Naso Tangs are dropping like flies

No room, just ask my wife. haha

Would you keep saying "haha" if these were puppies that were dying instead of majestic, wild-caught fish from the most spectacular environment on Earth? Think about that. I view these creatures as more than a swipe of plastic. I really should not have said this, but instead of repeating "haha" you should be saying "oh ****."
 
you know what i do this for fun and i take great care of all my animals or i wouldnt be on here looking for advice. I laugh at my own mistakes in how read what they say. Not looking for someone to judge me. If you have advice for me on how to help my fish great otherwise please keep your opinions to yourself. You do not know me or how i care for my fish.
 
Give the guy a break, he's trying to get a handle on what's going on with his tank.
And even if you never lose a wild fish in your tank, for every one you have, at least one probably died from the importing process, so the only way not to kill fish is not to have a tank at all.
 
you know what i do this for fun and i take great care of all my animals or i wouldnt be on here looking for advice. I laugh at my own mistakes in how read what they say. Not looking for someone to judge me. If you have advice for me on how to help my fish great otherwise please keep your opinions to yourself. You do not know me or how i care for my fish.

I agree. Let's keep this constructive and not judgmental.

about your QT question. You can keep a sponge for an HOB filter in your sump so that it's always seeded. That way you can jsut set up a QT when you buy new fish or need a hospital. You'll probably need to do water changes for a while to keep ammonia down-depending on what your keep in there- but it's not that bad.
Bottled bacteria products are great for this purpose as well. Soak your filter sponge in the bottle bacteria product for an hour or so before using it. Always keep water change water available in case you need it. An ammonia alert badge is key for real time ammonia measuring. Your regular test kit wont work in the presence of some meds like copper.
 
Your nitrates are 5-10. These high nitrate levels can been stressful for aquarium inhabitants. Step one would be to lower your nitrates to zero. This might be tough since these large fish require so much food. Having the proper equipment is essential. Upgrade to an oversized skimmer if you can't lower your nitrates or increase the volume and frequency of water changes.

Naso's are massive fish that require huge volumes of water, a stress free environment, and pristine water quality. My advise would be to only keep one high demanding fish such as the Naso even in your 250G aquarium. I would also recommend removal of aggressive or combative fish such as damsels.

QT is a must, if you can't QT then expect to have your fish die. Sorry but it's truly a gamble.
 
ok, so if i just got a ten gallon or so and use some live rock and water from a water change i could set it up with a canister and sponge any time i wanted? I guess i just worry about putting a new fish into a tank i have not had running.
 
Your nitrates are 5-10. These high nitrate levels can been stressful for aquarium inhabitants. Step one would be to lower your nitrates to zero. This might be tough since these large fish require so much food. Having the proper equipment is essential. Upgrade to an oversized skimmer if you can't lower your nitrates or increase the volume and frequency of water changes.

Naso's are massive fish that require huge volumes of water, a stress free environment, and pristine water quality. My advise would be to only keep one high demanding fish such as the Naso even in your 250G aquarium. I would also recommend removal of aggressive or combative fish such as damsels.

QT is a must, if you can't QT then expect to have your fish die. Sorry but it's truly a gamble.


5-10 nitrates shouldn't bother fish at all. Corals actually need nitrates for color and growth, so people dose to get their nitrates up. It's nitrites and ammonia that are toxic to fish.
 
Just set one up and break it back down. Thats what i do. I keep a hob filter sponge in my sump and use 75% tank water to setup. I can setup a 30g qt in 30min and break it down just as fast. It doesnt have to be permanent.
 
5-10 nitrates shouldn't bother fish at all. Corals actually need nitrates for color and growth, so people dose to get their nitrates up. It's nitrites and ammonia that are toxic to fish.

Are you suggesting that 5-10 nitrates is less stressful to fish than zero in a case where any improvement is better than none? You're right, but maybe elevated nitrates bother fish that are already stressed.

My feeling is that if they're zero you're in better shape. Test kits can be off...significantly, so they could be higher than 10. The presence of nitrates indicates a water quality issue.
 
ok, so if i just got a ten gallon or so and use some live rock and water from a water change i could set it up with a canister and sponge any time i wanted? I guess i just worry about putting a new fish into a tank i have not had running.

Depending on what you will be buying you could do a 10 gallon, though a 20 long would be a better fit for more types of fish.
Use an HOB power filter- it's easier to clean and you want CLEAN for a QT
Dont put Live rock in your QT because it will absorb some meds and leach them out later making it very difficult to keep your meds at therapeutic levels and it renders your liverock useless as it can't be returned to the DT after

But yes, you can set up a QT any time you need it with a little knowledge and care
 
I have a curve 9 bubble magus skimmer, 5 gallons a day water changes 5 days a week. Ive been told the nitrates will probably never hit zero and that under 20 is ok. I thought those were doing good. I am in the process of building a new sump 40 gallon and refugium 40 gallon i hoping this helps.
 
Are you suggesting that 5-10 nitrates is less stressful to fish than zero in a case where any improvement is better than none?

I'm saying that it wont matter either way. Nitrates that low arn't toxic to fish.
 
Your nitrates are 5-10. These high nitrate levels can been stressful for aquarium inhabitants. Step one would be to lower your nitrates to zero. This might be tough since these large fish require so much food. Having the proper equipment is essential. Upgrade to an oversized skimmer if you can't lower your nitrates or increase the volume and frequency of water changes.

Naso's are massive fish that require huge volumes of water, a stress free environment, and pristine water quality. My advise would be to only keep one high demanding fish such as the Naso even in your 250G aquarium. I would also recommend removal of aggressive or combative fish such as damsels.

QT is a must, if you can't QT then expect to have your fish die. Sorry but it's truly a gamble.
All great advice but I will have to say I disagree on nitrates in the 5-10 ppm range being a problem. 20+ ppm is when I get concerned but still really not an issue. It's when they get 40+ ppm is when I think you may start seeing issues.
 
Thanks for the help, i will watch these guys and see about a small QT tank and filter.
 
I am sorry you are having difficulty with your naso tangs.

I can tell you from experience that they are very susceptible to parasites. Once established, they can be VERY hardy and long-lived. But many do not make it the first month and almost all of this is attributed to a lack of proper QT/preventative treatment procedures.

I have 14 tangs right now, and I have owned (and killed) many Naso and other tangs over the years by not properly doing what I describe. As soon as you venture away from Zebrasoma tangs (Yellow, Scopus, Black, Purple, Sailfin, Desjardini Sailfin, etc.) you will realize quickly that most tangs CANNOT survive utilizing "ich/disease management" husbandry strategies. What I mean by this, is no QT or treatment for all incoming fish to prevent these illnesses from making it in to your display. There are MANY common fish that can handle ich. I did this for a decade. I would argue that it is not ETHICAL but it certainly can be done with otherwise stellar husbandry--- albeit only a short-term success (1-10 years).

Sometimes, a few hippo can live with ich but many will not. Once you find one with a strong resistance to it, it will likely live a long time. Naso are twice as difficult. Most zebrasoma tangs can handle it, IME. Your yellow tangs probably show no symptoms and have no apparent issues, this is pretty common with these guys. MOST other tangs will struggle. You may succeed, but it will be limited and you'll kill more fish than you will succeed with. You will still kill some zebrasoma tangs because some do not do well with no QT, but IME 2/3 of them can recover and thrive.

My point? With that large of a tank and that many fish, you will want to protect your investment and your livestock. A QT/Hospital tank is a MUST. What you describe sounds to me like velvet, honestly. That said, ich can wreak havoc on naso tangs as well. I've had yellow and purple tangs live with velvet for months over the years, unbeknownst to me. They are very tough once established.

Velvet is running RAMPANT now in the trade, distribution systems are heavily infected it seems and more fish than normal have it before they make it to your door or LFS. I've had two serious run-ins with it in the last 6 months. The first strain did NOT show any standard velvet symptoms - no spots, no dusting on the body, no definitive "signs" I could identify as velvet. I killed angel after angel in my angel tank and some tangs, too and could not figure out the issue. Meanwhile, my wrasses seemed unaffected. I would address one "problem" and was sure each time I did that it was the issue that killed my fish. THEN, after 3 months of struggling with it to various degrees, a Chevron tang FINALLY showed classic velvet symptoms and my jaw dropped. It had been years since I had come across this disease and this one was very sneaky. It killed a naso, hippo, chevron, and several angels that all developed "stress blotches" prior to passing away.

Just a month ago I got it AGAIN. I am 100% sure it was velvet because it reared its' ugly head in a tank experiencing hyposalinity, at 1.007 salinity. It was 100% undeterred and hit and killed FAST. Cupramine took care of the velvet in both cases. My hippo survived in a tank with this velvet (very established I had her for YEARS) for nearly two months before dying. Very sad. This was actually my primary tipping point for switching over to proper QT/Hospital procedures. I have lost 1/100 of the fish to disease since then and I can keep species that I killed often in the past (acanthurus tangs like achilles, powder blue, regal angels, copperband butterflies, moorish idols, and a plethora of others) with unbelievable success.
 
Last edited:
Young naso's are very hard to keep alive. I'm not sure why this is but you would be much better off getting one 5" or bigger.....a alot of times young fish need to eat many times a day. I recently had a blonde naso (young) that was eating, healthy and one day just died. Get one that is thick and healthy and it should be good.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top