my first try at a tang.

trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
so on monday i bought a yellow mimic tang and a purple dottybach. i was originally gona buy a kole tang but when i got to my lfs i saw the yellow mimic tang and liked it so much more that i decided to go with the yellow mimic insted of the kole. so i picked one that looked best and it was about 3''. the first thing is that after i added him to my qt he would not stop breathing fast and he would just kind of stay in the same spot. but over the next few hours it started to explore the qt. it stoped breathing as fast as it was but it still looked pritty fast. so the next day it was still breathing a little heavy. so at this point i offerd a little food. the dottybach ate it up but the tang didnt even try do go after it. so i left for the rest of the day and when i got home it was on its side breathing really fast. so i tested the water.
salinity:1.025
ph:8.2
ammonia:0
nitrites:0
nitrates:10
so i did a 50% water change anyway. so he bounced back for a little bit and started to swim but not normaly. he did this for a few minuites and whent bach to laying on its side. the next morning he was dead. any ideas?
i also acclimated it by poking 10 holes in the bag and letting it sit for 20 minuites.
i would like to try this fish agen but i am trying to figure out what i did wrong. the dottybach was fine the entire time to and still is.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Chocolate Tangs need to actively swim in strong current during the day in order to get enough oxygen flowing through their gills. This takes at least 4-6 feet of swimming room, even for a juvenile. At night they will wedge themselves between a couple of rocks that have a good flow going past.

How much waterflow do you have? Is your skimmer operating at top efficiency?
 
yellowtang1324

yellowtang1324

Member
trigger40 said:
so on monday i bought a yellow mimic tang and a purple dottybach. i was originally gona buy a kole tang but when i got to my lfs i saw the yellow mimic tang and liked it so much more that i decided to go with the yellow mimic insted of the kole. so i picked one that looked best and it was about 3''. the first thing is that after i added him to my qt he would not stop breathing fast and he would just kind of stay in the same spot. but over the next few hours it started to explore the qt. it stoped breathing as fast as it was but it still looked pritty fast. so the next day it was still breathing a little heavy. so at this point i offerd a little food. the dottybach ate it up but the tang didnt even try do go after it. so i left for the rest of the day and when i got home it was on its side breathing really fast. so i tested the water.
salinity:1.025
ph:8.2
ammonia:0
nitrites:0
nitrates:10
so i did a 50% water change anyway. so he bounced back for a little bit and started to swim but not normaly. he did this for a few minuites and whent bach to laying on its side. the next morning he was dead. any ideas?
i also acclimated it by poking 10 holes in the bag and letting it sit for 20 minuites.
i would like to try this fish agen but i am trying to figure out what i did wrong. the dottybach was fine the entire time to and still is.
Click to expand...
The best way to acclimate is to drip water in the bag for 2 hours. Maybe more because Tangs are sensitive.
 
trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
bang guy said:
Chocolate Tangs need to actively swim in strong current during the day in order to get enough oxygen flowing through their gills. This takes at least 4-6 feet of swimming room, even for a juvenile. At night they will wedge themselves between a couple of rocks that have a good flow going past.

How much waterflow do you have? Is your skimmer operating at top efficiency?
Click to expand...
i dont have a skimmer in my qt or dt. my corals seem very happy so i never saw the need for a skimmer. my qt is only 15g with 100gph flow. do you think that may have been the problem. my dt is a different story with flow though.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
"my qt is only 15g with 100gph flow"

This should be enough to keep it healthy for a few weeks. I was on the wrong track.
 
jorge garrido

jorge garrido

Member
did he show any signs of ick sometimes ick will harvest on the gills making it hard for tangs to breath .. and mostly LFS have there salinity at 1.021 and if you increase that salinity all at once the really get stress out .. I always check my LFS salinity first before a buy
 
trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
jorge garrido said:
did he show any signs of ick sometimes ick will harvest on the gills making it hard for tangs to breath .. and mostly LFS have there salinity at 1.021 and if you increase that salinity all at once the really get stress out .. I always check my LFS salinity first before a buy
Click to expand...
nope no ich. and i did lower my salinity to make it closer to my lfs water but it was not exact at all.
 
trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
i think i might try a yellow tang next and see how that goes. i also read that you never buy baby tangs and the tang that died was a baby so maybe i should try one that is bigger?
 
mauler

mauler

Active Member
trigger40 said:
i think i might try a yellow tang next and see how that goes. i also read that you never buy baby tangs and the tang that died was a baby so maybe i should try one that is bigger?
Click to expand...
I think the tang you had was just stressed and starving so he couldn't handle the move.
Yellow tangs are great I have one and he's probably my most active tang i say get one.
As far as baby's go I think it depends on how healthy the fish looks and if he's eating. Plus I think baby's are easier to keep over larger fish since the baby's will adapt to captive life easier but that's just my opinion.
 
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