All new Tangs Died

Matthatrick · Jan 1, 2020

Hi
I have a evolution aqua 1200 and it’s been running for around 2 months. I don’t use mixed salt water , I buy sea water from a company that sells real water. I have some corals that are doing well and 2 azure damsel that are good. I added 3 tangs (yellow tang and yellow eye tang and regal tang) the yellow tang and yellow eye tang are dead when I woke up this morning. My tank perimeters are perfect, I tested them all again. The only thing that has changed is yesterday I needed to top up my tank and I added around 15 litres of RO water directly to the tank, could this be the issue? Could it be my light at night to show off coral?

I am new to this forum so thanks in advance.

Fish4udog · Jan 1, 2020

Light shouldn't have any effect if you added 15L of to water your salinity had to be pretty high, which will stress the fish.

Dilan Patel · Jan 1, 2020

seems like a bioload issue. you added 3 tangs while you probably didn't have enough bacteria in the system yet to take care of that much bioload

Katrina71 · Jan 1, 2020

I'm so sorry

ThePurple12 · Jan 1, 2020

Dilan Patel said:
seems like a bioload issue. you added 3 tangs while you probably didn't have enough bacteria in the system yet to take care of that much bioload

He said his parameters are fine, so it couldn't have been that.

How did you acclimate? They might've died from stress.

MERKEY · Jan 1, 2020

ThePurple12 said:
He said his parameters are fine, so it couldn't have been that.

How did you acclimate? They might've died from stress.

Unfortunately parameters only tell you when the bacteria is strong enough to start processing ammonia, which indicates an end to a cycle. Once cycled the bacteria needs time to build while you add livestock. This means fish AND coral

If TOO much livestock is added it very well could have been TOO much for the new bacteria in the tank to handle, thus leading to the deaths....this is a very possible scenario.

OP in your post you said you added 15L or RO water. As stated above fresh water will shock fish but dropping salinity should not have killed the fish, hypo salinity is used as a QT hospital method very widely in this hobby....I would rule this out.

Light will not kill fish....I would rule that out

The damsels will definitely bully fish to death especially new ones. Although if this happened in 1 night that is a bit far for them to kill 2 fish in 1 night....I would rule this out but a close second place.

Did the tangs have any signs of disease or parasites? White stringy poop? White spots? Anything unusual? Unless we know %100 while being observed in a QT we really probably wont know.

When you say parameters are perfect...what does this mean? Every tank is different so numbers really do matter. What test kits do you use?

With other fish still alive, your tank IS processing the ammonia and the death of the new fish. If the others are all good you have no more free floating ammonia.

I believe you over worked the bacteria in a NEWLY cycled tank. Most of us are guilty of this.

Unless another fish dies thats probably what's happening. The only thing that will help this is time and a water change with SEA water.

I could be wrong but let's ask @brandon429 as he has talked about this a lot in his sand rinsing threads.

Raege · Jan 1, 2020

2 months old is very young for a tank
You said parameters were perfect but helpful to know what numbers are/ were and test kits your using.
Info on how you introduced fish to tank acclimation wise.
Did you top off with ro after fish were in?

brandon429 · Jan 1, 2020

Describe your disease prevention protocol for the tank and new fish

45ZoaGarden · Jan 1, 2020

You said your parameters are fine. What are they?

IKD · Jan 1, 2020

If they all died that quick, I would initially suspect a salinity shock. How did you acclimate them before adding them in? Many vendors have very low salinity (to save salt costs) and fish require a slow acclimation to adjust your salt parameters (drip method for several hours for example).

did you compare salinity levels in the bagged water to yours by chance?

45ZoaGarden · Jan 1, 2020

IKD said:
If they all died that quick, I would initially suspect a salinity shock. How did you acclimate them before adding them in? Many vendors have very low salinity (to save salt costs) and fish require a slow acclimation to adjust your salt parameters (drip method for several hours for example).

did you compare salinity levels in the bagged water to yours by chance?

+1 salinity, temperature, nitrate or an ammonia issue

motortrendz · Jan 1, 2020

15l of top off seems like alot, your salinitly must have been super high with that kind of evaporation. Alot of people use auto top of units to maintain the salinitly at a consistent level. A large swing in alainity can cause stress, high salt levels can cause stress and low o2 levels in a tank... along with a fairly new system, (please post your actual parameters and what test kits used) it could have been a recipe for failure.

So let's see if we can help you.... welcome and happy new year!!

GlassMunky · Jan 1, 2020

Fish4udog said:
Light shouldn't have any effect if you added 15L of to water your salinity had to be pretty high, which will stress the fish.

That’s less than 4G in a 300G system. That won’t effect salinity you a noticeable point

motortrendz · Jan 1, 2020

GlassMunky said:
That’s less than 4G in a 300G system. That won’t effect salinity you a noticeable point

Ah I missed the 300g system, My bad.

45ZoaGarden · Jan 1, 2020

What are the parameters?

Omgitsjoe · Jan 1, 2020

I wouldn't be so quick to jump to "bio load, or parameter problem" Did you QT? We all know diseased fish can die instantly. If you did not QT, I highly recommend following one of the posted QT procedures. I personally have a very intensive QT procedure and my fatality rate is extremely low.

ScottB · Jan 1, 2020

IKD said:
If they all died that quick, I would initially suspect a salinity shock. How did you acclimate them before adding them in? Many vendors have very low salinity (to save salt costs) and fish require a slow acclimation to adjust your salt parameters (drip method for several hours for example).

did you compare salinity levels in the bagged water to yours by chance?

+1 on acclimation for salinity. LFS and vendors run really low salinity well below 1.020 or even 1.016. A big change in water temp exacerbates this IMO. Tough to control for temps during the LONG drips necessary.

Add to all this the transfer stress it is kinda tough.

IKD · Jan 1, 2020

GlassMunky said:
That’s less than 4G in a 300G system. That won’t effect salinity you a noticeable point

This is a 300 gallon tank? I thought the evolution aqua 1200 was 441 litres (116 gallons)

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GlassMunky · Jan 1, 2020

IKD said:
This is a 300 gallon tank? I thought the evolution aqua 1200 was 441 litres (116 gallons)

eaReefPro Aquariums

Evolution Aqua Koi Pond Filtration Solutions

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I don’t know European things....
when something has 1200 in the name I figure it means 1200 liters.
maybe I’m wrong. I’ve honestly never heard of that brand or tank

GlassMunky · Jan 1, 2020

IKD said:
This is a 300 gallon tank? I thought the evolution aqua 1200 was 441 litres (116 gallons)

eaReefPro Aquariums

Evolution Aqua Koi Pond Filtration Solutions

evolutionaqua.com

Stupid way to name a tank imo