Tangs - I can't seem to keep them alive!

[starjtj]

am having trouble with some fish, mostly tangs and I can't seem to pinpoint the cause. My tank is:

156 gal
~175 lbs LR
2 1/2 sand bed
refugium, skimmer, etc
SG 1.023
Ca 400
dkh 10
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0 nitrate
pH 8.2
temp 77 degrees

I am using Tropic Marin pro reef salt mix and have 0 ppm on my TDS meter.

The tank has been running for approx 6 weeks. It was set up with 220 lbs live sand and cured live rock. The tank was monitored for about two weeks to see if it needed to cycle but didn't due to using the live sand and cured rock. I added a 5 reef chromis, 3 of which survived. I later added a blue dot jawfish and an anthias. Then added a powder brown tang and a sohal tang. After 3 weeks in the tank, the sohal and powder brown died. Prior to their death, they had ich and were being treated with Metro and Focus. After several days, I added a yellow tang, two false percs, and a clown tang. The tangs lasted 2 days and are now dead.

Throughout this time i have tested pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate every couple of days. All readings were perfect. Living in the tank are false percs, watchman goby, 3 chromis, various sps and lps corals. Corals are doing fine and growing.

Any idea what might be killing my tangs?

 

[FortyFour]

Have you considered the source? Were they eating?

 

[davelin315]

I am assuming that since your tank is 6 weeks old that you're fairly new to the hobby (no offense meant). Anyway, you picked some of the more difficult tangs to introduce. The Clown/Linneatus Tang is one of the notoriously difficult fish and should only be attempted by experts with a reef tank due to their dietary needs. They often come in and are already suffering when you buy them due to deficiencies in their diet since collection. The Powder Brown is not that difficult a fish, but combining it with a Sohal and ich at the same time, you're looking at a somewhat peaceful fish in the Powder Brown which is stressed out enough to allow ich to take a strong foothold and then adding on the stress of one of the meanest fish out there in the Sohal (reputation only, no personal experience with them because of this reputation) and then medicating on top of that with tangs which sometimes can really suffer from medications. The second set of fish probably died the same way, and yellow tangs are pretty hardy fish.

Don't take offense, but try adding fish slowly, one at a time, and make sure your tank is ready for them. A 6 week old tank (which was only at 1-2 weeks when you added the first set of tangs) is a far cry from a stable or mature tank and is not suitable yet for difficult to keep fish. I'll be the first one to admit that I will often set up a tank and toss the fish in there right away, but I've been at this a very long time and use rock that is already what I consider to be seasoned by supporting lots of life already, rather than just cured and newly added to a system.

One measure of whether a system is mature enough to handle more advanced life in it is if it has gone through an algae cycle yet (talking going through the initial film, then diatom and possibly dinoflagellates, then maybe some more aggressive hair, and then back to film algae with some cyano possibly sprinkled in there). Keep in mind there could have been other causes of death for the tangs, collection, husbandry as they were collected and transshipped, improper medicating, etc., but from what you have said, it sounds like they were stressed out too much to survive for the first set and then the second set sounds like they were placed into a tank that proved it was not mature enough to handle these fish yet.

 

[Ohiomom]

Not to mention if those fish really died from ich your system is now infested and if you treated in the main system you have probably killed off a lot of the good stuff your tank may have been starting..ie bacteria..pods..live rock growth..

You need to read about ich and its life cycle..treatment and how to proceed.

 

[sedor]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1766634

Refer to my answer I posted in your other identical thread...not sure why you needed 2.

 

[Sohal Tang Tim]

ick was in there just waiting for new additions!

ick was in there just waiting for new additions!

Ick was still in the tank after the sohal and pbt died.....when you added
more HOSTS for the ick....it took them over quickly also likely......
and it is STILLLLLLLLLLLLL in the tank....
There is a cycle for ick....I cannot remember its something like 30 days it has to be WITHOUTTTTT a host (fish) before it dies off.......

So...here are some suggestions:

#1 keep adding fish too fast and lose them one right after another

#2 stop adding fish for another 8 weeks do not put a single fish in....then
slowly begin to add one at a time at the rate of perhaps 1 fish per month..
or even 1 per 2 months.....and onlyyyyyyyyyyyy after the previous fish
is alive healthy and doing extremely well.....


#3 do number 2 above anddddddddddd immediately add a UV that will
not CURE bugger all but it will aid in removing sommmme of the infection
parasites that are suspended in the water column on contact...making it
harder for future fish to catch ick...etc....


#4 no matter what...read up on ick as previously suggested on here....
this step is a MUST. so Step 4 is in ADDITION to whatever else you
choose from 1 to 3

Good luck,

Tim



:hmm2: