Mysterious

[Ed1942]

I 'lost' my powder brown tang. He was eating and swimming fine last night. There were no indications of injury or disease on the carcus. He's been in the tank (75gal) for a week and acclimated well.
Tankmates include a yellow tang, two perculas, a six-line wrase, green chromis, coral beauty and a typical clean-up crew.
As one might expect, the yellow tang was quite jealous for the first two days but, settled down over the past couple days.
I'm puzzled as to what caused his demise. All tank parimeters have been constant.
Any thoughts?

 

[MrTuskfish]

there are two species sold as powder brown tangs. Acanthurus japonicus and A. nigracans Whitecheek). A. japonicus much more difficullt than A. nigracans; especially in the acclimation process. They often perish within the first few weeks. Neither of these fish does well, at first, with aggressive tankmates. No matter which one you had; IMO & IME, a 90 is too small for a Yellow and a 2nd tang.

 

[Ed1942]

Mysterious

Thank you. The LFS either didn't know or share this information. I try to do my research before purchasing a fish especially one that costs so much. I couldn't find anything that offers warnings such as you've stated.
I'm wiser now.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thank you. The LFS either didn't know or share this information. I try to do my research before purchasing a fish especially one that costs so much. I couldn't find anything that offers warnings such as you've stated.
I'm wiser now.

These fish get mixed up a lot, maybe check to see which one you had; it may give you an idea what happened, but no real proof. If you want a very good, pocket size reference, try Scott Michael's "Marine Fishes". An excellent, but basic reference book for fish and you can take it along to the LFS . Quite inexpensive at Amazon.

 

[adam1980]

Powders get stressed and die really easy, they really should not be kept unless your a really great reefer. My advice is dont waste your money on the powder browns or blues. They probally wont make it. Good luck man

 

[MrTuskfish]

Powders get stressed and die really easy, they really should not be kept unless your a really great reefer. My advice is dont waste your money on the powder browns or blues. They probally wont make it. Good luck man

IMO & IME; the A. nigracans version of Powder Browns and Powder Blues are both fairly easy fish ( although not the easiest) if their needs are met. QT is a must, plenty of room (absolutely vital,6' tank min.), just one of the genus to a tank (in most cases), excellent water quality, a varied diet with added vitamins, and plenty of mature LR.