my angel fishes keep dying! HELP PLEASE!

[WillM]

you should be acclimating for 2-3 hours...at a min...

I wouldn't do this. 2-3 hours is way too long. There's a sticky in the New to Hobby section about how to properly acclimate a fish so that it isn't shocked by the new water conditions and doesn't die of ammonia poisoning in the bag:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939508

(note Sk8r's "Be sure and be done within 30 minutes!")

And here is another sticky thread in the New to Hobby section about tangs and tank sizes:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946007

(note sailfin tangs are recommended in a 240G 8' tank)

 

[humaguy]

2-3 hours at a min depending on size is accurate...any fish that has been placed in a box, put on a truck, delivered to an airport placed on a plane, then to a holding facility, then on a truck needs time to acclimate properly...
but I have only been doing this for 30 years...so do what works for you...

 

[humaguy]

ps la/dd recommends an hour...those of us that err on the side of caution go longer...espe. when we receive fish direct from a diver and the fish come from 1/2 way around the world...I would never acclimate any fish for only 30 minutes...

 

[SDguy]

I'm going to disagree with the acclimation comment. 2-3 hours is overkill, and unless you are experienced, it could be detrimental. The OP isn't receiving fish from a diver or any other direct from across the world source

30 minutes is perfectly fine for a fish from the LFS. Add small amounts of tank water to the bag once every 5 minutes, to acclimate to pH and salinity and the like, while floating in the tank, to acclimate for temperature.

 

[kreativemike]

@ humaguy ... appreciate the response.. try to be a lil cool with ur responses alright man cause i am new to this i am just trying to get help. so think about that before u start bashing ppl on these forums ... i am still confused about 'breaking the surface' ..i have three power filters.. tell me how should i positioned them to get the most oxygen flowing.. the 950 can go into the tank but the 2 - 275 cannot, they can only stay at the top of the tank

@pinnatus - my tang does harras the new angel any time i enter it in the tank .. making it to stay in the castle and not come out .. do u think i should give back the tang and put a new angel with the clown and thats it?

 

[gbru316]

@ humaguy ... appreciate the response.. try to be a lil cool with ur responses alright man cause i am new to this i am just trying to get help. so think about that before u start bashing ppl on these forums ... i am still confused about 'breaking the surface' ..i have three power filters.. tell me how should i positioned them to get the most oxygen flowing.. the 950 can go into the tank but the 2 - 275 cannot, they can only stay at the top of the tank

@pinnatus - my tang does harras the new angel any time i enter it in the tank .. making it to stay in the castle and not come out .. do u think i should give back the tang and put a new angel with the clown and thats it?

I think we discovered why your angels keep dying

 

[pinnatus]

@pinnatus - my tang does harras the new angel any time i enter it in the tank .. making it to stay in the castle and not come out .. do u think i should give back the tang and put a new angel with the clown and thats it?

I think the deaths have been caused by the tang.

Sooner or later the tang will have to go, it will eventually be too much fish for your tank. That being said, you will always have the aggression issue anytime you add a new fish to an established group. So it is a good thing to learn how to deal with it. Try the tricks I mentioned above, they work. And don't let your fish get beat up. If they are taking a beating, intervene. Some mild aggression will take place, and the new fish should defend itself. But if the aggressor fish is nipping and chasing rather than just finning, then you need to intervene.

 

[humaguy]

gee, I was bashing???
sorry, not the intention..

even from a lfs i would acclimate for an hour but we all have diff methods that work for us...and that is cool...

you have 3 powerheads...so have one pointing to the bottom part of the tank...1 that points to the middle but slightly angeled upwards..the 3rd should be placed high in the tank and pointed at the surface so there are waves and bubbles...not to the point that it it hitting your hood...but so the surface of the tank is being aggitated...
you do not want your surface to be as smooth as glass...

 

[WillM]

2-3 hours at a min depending on size is accurate...any fish that has been placed in a box, put on a truck, delivered to an airport placed on a plane, then to a holding facility, then on a truck needs time to acclimate properly...
but I have only been doing this for 30 years...so do what works for you...

Whatever works, but I don't think his acclimatization is the issue.

If his tests are accurate, then the issue is probably the tang.

 

[pinnatus]

I am with Humaguy. I have been doing this for 38 years myself. A good acclimitization process is extremely important. I don't see where 2-3 hours is any more harmful than 1/2-1 hour. The fish has spent days in the bag, a couple more hours with new fesh water being added can't be bad.

 

[Rapide]

Hold your horses... So do you have powerheads, like stream pumps or do you have 3 internal or overhand filters??

 

[WillM]

I am with Humaguy. I have been doing this for 38 years myself. A good acclimitization process is extremely important. I don't see where 2-3 hours is any more harmful than 1/2-1 hour. The fish has spent days in the bag, a couple more hours with new fesh water being added can't be bad.

The issue is ammonia. The longer the fish is in the bag the quicker you should try to get them out of the bag. Especially if they were shipped direct to you from the Pacific. Once you open the bag the ammonia is much more critical than the salinity or Ph or whatever you are trying to equalize by dribbling in clean water. I understand what you do works, but I would rather have fish that aren't at a disadvantage from ammonia burning their gills any longer than it has to.

For the record, I still am not sold that his acclimatization is the culprit here.

 

[ERivera65]

Honestly I wouldn't put more than one dwarf angel in a 55 gallon, you could get away with 2 but they are known to be aggressive towards each other. I was successful with a coral beauty, yellow tang, and blue tang in a 55 gallon for a period of 4 months. The fish were rehomed in a 250 gallon tank and are doing well. If your fish are aggressive and keep picking on each other the results will not be good. I would remove the aggressive fish or fishes and put them in your sump or a seperate tank like a quarantine tank and let the other guys settle in and then put the aggressive fish back in your tank after a couple of days. This will disorient the aggressive fish and they will feel like they are being placed in a different tank and will have to readjust themselves to their new home.

 

[Bernie21]

I would tell you to remove the sailfin because it may be the cause of the aggression. Also your tank seems kinda new for a big biolad, it may be ok, but might spike when you add the new fish thats already stressed & perhaps bullied. Lastly, Clownfish are not a good measuring stick of how well or established your tank is as they are nearly bullet proof.

Try removing the saifin, then add an Angel and wait a little. You might also want to keep the light off for a day or 2 just so that it can get adjusted to its new home peacefully and it can relax while it gets to know the comforts and dangers (or lack of) the tank.

Good luck and dont get out of the hobby because it is a berautiful one, just that its expensive and requires a ton of patience and knowledge (that you'll get if you just stick w it).

 

[JohnniG]

Know the feeling. Tried this with a couple of freshwaterfish. Gl.