Purple Tang Dying
- Thread starter chaseg89
- Start date
Fishfish0001
New member
Im sorry for your loss.
Fishfish0001
New member
Its always hard not being able to help them. At least you brought him back where maybe he has a chance. Is he in a QT tank there? I would assume they might have a lot of treatment options there hopefully.
Jstdv8
New member
you didn't by chance just clean the tank or something and had moved the powerheads around a bit or adjusted them so you weren't getting alot of waves on the surface?
If he was laying on the sand gasping that sounds like lack of O2/excessive CO2
The fact that he was up and swimming after a water change sort of leads that way as well. make sure you've got alot of ripples on the surface of the tank in one way or another, the more the better.
If he was laying on the sand gasping that sounds like lack of O2/excessive CO2
The fact that he was up and swimming after a water change sort of leads that way as well. make sure you've got alot of ripples on the surface of the tank in one way or another, the more the better.
Chris27
New member
Given that just a day or two ago the fish was fine, active and eating, I'm going with the something went drastically wrong and very quickly idea as well. While nipping at a nudi may be a stretch, something bad happened quickly. If it were me, I would be doing a water change and running some activated carbon. While I will agree that most tangs should be in larger tanks, having the little guy in a 55 Gal didn't kill him....nor did poor nutrition. Those two factors take a good deal of time to have an effect on a fish, especially poor nutrition.
I have a similar situation where I have a small purple tang in my 55 gallon. (I get them with they are an inch and a half or so and raise them till they around 3.5-4 and then I exchange him at the LFS for another small guy. I feed mine LS pellets but also keep a variety of different macro algaes in my tank on a pvc pipe that I get from the asian market that is near me. He eats the pellets every day in the morning and grazes on the algae/seaweed sheets all day. He is never interested in the fish roe/mysis or other frozens that I cycle through each day though.
I agree that he needs more than pellets to eat and they like to eat multiple times a day. As for why he suddenly had a problem, what have you changed in the tank recently? New additions, media changes, anything?
I agree that he needs more than pellets to eat and they like to eat multiple times a day. As for why he suddenly had a problem, what have you changed in the tank recently? New additions, media changes, anything?
not nearly suffice... unfortunately i feel his diet was incorrect, jmo
chaseg89
New member
We have a koralia 3 and a koralia 4, the koralia 4 is pointed more along the surface to create ripples and oxygenate the water along with the output from our protein skimmer. They havent been adjusted in a while and have seemed to be ok in the places they are. Yeah the guys at our LFS are really great and did what they could to help, but he died not long after we dropped him off yesterday. Thanks everybody for your suggestions and support.
scubasteve06
Jeeper Reefer
It's not the size of the fish when it comes to saltwater fish its the amount of activity and space they require to get the needed activity and "exercise" if you want to call it that. Not saying that it was the tank size that caused the rapid downfall, but the tank was still too small. I don't think it was the tank size guys that did him in, even though the tank was and still is too small for any tang.
Even though RC is such a great place with a lot of diversity among folks, I don't think anyone on this site besides other's that keep tangs in too small of a tank will say that your tank isn't too small for tang. Even though tang's need nori and I feed my Powder Blue nori each day, I also don't think this had much to do with it's rapid downfall. Yes maybe stress from cramped quarters, not enough algae and other nutritional deficiencies can all combined be the downfall of a tang, but not overnight. Keep searching and watching the tank as it could happen again whatever it was.
I am in no way saying it's right to keep any tang in a small tank, and anyone that knows me on the boards knows that I am one of the first to tell people that their tank is too small for a tang, but I don't think this had anything to do with his death overnight.
That being said, keep watching the tank as it could happen again to your other fish if you don't figure out what it was. Have you checked for stray voltage or if any contaminants could of made there way into the tank? Tangs are one of the most sensitive fish and his/her death could be an indicator of more to come. Keep us posted.
Even though RC is such a great place with a lot of diversity among folks, I don't think anyone on this site besides other's that keep tangs in too small of a tank will say that your tank isn't too small for tang. Even though tang's need nori and I feed my Powder Blue nori each day, I also don't think this had much to do with it's rapid downfall. Yes maybe stress from cramped quarters, not enough algae and other nutritional deficiencies can all combined be the downfall of a tang, but not overnight. Keep searching and watching the tank as it could happen again whatever it was.
I am in no way saying it's right to keep any tang in a small tank, and anyone that knows me on the boards knows that I am one of the first to tell people that their tank is too small for a tang, but I don't think this had anything to do with his death overnight.
That being said, keep watching the tank as it could happen again to your other fish if you don't figure out what it was. Have you checked for stray voltage or if any contaminants could of made there way into the tank? Tangs are one of the most sensitive fish and his/her death could be an indicator of more to come. Keep us posted.
scubasteve06
Jeeper Reefer
BTW do you go to Ocean's Floor to get your livestock? Or this tang in particular?
reefgeezer
Active member
Sorry for your loss. Purple Tangs are so cool! Definitely a sad time, but maybe a teachable moment.
I just traded a Purple Tang because it had gotten too big for my 75. I wish I could afford a bigger tank. I bought it at just over 1 inch a little over a year ago and it was well over 3" (closer to 4") when I traded it. He was fed mysis shrimp, occassionaly a homemade clam/shrimp/oyster egg mix, and Sprung's purple seaweed sheets.
Was your Tang growing in a similar manner? I ask because it has been my experience that when fish fail to grow, nutrition or environment are lacking. I've also found that when something is lacking to the point that it affects growth, it also leads or contributes greatly to the its demise. We don't notice the symptoms of this type of problem until they become so pronounced that we think the fish has become suddenly sick. Unfortunately, by that time it is too late for the fish as his systems have already began to shut down.
I just traded a Purple Tang because it had gotten too big for my 75. I wish I could afford a bigger tank. I bought it at just over 1 inch a little over a year ago and it was well over 3" (closer to 4") when I traded it. He was fed mysis shrimp, occassionaly a homemade clam/shrimp/oyster egg mix, and Sprung's purple seaweed sheets.
Was your Tang growing in a similar manner? I ask because it has been my experience that when fish fail to grow, nutrition or environment are lacking. I've also found that when something is lacking to the point that it affects growth, it also leads or contributes greatly to the its demise. We don't notice the symptoms of this type of problem until they become so pronounced that we think the fish has become suddenly sick. Unfortunately, by that time it is too late for the fish as his systems have already began to shut down.
