my yellow tang died, i had it 2 days!

draczka2

draczka2

Member
i have a 75 gal. w/ 30 gal. sump. my ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, nitates are below 2.5, ph is around 8.5 and my hydrometer reads about 1.024, and my temp is 79 - 81. i have a yellow tail damsel, enginneer gobi, turbo snails, and one coral banded shrimp.
when i got my tang i dripped it for about 2 hours, and left the lights off for 2 hours after i placed him in the tank. for the rest of the day and night he was fine. he was eating well too. so whats the deal? any ideas for me?
 
ericp2311

ericp2311

Member
Yeah, sometimes you just get one that's ready to croak. Sorry about your loss, but it doesn't sound like it was really your fault (or, necessarily the fault of the LFS). In the future, when you want a fish, put a deposit down and wait a few days to a week. Come back and watch hime eat. Then you can rest a little easier. Sorry again about your tang!
Eric
 
draczka2

draczka2

Member
it was sort of a impulse buy, but i did watch him eat and it seemed to be the more lively one of the bunch.i don't know, but i'm pretty uptight right now. i need a few beers!!!!!!!!!!!
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
Sorry about your tang! I am also recovering from the loss of my osc. clown after only one day, and I supposedly did everything right too. Makes you kind of afraid to get another fish, doesn't it? I STILL haven't gotten another one - just too nervous. Too bad I don't like beer!
Seems like there just should be a REASON for a fish to die.
 
draczka2

draczka2

Member
yeah, this sucks! i even had the damsel, and gobi in the tank from the beginning of the cycle(they were going to be flushed by my uncle if i didn't save them). i'm going to wait one month and see if i feel better about thewhole thing. alot of money, and an extremely large amount of time trying to do the right thing, and one little fish knocked the wind out of my sails.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
You should have let your uncle flush the damsel. Chances are it was harassing your tang and stressed it out which caused it to die. Don't be fooled by a Damsels small size. They will go after a fish much bigger than them.
 
draczka2

draczka2

Member
i noticed the damsel chasing the tang for about 2 minutes AND THEN the tang chased him into a sand pile(thanks to the enginner gobi), and the damsel stayed away from the tang. the tang was even in the damsels favorite cave.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by trainfever
You should have let your uncle flush the damsel. Chances are it was harassing your tang and stressed it out which caused it to die. Don't be fooled by a Damsels small size. They will go after a fish much bigger than them.
Or, how about this novelty? Trade the damsel back in to the store. All in all I quite doubt that a yellow tail damsel would kill a tang, without any obvious signs of nipping, or onset of stress related diseases (ick). If it is a concern, trade the damsel back in. :yes:
There are many many reasons that fish die and often we can't test for any and grasp only at things we can see and sometimes make rash conclusions or judgements. How old is the tank? Many younger tanks just aren't suitable for tangs, for reasons unknown. They are not an "easy" fish to keep so loss of one, though not pleasant at all, should not be unexpected. The key is to never impulse purchase...but always request to see it fed and watch the fish at least for more than a few minutes. Watch its behavior, color, activity, feeding, etc. It sounds like you did this, which is half the battle. How long had the fish been at the LFS? What were the symptoms you saw in the fish?
 
draczka2

draczka2

Member
the guy at the fish store told me that they have been there for two weeks, and the fish i picked looked to have more color and seemed to be thicker in the body than the rest, but not swollen or bloated just healthy. i seen the tang hiding in a cave in the am. so i fed the tang some formula two. later i seen him wedged between the sand and a rock so i adjusted the rocks off him and he wiggled out and landed o n his side and then even swam upside down. shortly after his gills stopped and i waited about two more hours before calling it quits for him.
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
I'm thinkin the rock is your culprit. The downfall of having an engineer gobi is you have to watch your rock work. Make sure all your rock is touching the bottom glass of the tank. If you are still a little weery, you can glue the rocks together.
 
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