My yellow tang died! Why?
- Thread starter Gooli
- Start date
laverda
Well-known member
To be honest, I find it disgusting to hear how careless some of you are about the fish you keep! If I could not keep a fish alive for 9 months, I would get out of the hobby now! This is the attitude that makes non hobbiest want to ban the hobby of keeping reef fish and is defiantly not sustainable!
At least gooliver is asking why? Good for you! Natural causes are unlikely, as most tangs in our tanks are very young and should grow large and old. His fish was just a juvenile and had a long life ahead of it! Tangs are long lived. I have had some for 3 years now, but they are still young. Remember your talking about a fish where some verities of grow to 14"
Tangs a herbivores, not meat eaters. While I imagine they love it, Mysis is not proper food for tangs. Most tangs I see are in very poor health and are not being feed enough greens. I feed mine greens every day, usually twice a day. I have come to realize that my tangs are not as healthily as I had thought. Check out this forum by Lee Boca ->http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=785228 He gave a very informative presentation based on it at the last SCMAS meeting.
Also your copperband butterfly might have had something that it was not bothered, by but the tang was. Or perhaps the tang was stressed and the addition of the copperband butterfly to its territory stressed it to the point it could not cope any longer.
We do not have enough information to know for sure why it died? What were your water parameters, How many other fish? What other symptoms did it have? A microscope might help some. There are people on RC that examine a fish and do an autopsy. My guess is it was under nourished and the stress of a new possibly sick fish was more then it could take.
Their are some excellent threads on QT tank set up. I could not find any right off hand. You need just a minimal set up and defiantly a good idea to have one! I do!
At least gooliver is asking why? Good for you! Natural causes are unlikely, as most tangs in our tanks are very young and should grow large and old. His fish was just a juvenile and had a long life ahead of it! Tangs are long lived. I have had some for 3 years now, but they are still young. Remember your talking about a fish where some verities of grow to 14"
Tangs a herbivores, not meat eaters. While I imagine they love it, Mysis is not proper food for tangs. Most tangs I see are in very poor health and are not being feed enough greens. I feed mine greens every day, usually twice a day. I have come to realize that my tangs are not as healthily as I had thought. Check out this forum by Lee Boca ->http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=785228 He gave a very informative presentation based on it at the last SCMAS meeting.
Also your copperband butterfly might have had something that it was not bothered, by but the tang was. Or perhaps the tang was stressed and the addition of the copperband butterfly to its territory stressed it to the point it could not cope any longer.
We do not have enough information to know for sure why it died? What were your water parameters, How many other fish? What other symptoms did it have? A microscope might help some. There are people on RC that examine a fish and do an autopsy. My guess is it was under nourished and the stress of a new possibly sick fish was more then it could take.
Their are some excellent threads on QT tank set up. I could not find any right off hand. You need just a minimal set up and defiantly a good idea to have one! I do!
beefjerkygood
New member
Maybe you just got a bad fish from a bad store. I"ve seen an entire store full of tanks with lethargic fish - not a good sign. I've even seen dead fish floating in the same tank with 30 others in a 50 gallon tank and all the fish looked doomed! Try a different source. Laverda suggested a QT tank - I agree... just get a small 10-20 tank with a hang on filter and a heater and make sure the QT is cycled. I try to keep QT water as close to possible as the main. When i'm not QT'ing a fish, i just put some snails and crabs in there so there's something to look at.
crsandoval
Active member
I would not make the assumption that someone is careless. Have you seen their tank/equipment. The YT was provided many greens and nori alternating between brown, green & etc. In addition he/she was provided LR with multiple types of fresh algae that would be gone by the next morning.
In my situation the issue was stress from moving.
In my situation the issue was stress from moving.
laverda
Well-known member
crsandoval, I was not directing my comments at you or anyone specifically. Moving fish is stressful to them. When they are healthy they are able to deal with stress and disease much better. I moved all 4 our of my tangs from other tanks when I acquired my 240. I have lost fish myself. :-( I do not know the reason for some and other I do. Some fish only live for one to two years naturally. When you lose one of them that is two years old, that was probably from natural causes. I have learned from my experiences and I think that is what gooliver is trying to do. But to just say, O well things die???? That is not a health attitude for the hobby or our fish. I bet your glad your mom didn't have that attitude. I am sure glad mine didn't.
I hope you all take the time to read the thread I linked. It would make my day to know it helped! I think you will learn a lot. I did and I am in the process of reading it again. I would like to have my tangs for another 4 years if not more. My Sailfin tang will be too big for my tank long before that, I am afraid. Enjoy your fish everyone! That's what it is all about.
I hope you all take the time to read the thread I linked. It would make my day to know it helped! I think you will learn a lot. I did and I am in the process of reading it again. I would like to have my tangs for another 4 years if not more. My Sailfin tang will be too big for my tank long before that, I am afraid. Enjoy your fish everyone! That's what it is all about.
NanoLurker
Member
crsandoval
Active member
Laverda,
I did read the article in fact I have met lee personally, he directed me to the page before, it was nice to brush up. I did not feel that you were directing comments at me, if fact I agree that an oh well attitude is unacceptable in this hobby. Good luck with the Sailfin, I want one but it would be too small and the Powder Blue tang is a menace.
I did read the article in fact I have met lee personally, he directed me to the page before, it was nice to brush up. I did not feel that you were directing comments at me, if fact I agree that an oh well attitude is unacceptable in this hobby. Good luck with the Sailfin, I want one but it would be too small and the Powder Blue tang is a menace.
NicoleC
New member
I agree with the general concensus that the CB introduced a new pathogen or stress factor, which the yellow tang submitted to when the other did not.
Incidentally, nori and other seaweeds are not natural food for yellow tangs, filamentous algae is. So while a continous supply of seaweed in a clip -- preferrably a variety of types -- is usually the best care we can provide, it's not normal for them and may reduce their lifespans and immune systems. It may not, that's just a possibility.
Unless, of course, you have filamentous algae for them to graze on, but isn't most everyone trying to avoid that?!
I believe their lifespan is about 10 years in captivity.
Incidentally, nori and other seaweeds are not natural food for yellow tangs, filamentous algae is. So while a continous supply of seaweed in a clip -- preferrably a variety of types -- is usually the best care we can provide, it's not normal for them and may reduce their lifespans and immune systems. It may not, that's just a possibility.
Unless, of course, you have filamentous algae for them to graze on, but isn't most everyone trying to avoid that?!
I believe their lifespan is about 10 years in captivity.
laverda
Well-known member
crsandoval,
Good my intent was not to **** anyone off, but I was a little. My sailfin is a gentle giant! One of my favorites. Kole or yellow eye is the slowest grower and also a favorite.
Nicole,
I feed my tangs 3 different algae I grow in my other tanks, plus nori, prepared foods and vitamins on a regular basis. I am slowly working on modifying their diet after Lee's presentation. Looking for options on other things to feed them as something apparently is missing from their diet acording to Lee. To much nori and other inapropiate foods I think.
Good my intent was not to **** anyone off, but I was a little. My sailfin is a gentle giant! One of my favorites. Kole or yellow eye is the slowest grower and also a favorite.
Nicole,
I feed my tangs 3 different algae I grow in my other tanks, plus nori, prepared foods and vitamins on a regular basis. I am slowly working on modifying their diet after Lee's presentation. Looking for options on other things to feed them as something apparently is missing from their diet acording to Lee. To much nori and other inapropiate foods I think.
NicoleC
New member
Hmmm. I know you bend over backwards for your tangs, Steve. Ogo is a tang favorite, but hard to culture and expensive to buy, but getting easier and cheaper. Maybe it will be available dried and prepared soon, like nori is.
Grow hair algae in a tub out in the sun? Add a rock to the tang tank until clean, replace, repeat?
It seems like most fish vitamins are fatty acids -- which is probably not really what herbivores need. When my bicolor blenny was sick, Frank Marini suggested feeding vitamins to the tank water, because the film algae she grazed on would take up some of the vitamins. I wonder if feeding the algae-growing tanks would be better, on the assumption the algae would take up plant-specific vitamins, which would in turn be the vitamins herbivores need.
Grow hair algae in a tub out in the sun? Add a rock to the tang tank until clean, replace, repeat?
It seems like most fish vitamins are fatty acids -- which is probably not really what herbivores need. When my bicolor blenny was sick, Frank Marini suggested feeding vitamins to the tank water, because the film algae she grazed on would take up some of the vitamins. I wonder if feeding the algae-growing tanks would be better, on the assumption the algae would take up plant-specific vitamins, which would in turn be the vitamins herbivores need.
laverda
Well-known member
I am soaking their flake food with vitamins every other day now. I am also not giving them some of the inappropriate prepared foods I was before. I am guessing Ogo is the brown stuff you see some LFS feeding their fish. I have an algae that is similar but grows reasonably and the tangs love it. Here are pics of 3 of the algae I am feeding them.
Gooli
New member
well...i think the death has been a result of 3 combined factors.
1. i did not feed enough veggies to him on a regular basis.
2. temp swing at day of death was 5 degrees F.
3. New copperband was added to his territory which may have caused major stress.
the sad part of this hobby is that sometimes we learn things at the expense of a fish's life
1. i did not feed enough veggies to him on a regular basis.
2. temp swing at day of death was 5 degrees F.
3. New copperband was added to his territory which may have caused major stress.
the sad part of this hobby is that sometimes we learn things at the expense of a fish's life
Hunter_Cal
New member
sry for your loss...i dont know what id do if i lost a fish.
cthetoy
Active member
I got 3 small yellow tangs 5 years ago and 90% of their diet is just Ocean Nutrition 2 flakes and I feed them once a day. With the birth of my child I neglected the feeding part (Feeding ended up once a week) and they yellow tangs got skinny. I then fed them a mixtured of frozen food (mysis) and more Ocean Nut II flakes and they gained their weight. My Blue Tang of 7 years and Powder Blue of 5 years (PB died last week because of an ich outbreak) was on a diet of 90% Ocean Nutrition 2 flakes with an occasionaly soak of garlic or vitamins. All my tangs are bright in color and no signs lateral line diseases, etc.
