Tangs

CB2029 · Apr 10, 2019

I just had a yellow tang die in 12 hours and was wanting to know if it was something I did/didnt do right. Its not a new tank. I feed three times a week. My parametersare ok ph 7.8 to 8.4 alkalinity 120 to 180 nitrite 0 to .5 nitrate 0 to 30 ammonia 2 to 3. I know the ph and ammonia are a little high i was going to do a water change. Lights are on about 6 hours and temp is 70 to 78. Any thoughts on why the tang went belly up.

justmee · Apr 10, 2019

It's most likely your pH and ammonia.
Also, is it a new fish?

BestMomEver · Apr 10, 2019

Ammonia should be zero. Always. You said the tank was not new. Can you tell us about it? Size, how long it’s been set up, livestock, setup info.... stuff like that.

azreeftank · Apr 10, 2019

Is there is a reason your tank temp is fluctuating 70-78? Is that much temp change daily? If your seeing that much change I would start there with more stability.

CB2029 · Apr 10, 2019

Yeah I'm guessing that ph went up cause of the dead fish in the tank. Cause the was 0 before it die. And I say 70 to 78 causes my temp prob is ifie and the thermometer reads 78 all the time

CB2029 · Apr 10, 2019

The fish was new but the tank has been running for about two years with fish and live rock

justmee · Apr 10, 2019

CB2029 said:
Yeah I'm guessing that ph went up cause of the dead fish in the tank. Cause the was 0 before it die. And I say 70 to 78 causes my temp prob is ifie and the thermometer reads 78 all the time

IMO, I don't think a dead fish will cause your pH to go up... One time, I had a new fish die when I accidentally knocked some pH buffer in to the tank that shot the pH from 7.8 to 8.0, all my existing fish was ok.

ca1ore · Apr 10, 2019

Fish that die from ammonia will almost always exhibit ammonia burn on the gills - basically reddened gills. If it was a new fish, then probably either some underlying disease or acclimation stress (particularly if you skipped QT and have aggressive fish in the display). Unlikely that you have persistent ammonia levels in an established tank unless you are woefully light on bio media.