Lost 5 blue tangs over 2 years

Saltwada · Apr 23, 2019

Hi everyone. I am new to this site and after losing my last blue tang i am sure i want to start doing qt all my other friends dont qt and have a healthy tank. im jealous. at one point i had a powder brown tang, blue tang, and they both got sick after i introduced a moorish idol into my tank that got ich. from then the powder brown tang started sitting at bottom of tank and breathing hard, but eating normal. same thing happened to blue tang and since then have not been able to keep a blue tang. its frustrating. i cant tell if its ich or something else. i am unsure how to do a qt/hospital tank because ammonia constantly went up and i have killed a couple blue tangs due to that. i just need help with a good routine to start.

Dragon52 · Apr 23, 2019

a complete listing of parameters - Ammonia, Nitrate, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, and phosphate would be helpful. Also - what size tank, how long has it been setup will help the experts.

#reefsquad

Also welcome to R2R

Mastiffsrule · Apr 23, 2019

Welcome to the group, glad you are here asking question

The fish you mentioned are prone to parasite and qt is a good step. If the fish are dying in you main display tank there is a good chance the parasite is in the tank and may need to be fallow.

Basically that means you may need to put fish in qt and leave the tank empty durin the fallow period.
There is a thread on setting up a qt, but someone should come along to describe it as well.

Again #WelcometoR2R

Edit. The ammonia may be a result of the dying fish. Did you cycle the tank first

GoldeneyeRet · Apr 23, 2019

Welcome aboard!

There is a good qt how to thread here somewhere

Mastiffsrule · Apr 23, 2019

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.304980/

Found a good post, lots of info so read thru it and ask questions as needed

GoldeneyeRet · Apr 23, 2019

Yeah, that's it!

Saltwada · Apr 24, 2019

Dragon52 said:
a complete listing of parameters - Ammonia, Nitrate, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, and phosphate would be helpful. Also - what size tank, how long has it been setup will help the experts.

#reefsquad

Also welcome to R2R

Hi thanks for the response! felt so lonely in the hobby but its nice to be on here. anyways my ammonia in tank is 0, nitrate 10, calcium 350, alkalinity 7.5, mag (idk), phosphate a little bit i think 1.0. the tank is 60 gallon tank and has been set up 3 months. i had a tank up before that was 60 gallons too but no sump. that was running for two years. i basically just transfered the water over.

Saltwada · Apr 24, 2019

Mastiffsrule said:
Welcome to the group, glad you are here asking question

The fish you mentioned are prone to parasite and qt is a good step. If the fish are dying in you main display tank there is a good chance the parasite is in the tank and may need to be fallow.

Basically that means you may need to put fish in qt and leave the tank empty durin the fallow period.
There is a thread on setting up a qt, but someone should come along to describe it as well.

Again #WelcometoR2R

Edit. The ammonia may be a result of the dying fish. Did you cycle the tank first

thank you! so how would i fallow a tank and set up a propper qt? my tank had 0 ammonia and was thriving and healthy. the moorish idol brought in some sort of disease that only killed off my blue and powder brown tang,. the other tang and fish stayed alive

Hemmdog · Apr 24, 2019

The problem is most likely stress. That tank size is way to small for Atlantic tangs. If there is ich in the system and they are stressed they won’t have a chance.
Welcome to reef2reef.

Bristletooth tang would be ok in your tank after a fallow period.

Here to help

Saltwada · Apr 24, 2019

Hemmdog said:
The problem is most likely stress. That tank size is way to small for Atlantic tangs. If there is ich in the system and they are stressed they won’t have a chance.
Welcome to reef2reef.

Bristletooth tang would be ok in your tank after a fallow period.

Here to help

but the tangs have ich all over. yeah right now i have a yellow tang, flame angel, 6 line wrass 2 nemo, 1 purple fire fish

Hemmdog · Apr 24, 2019

Saltwada said:
but the tangs have ich all over. yeah right now i have a yellow tang, flame angel, 6 line wrass 2 nemo, 1 purple fire fish

Post pics. Ich all over sounds like velvet. And your fish are dropping like flies so it definitely sounds like velvet.

Saltwada · Apr 24, 2019

Hemmdog said:
Post pics. Ich all over sounds like velvet. And your fish are dropping like flies so it definitely sounds like velvet.

I can only post pictures huh? and yeah my blue tang was super covered in white spots and stopped breathing out of one gill. currently the yellow tang has no ich showing, but flame angel has some. and they are both breathing hard, but ate well today. should I feed with some metroplex

Dragon52 · Apr 24, 2019

After I lost 3 PB & 1 PBR Tang at different times I gave up on those. Not going to waste their lives or my money if I can't figure out what or why they died. As stated above your tank is way to small to put the Kind & Quantity of tangs you are trying to have.

Mastiffsrule · Apr 24, 2019

Do you have a second to look thru humblefish thread. Unless we really know what you have we can’t set up a treatment.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index.247600/

Metroplex will not edit (completely) address ich. See what you can find

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 24, 2019

Definitely sounds like velvet, remove your fish to a QT tank, treat with copper power at 2.0ppm for 30 days. Let your display go fishless for 76 days to cover all the bases. The Tangs you are trying to keep need to be in a 180G system or better, a small tank causes stress and that increases the vulnerability to illness.
Welcome to R2R!!!!

Saltwada · Apr 25, 2019

Is there a way to post photos from the app? Or do I have to go through a computer?

Saltwada · Apr 25, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
Definitely sounds like velvet, remove your fish to a QT tank, treat with copper power at 2.0ppm for 30 days. Let your display go fishless for 76 days to cover all the bases. The Tangs you are trying to keep need to be in a 180G system or better, a small tank causes stress and that increases the vulnerability to illness.
Welcome to R2R!!!!

Should I trade my flame angel and wrasse to the store since I can’t treat them with copper? And I have seen people keep tangs in a cube tank and thay is my hope one day after I get rid of ich

Saltwada · Apr 25, 2019

hey everyone. here is a picture of my current flame angel with some ich or velvet? and a pic of the blue tang before it died.

jpcrash1 · Apr 25, 2019

Saltwada said:
hey everyone. here is a picture of my current flame angel with some ich or velvet? and a pic of the blue tang before it died.

Blue tangs are the worst for ich. STAY AWAY! Leave dory in the ocean. I have failed with that fish even when I quarantine. Sorry for your losses.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 25, 2019

That’s velvet, you need to get any surviving fish into QT. Start the QT off at 1.0ppm copper power and ramp up to 2.0 ppm over the next 2-3 days. You can give each fish a FW dip before going into QT to buy you some time.