Fish Longevity

[64Ivy]

Obviously, it helps to only purchase healthy fish to begin with. Next, and I consider this the key as it is with everything else, would be stability. Try and keep your parameters constant. Go easy on the intermittent additives and try to avoid bandwagons. Once you find out what works for you, stick with it. I still have a Purple Tang and an Orange Lined Bristletooth [C. striatus] that I purchased in '97 and '98 respectively.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would say that tangs and angels in a 140g is too small. Unless you are talking dwarf angels. Tangs can fowl up the water quickly and so can angels. Get yourself a ammonia badge (seachem) just as an extra precaution. To me it sounds like a environmental issue. The environment will effect stress in the fish making it susceptible to all the diseases mentioned.

You say dry rock, but it should have been turned to live at this point. You should be getting really good biological filtration after two years. I would add a protein skimmer to help with particulates, but make sure the rocks is set for the particular species you are looking at. Make sure you are adding compatible fish and in the correct order. Make sure you are buying from a reputable supplier. Make triple sure you are giving the correct foods for the fish.

A UV is only good if the bulbs are changed frequently and the flow through them is correctly done. Otherwise, they do nothing, so double check this too. Your parameters from Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate look fine, but keep an eye on them. The badge will help a lot.

Careful putting meds in the tank unless you are prepared for the loss of biological filtration.

I will say, depending on type of tangs and angels, you are setting up for failure. If this is your first dive into saltwater, try more tolerant fish first and work your way up to what you want. Patience is key and experience is everything!

 

[old salt]

Thanks Humblefish and 3ford for the advice. I hate to say this but I had a blonde Naso dead this morning. He had a haze cov ering his right eye nothing else on his body. The blueface angel had nothing noticeable on his body. I have a powder blue and a blue hippo left. I will do a FW tomorrow and let you know how that comes out. I had the Naso for three months. If I see the flukes should I treat the whole tank with Cupramine? The powder blue and blue hippo look just fine on the outside. Once again thanks!

 

[scardall]

I had a blue Tang for 7 years before a snowflake eel made him jump out of the tank. Real bummer since the tang was just getting it's yellow belly/sexual maturity. Darn

 

[Paul B]

I wrote an article on this
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/how-to-tell-marine-fish-dying-old-age-5782/

To me, fish should almost "never" get a disease. Mine don't and yours should not either. I also don't believe parameters have much to do with it. For corals, yes, but not to much for fish. Of course they won't live in damp sawdust.
I believe it is all about food and more importantly, the bacteria that is on and in the food. If you are quarantining your fish for long periods and feeding sterile foode such as flakes and pellets, I doubt that fish will die of old age and I am quite sure they will get all sorts of diseases. I realize I am in the vast minority on this but my fish never die unless they jump out.
I even wrote a book about this because I am to old to argue every day. What do you feed your fish? I am just curious.

 

[old salt]

I feed them Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets (small), Ocean Nutrition Frozen Angelfish Formula, San Francisco Bay Frozen Brine Shrimp and San Francisco Bay Sally's Salad.

 

[Paul B]

The Ocean Nutrition frozen stuff may be fine. I don't know what Sally's Salad is. The other stuff is doing nothing for the health of your fish. Fish need whole foods such as clams or worms with just one ingredient and no preservatives. If you feed them correctly including the bacteria associated with fresh or frozen whole foods that contain the guts of the animal, they should never get sick and live a very long life.
Fish eating the correct foods will also spawn continuously and spawning fish are healthy fish because pregnant is the normal condition fish are "always" in, in the sea.
I wrote an article about this if you are interested. Good luck.

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/want-healthy-spawning-fish-feed-them-properly-5010/

 

[puffster]

I just lost my royal grama, 7 years. I hate loosing any fish but I do believe it lived its life cycle. Good luck with keeping your remaining fish. Water quality,

 

[old salt]

Tried the FW dip. Did not see any flukes but the Blue Hippo when it was in the DT gills were working real fast. Woke up the next morning and the Powder Blue was covered with ich. Both are in Hospital/QT being treated with Cupramine. Lost 5 fish in two weeks. Everything going fine then chaos. Never would have believe it.

 

[Humblefish]

Tried the FW dip. Did not see any flukes but the Blue Hippo when it was in the DT gills were working real fast. Woke up the next morning and the Powder Blue was covered with ich. Both are in Hospital/QT being treated with Cupramine. Lost 5 fish in two weeks. Everything going fine then chaos. Never would have believe it.

At least you now know the source of the problem.

 

[Harold Green]

Left field question. You mentioned a trickle filter. Do you have an air pump pushing air into the bottom of your tower to improve gas exchange? Trickle filters can be a little tricky to get the full benefits from. Most of us nowdays are depending on the live rock and skimmers for water treatment, not saying a trickle isn't a good system but it needs to be properly maintained to get the same benefits as good quality rock and a decent skimmer. You have a disease that's killing your fish but the tank conditions and food you feed are directly responsible for the health of you fish.

 

[Merck]

6 months? I had a hard time with yellow tangs at first. Couldn't go more than a month. I learned quickly it was how I was feeding and my Yellow is coming near the 6 month mark. *knock on wood* everyone seems very happy and healthy in my tank.

TO HELP ME HOW DO YOU FEED YOUR FISH? I AM A ONCE A DAYER AND A TREAT NOW &THEN.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

TO HELP ME HOW DO YOU FEED YOUR FISH? I AM A ONCE A DAYER AND A TREAT NOW &THEN.

I feed my Tangs seaweed twice a day. Small amount in the AM and small amount in the PM. I also feed flakes once a day but for the weekends. On the weekends I feed a mixture of frozen food.

When I started out with tangs I wasn't feeding the seaweed.

 

[Merck]

THANKS.