[1journeyman]

Taken from an article by Bruce Davidson:
"Using a voltage tester or volt meter set to read AC voltage (VAC) put one lead on a known ground and the other in the tank water..."
You can by a grounding probe to eliminate stray voltage.
Yeesh... you got me on this one. Try that out and let's see from there.

 

[myreef05]

Stray voltage is a good cause also, do they have a "pinched" looking belly when you bring them home? That often means bacteria infection and or caught with cyanide. They NEVER live after being caught in that manner. I would switch vendors thats for sure.
Hope ya figure it out.

 

[trigger11]

I have had my tank running for about 9 months now and I have had similar experience with 2 coral beauties. I had other fish living for quite a while. Clown fish and green chromis. All of which are hardier fish. These were in a hexagon tank and both beauties ended up dying by the next day pretty much. I am pretty sure I did not acclimate them as long as I should have and I also think they were kind of stressed out because of the other fish. I think if you do a longer QT you will be successful. Transfer as much water from the DT to the QT that you can while the new fish is in there. That way they get used to the water without being stressed by the other fish. Then drip acclimate them for a couple of hours when ready to put in DT.
Also, if you are not planning on keeping the damsels I highly recommend removing them from the tank before adding any new fish.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by KwikNezy1
You know, that is something that i have never witnessed on any fish that i have ever purchased.. Never really though of that.. now listen to this before the powder died, it was eating copeapods off the rock. I say this myself.. and was thinking to myself, heck hell be ok.. I will definately double check the trates again.. as a matter of fact i will run a complete test on everything and ill post them up here in about 30 mins or so..
How did the test results come out? Get the grounding probe as 1journeyman recommended as well. Have you kept any fish alive besides the damsels? I apparently missed the damsel part or was that in another post?

 

[renogaw]

i've got a couple ideas while reading this:
like others have said in your other post, your salinity is high. Do you test the water at the LFS and the drip bucket before putting them in your tank? if they keep their water at 1.017 like a lot do (or lower) and you drip for 2 hrs, the water in the bucket may still be lower than what your tank is.
do you check the pH in the bucket compared to your tank?
i highly doubt a tang is going to starve overnight. so, while not the best thing to do, not seeing a fish eat in the LFS is not going to kill the fish by the next day. this is though where the QT is key. you should be able to get the fish to eat within the 2-3 weeks they are in the qt.
i wouldn't think trates are going to be an issue, unless over 100 (i believe).
i'd be more interested in how big your QT is (something you havent said), how you cycled it, how you handled the ich you had (and have still i'm assuming), how you handled the ammonia you were sure to have by placing 2 hippos into the tank. i'd also like to know why you don't put the fish into the QT instead of your DT.
you cycled with 8 damsels... how long ago was this? how much live rock do you have in there?
you say a newbie wouldn't have all this stuff, but i disagree. anyone can buy stuff, but not using it or using it incorrectly is killing your fish.