Someone please help!

[John.Le]

I recently purchased Aqueon 30 Gallon tank from my fish store. I decided to go with a saltwater tank and purchased a Heater, light, canister filter, food and other stuff.

I set up the tank and everything was working well!
I waited a week to let my tank cycle.
I checked and my ammonia, nitrate, and nitite levels were fine.
(I am using live rock and live sand)

I decided that I would go and buy my first fish.
I saw a Yellow Tang for $50.
The fish was very healthy.

The first day He was eating fine and swimming well.
So I decided to get a Maderine Goby as my second fish as
Well as a Clownfish.

After a week,
The fish stopped eating, they were not swimming well and there was noticeable white spots on the Tang.

Please Help!

 

[Kanejr10]

White spots usually means ich. Also your tank is too small for a yellow tang and a mandarin. Unless the mandarin is eating frozen food it will starve to death as your tank cannot support the pods required to feed it. Also looks like you could have stocked too fast and caused a ammonia spike. You need to go slow with salt and even slower with a new tank. Also one week cycles are possible but sounds to fast to me. I would put all the fish in a qt tank and treat them. Also in my opinion take the mandarin and the tang back if they survive the treatment.

Edit: just some advice. You really need to look into the fish you plan to have in your tank. There are tank requirements for fish and some are easier than others to keep. You can always ask on here if you have questions about a fish for your tank.

 

[dweber618]

White spots usually means ich. Also your tank is too small for a yellow tang and a mandarin. Unless the mandarin is eating frozen food it will starve to death as your tank cannot support the pods required to feed it. Also looks like you could have stocked too fast and caused a ammonia spike. You need to go slow with salt and even slower with a new tank. Also one week cycles are possible but sounds to fast to me. I would put all the fish in a qt tank and treat them. Also in my opinion take the mandarin and the tang back if they survive the treatment.

Edit: just some advice. You really need to look into the fish you plan to have in your tank. There are tank requirements for fish and some are easier than others to keep. You can always ask on here if you have questions about a fish for your tank.

+1. 30 gallons is too small for the tang, and the mandarin. Also, 1 week was most likely too quick for the cycle. It sounds like the tang does have ich. If it does have ich, your display now has ich in it. The only way for ich to be eradicated from you tank is to go fish-less for at least 72 days and don't add anything.

Read the stickies on quarantining new arrivals. It's a slow process, but if it keeps your main display tank healthy, it's worth it. Take it slow starting out, you just found out the hard way only bad things happen fast in this hobby. Read around the forums - there is a wealth of information to help you get started.

 

[billdogg]

You are either trolling, or you have been horribly misguided by your LFS. (Local Fish Store).

Several points:

1. Even with live rock and live sand, your tank was nowhere near cycled in a week. It just does not happen that way.

2. Your tank is nowhere near big enough for either a Tang of any sort or a mandarin (or scooter blennie - both dragonettes, both requiring fairly large, well established tanks to provide the food they MUST have to survive)

3. Any LFS that would sell you either of those fish, especially after just one week of cycle should not be trusted for realistic advice and should be avoided.

Both fish should be returned immediately, you need to let the tank properly cycle, and while it is doing that, you need to read the stickies at the top of this forum.

Only then should you consider getting a new fish or two for your tank, and even then you really should put them through a proper quarantine to make sure they are eating well and disease free.

In a nutshell, SLOW DOWN! One of the most important things to learn about this hobby is this:

Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

Take your time, read, ask questions, learn more about what you are attempting, and this can be a very rewarding hobby.

hth

 

[homer1475]

White spots usually means ich. Also your tank is too small for a yellow tang and a mandarin. Unless the mandarin is eating frozen food it will starve to death as your tank cannot support the pods required to feed it. Also looks like you could have stocked too fast and caused a ammonia spike. You need to go slow with salt and even slower with a new tank. Also one week cycles are possible but sounds to fast to me. I would put all the fish in a qt tank and treat them. Also in my opinion take the mandarin and the tang back if they survive the treatment.

Edit: just some advice. You really need to look into the fish you plan to have in your tank. There are tank requirements for fish and some are easier than others to keep. You can always ask on here if you have questions about a fish for your tank.

+3

30G is way to small for a tang or a mandy.

I also have a 30G(technically 29G biocube) and I also stared with live rock and live sand. It took about 3 weeks to cycle my tank, so your 1 week is probably not right. You said your parameters were "fine", but define fine with actual numbers. What seems "fine" to you, may not be "fine" for your inhabitants, and we can't help you out with that unless you post actual numbers.

If I had to gather a guess, you overstocked to fast and caused an ammonia spike which is deadly to fish(any ammonia is deadly). Have a read up on the stickies at the top of these forums, then come back and ask questions. No question is dumb if you don't know the answer, and beginner questions is the reason behind this whole section of the forums.

 

[A.Astore]

Sadly you are learning the hard way in this hobby that just because the LFS said it was okay, it is not necessarily ok. I would most definitely take the fish back and if you did purchase them from the same LFS which sold you the tank and you were completely honest with them in terms of size of tank, how old, etc I would highly suggest making sure you get store credit for the fish you are returning. They focused on the sale and you are the one paying for it.

Do not go to a store when you have a tank the size you do unless you know EXACTLY what fish you are going for. Don't fall for the well you can rehome the fish when it outgrows the space either. Only purchase fish for the size you have and nothing bigger.

If you do not have any test kits of your own I would highly suggest getting at LEAST ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate should you only be keeping it as FOWLR. If you have your own test kits you can monitor when your water is actually ready for livestock.

Take the time after taking the fish back (because only the clown could even remotely live in that tank so treating the tang would be worthless since it will remain in a constant stressed state) and read all the stickies in the newbie forum because you will gain a wealth of knowledge.

 

[Sapelo]

+1 read the stickies for starting a tank
And slow down
You've gotten good advice, good luck!

 

[mhurley]

I think everyone here has hit the nail on the head, so we can close up shop.