My yellow tang died! Why?

[Gooli]

I am pretty sad over here....my yellow tang "Sunny" died.

I've had this 4" yellow tang for over a year in my 90G reef.
He has been eating well and has been active the entire time.
I woke up this morning and he was swiming in small circles. He still had his vibrant yellow color and no physical signs of illness at all.

My wife just called me and told me he's laying on his side with a crab on him! All my other fish are fine.

What in the hell could have done this to him? the only recent changes in the tank is that the temperture fluctuated from 78 to 82 degrees in the last day or so AND i added a copperband butterfly fish a week ago.
This couldnt be the reason could it?

any feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[NanoLurker]

did you QT the copperband 4-6 weeks prior to adding him?

 

[john37]

sorry, you know i had a yellow tang for 3 years and all of a sudden every fish in my 75gal died. really sucks. they are such beautiful fish and not really appreciated.

do you think your copperband was sick and gave it to the tang?

 

[Gooli]

no..i didnt QT the copperband...i am not accustomed to the QT process and dont have a QT tank....but if that was true..wouldnt all the fish die?

 

[john37]

maybe some fish are more susceptible than others.

 

[Gooli]

john37...but the copperband looks fine and healthy...you're saying he could be sick regardless and will continue to hurt the tank?

 

[818]

YT are very suceptible to illnesses. They have a pretty weak imune system.

If you plan on npot QT ur fish I would definatley feed selcon, garlic type of vitamins to those tangs to buffen yp the immune system.

Sam

 

[Gooli]

if the copperband brought something in the tank..how come he's not sick?

what do i need in order to setup a QT tank?

 

[Bebo77]

how big is the copperband compared to the yellow tang.. it may have been stress...

 

[Gooli]

the copperband is same size - if anything - the yellow tang was stressing out the copperband for the first 3-4 days

 

[Fmellish]

Congestive heart failure?


But seriously, we all seem to forget that everything dies. Maybe he just had a short life and died of natural causes. Maybe he had a heart attack or a bad kidney, or just got depressed and checked out.

I know it's sad. I can't imagine loosing a fish i had that long. I haven't had any fish that long. And still I get sad when a fish dies that I've only had for a few weeks.

I'd say get your temps under control, but my tank is running at 85F right now, so I'm not one to talk.

Yellow tangs are very suceptible to illness and parasites. Parasites that most fish laugh at will kill a yellow tang. Actually heppatus tangs are very vulnerable to pathogens also.

You'll never really have an answer. I would suggest close monitoring of all the fish and just moving on.

Good luck.

Josh

 

[supernareg]

i agree with Fmellish....

 

[Gooli]

guys...what are some tangs that are a little more hardy?

 

[NanoLurker]

i disagree.

a $30.00 hand held field microscope, a quick skin smear, and gill clipping can tell you a heck of a lot about what did or did not happen to your fish. most of us can't culture for bacteria but you can sure take a skin smear and look at the gills for parasites. if you ever want a picture of uronema i'll be more than happy to post it for you.

ETA: enrich their food with beta glucan, spirulina, etc. they're immunostimulants.

also, i'm sorry you lost your fish golan.

 

[tptp279]

same thing happens to me all the time. for some reason i can't keep a yellow tang. i have blues but everytime i try a yellow, it'll live anywhere from 3 months to a year and out of no where dies. it SUCKS... haven't tried another one yet.

 

[818]

All tangs are easily suceptible to disease than other fish. Thats why online vendors reccomend they are fed greenies regularly for this reason. Fmellish can be correct about an organ failure.... maybe a better diet could have helped?

Sam

 

[rbdesigns]

Could it be they are caught by cyanide and that causes it?

 

[tptp279]

well, the difference is that the ones i get are mac certified net caught from quality marine... so cyanide will not be the cause...

 

[Gooli]

i was feeding him nori on a clip 3 times a week and daily mysis, and spirulina - is that ok?

 

[crsandoval]

I had a yellow tang for 9 months and once I moved in less than 3 weeks he was a goner. Almost the same exact situation that you described. One morning he was under a rock not really moving just staying idle and later on that evening once I got home he died. The diet that you mentioned seemed accurate and if he ate then he was healthy it just could have been stress. My tank size is 80 gallons and with a porc puffer, coral, and a powder blue tang it just could have been stress from the move and the other inhabitants.