Help solve fish deaths

[Sexytang]

Ok so I’m going to tell the history of my tank have had horrible luck with fish.
To start off I got a blsck clown and a yellow tang they both was really healthy so I decided to add a occ clown from a diff store and boom huge ick outbreak at that time I didn’t have any qt so all fish died
Next I let the tank go 90 days fishless and start over for two more clowns and both of them died when fishless again
Next I got a pair or maroons and a yellow tang a few days later all healthy as normal took one maroon out due to aggression. The yellow tank survived a month and for some reason a day before dieing it was hiding and found it dead next morning no sights of ick sickness or anything but the clown is still alive so I thought maybe just a freak death soo a few weeks later I find a bicolor angel petco just got and I bought it. It lasted maybe a week and a half died form possibly ick. That’s been a few weeks of now the maroon clown is healthy and has been alive for months now all 3 nems are hosting her. I don’t test my water often last test did say a little ammonia but someone told me that was false test because I use cheap api others are good.
Tank has been up and running 9 months now please help.

 

[Amboss72]

Avoid buying fish from Petco their notorious for selling sick fish. Furthermore if you’re buying from them make sure at qt your fish. A bicolor angel can be a finicky fish to begin with. I use api test kits to test for ammonia and they’ve never failed me. For simplicity sake just buy Seachems ammonia alert that sticks to the inside of your tank and then you can see at a glance if there is ammonia. Clearly you’ve lost a lot of fish which can be very frustrating. One thing many people don’t test for is stray voltage in their tanks. Stray voltage stresses fish out. It’s worth testing. Again if you’re showing some ammonia then you also have some nitrites. Good luck.

 

[GoVols]

I would not buy a fish from Petco.

Maroons will just about kill anything.

Wonder if your tank is fully cycled, with no ammonia and nitrites???
Buy Salifert, to make sure.

You need to seek out an great local fish store, close by.

 

[Sexytang]

Do you think the maroon was attacking the angel when I wasn’t looking the angel was shaking it’s tail at the maroon a lot but never seen any fighting
And I have a lfs that I get my corals but fish are way over priced
I hope it is I used live rock and friends water to boost it and a bottle of something to boost the cycle I have a tank full of corals and they seem to be happy

 

[Sexytang]

My tank read no nitrates when I tested last tho that’s the thing I’ll avoid getting from petco. I really just want to get two occ clowns but I know my maroon will kill them thinking of setting my 14g biocube into a small nano and putting maroon there when I can afford a light

 

[Sexytang]

I got to do a flat worm treatment this weekend along with a big wc and I’ll do test after.

 

[Amboss72]

I would avoid mixing ocellaris clowns with the maroons. I have a large maroon in my 370 and I have to keep my eyes on him when my hands are in the tank as he’s torn open my thumb. Their extremely dominant and fearless fish. Even in large tanks they can behave badly.

 

[flchamp89]

Just my opinion and nothing personal but I always thought you were over stocked. Even if there isn't fighting today that can change overnight and regardless stress is a catalyst for diseases. More fish or bigger fish need more food. More import needs more export.

 

[Sexytang]

Anyone else’s thoughts

 

[vetteguy53081]

Part of issue Is Petco (unfortunately)
Other factors will be:
-Tank conditions
-Acclimation ( float for 2o mins, then add 4oz of water every 15 mins X 6 and discard water from bag and introduce fish
-Salinity - should be at least 1.024-1.026
-health of fish ( good breathing, no skin damage or noticeable disease, eating at the store and gets along with others)

 

[W1ngz]

So many possibilities, it's probably a combination of all that's already been said in this and your other threads. None of it has to do with luck, however.

Petco has a horrid reputation for the health of their fish. Stop shopping there.

Introducing diseased fish to the tank with no treatment and quarantine will kill fish. Get a quarantine tank and read up on recognizing and treating various diseases. Sometimes you can't see anything until you see a dead fish.

Other threads seem to suggest you have a 36g tank. That's too small for tangs as they grow. Hopefully yours was a juvenile. It will be stressed, making it even more susceptible to disease and aggression.

Maroon clowns are territorial and kill things. Smaller the tank the more things it will want to kill. Re-home it or move it to a separate tank.

 

[Amboss72]

So many possibilities, it's probably a combination of all that's already been said in this and your other threads. None of it has to do with luck, however.

Petco has a horrid reputation for the health of their fish. Stop shopping there.

Introducing diseased fish to the tank with no treatment and quarantine will kill fish. Get a quarantine tank and read up on recognizing and treating various diseases. Sometimes you can't see anything until you see a dead fish.

Other threads seem to suggest you have a 36g tank. That's too small for tangs as they grow. Hopefully yours was a juvenile. It will be stressed, making it even more susceptible to disease and aggression.

Maroon clowns are territorial and kill things. Smaller the tank the more things it will want to kill. Re-home it or move it to a separate tank.

I agree as I don’t even believe in luck! I do believe in doing your own due diligence and then odds are usually in your favor. However, at the same time I want to wish people good fortune moving forward. Semantics aside, as you well know this is a challenging hobby! I question how many have ever studied in depth all this hobby requires to be truly successful. The breadth and scope of knowledge continues to grow. Of course the size of tank mentioned in this thread is insufficient for a tang. Due diligence on the study of fish would clearly indicate that. We live in a time when knowledge is at are finger tips and yet we still buy on an impulse. Every time I fill up my suv I’m ticked as it’s getting less than 14mpg and requires premium. Clearly, terrible due diligence on my part. Study every purchase you make and avoid the notion of luck at all. I appreciate you correcting me on luck.