Lost 3 Tomini Tangs...

[Bfragale]

I have recently gone thru 3 Tomini tangs!

can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I have him in a softy/ macro algae tank. All other fish and live stock are happy.
1. One went in and was a bit shy, but looked good, no signs of issues. Lasted about a month and disappeared. No signs of his body.

#2- I picked up a few weeks after I lost the 1st and he was good and active for a few days - then found him stiff stuck to mp10. Also no visible signs of anything.

at this point I was very disappointed. I have many tangs before and currently in my other tanks including other bristle nose. And they all seem to thrive. And I hate to loose fish, and was discouraged from getting a third- but this was one of the main fish I wanted
For this tank so after some back and fourth (with my self lol) I decided to get a third. This time I found one at my favorite local shop. Went in a few times over the next week to look at him. He was clean, healthy looking and eating well. So I decided to go for it one last time.

he was there, very active and not shy like the first one. Always pecking the rocks and would eat flake/pellets/frozen no problem. Into the third month I was stocked and felt better about trying for the third time, and as soon as I got comfortable he disappeared too!

no sign of him. I do have a hefty clean up crew and no signs he jumped or anything. I’m at a total loss and think I should give up on the tomini tangs.

everything else in the tank is doing well. List Of live stock

4x lyre tail anthias
3x banggai cardinals
1 algae blenny
1 coral beauty
1 shark nose goby (tiny)
1 red spotted goby (tiny)
5 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 six line wrasse

one (or two?) sea cucumbers
2 conches

Many hermits and various snails for clean up crew.

I have not lost any other fish except one algae blenny and one peppermint shrimp I found carpet surfing.

Other then the dominant Anthias showing slight aggression with the other Anthias- I see no aggression issues.

I’m baffled as to why I’m having so much trouble with this one. Can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong and now I feel I shouldn’t try again.
Idk.

 

[Rubberfrog]

I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens.

 

[Bfragale]

I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens.

I needed that lmafo

 

[JumboShrimp]

Great looking tank. That must be disappointing/frustrating.

 

[Bfragale]

Great looking tank. That must be disappointing/frustrating.

Thank you my friend for the compliment. It is frustrating. I never thought of the Tomini as a hard to keep fish, I’ve had other bristle nose but never a Tomini. That’s why he was in my list for this tank- plus they are good looking fish. Since I keep macro algae I think the only tang I can keep is from the bristle nose family.
Idk. Maybe I’ll try another bristle nose of some kind. Or give up lol.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I had three (3) attempts at a Bicolor Angel; each looked good for weeks or months, then went down hill quickly. Granted, some say they can be a difficult fish (why?), but now like you I'm a bit reluctant to try one again. Struck out twice with a Pink Tail Trigger, struck out twice wit a Harlequin Tusk. All else has gone fine.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry to hear. Gorgeous fish they are and have had mine over 2 years.
A few things come to mind:
I wonder if your levels are higher than your tests are showing? WHAT TEST KITS ARE YOU USING?
You mentioned softie/macroalgae. these are capable of releasing toxins which would not be detectible with testing.
How was the fishs' breathing and diet up to the time of loss?

 

[Bfragale]

The worst part is for me I “need” to know why lol. It’s so difficult to not know what I’m doing wrong but also nearly impossible to pinpoint it. This doesn’t work well with my personality type lol. I NEED ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS LOL It’s killing me to not be able to figure it out, and my conscience tells me to stop getting and killing Tomini tangs. .. so for me I think I’ll wait it out a while and revisit the idea.

 

[Bfragale]

My last test:
Alk 7.8 (usually aim for 8-8.5)(Hanna tester)
Mag 1350 (Salifert test kit)
Cal 420 (Salifert test kit)
No3 - 5-10 (not great with the colors and the Hanna is too hard to use lol)
Po4 - .1

dont test ammonia or nitrite anymore.
Regarding breathing I never noticed anything out of the ordinary. The 1st and 3rd ones were eating well, no visit me breathing issues or infections that I could see.

I will admit - none were quarantined.

for macro algae they are all from the calurpa species and from my research I don’t see any that could cause toxin but this is a very good point as the tang is only fish that does graze the rocks. The bristle nose I never notice picking the macros but he did pick the rocks.

thw rocks do have some red turf looking algae, some hair algae- not a lot, but if you look close in the nooks and crannies you can find some.

 

[Bfragale]

Forgot- I run it at 79-80 degrees. Salinity 1.025 using refractometer. I also calibrate it monthly.

I have 4 tanks, I like to think I’m pretty good on water quality. This tank actually runs the most stable out of all four. I think all the macros, deep sand bed, and a ton of rock in sump has helped keep it stable.

 

[Tamberav]

That green Caulerpa you have. The exact type I had in my fuge years ago. I took it and fed it to my angelfish and tomini tang I had for months and they were both dead the next day.

My current Kole and Yellow eat the a different type, the Mexican stuff with no issues.

 

[Bfragale]

Wow. That may be the culprit! I’m going to do some research. Thank you!