Why can't I keep Tangs alive?

[MSB123]

+1 on setting up a QT tank!

 

[Devan Petersen]

It dosen't sound like you are using any quarantine process. It's great you took time to acclimate but if you are not using a QT process, you are going to loose more than a new fish. You could end up loosing everything in your tank. You don't need anything fancy. It could be as simple as a 20 gallon tank with a sponge filter and a couple medications. There is a good chance to catch and correct health issues before you expose your whole tank to something that could have been prevented in QT.

I did finally get a QT tank set up. people are right, it only takes 1 sick fish wiping out all of your others to make someone religiously QT everything.... sadly that is exactly what i did.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Don’t feel too bad because you are learning from your mistakes and most of us have made similar ones when we first started.

 

[Xanthurum]

Not to be rude but putting any tang in a 55 is not the best idea. If you do it knowing you will have to find more suitable homes for them in the future I suppose it’s OK short term. That being said I’m glad people are suggesting you set up a QT because that was exactly I was going to say. I firmly believe you will have more success if you do.

 

[Jesterrace]

So my tank has been up for about 4 months. I have 2 Clowns, 1 Ruby Red Dargonet, Cleaner Shrimp, Arrow Crab, CUC and a bunch of coral.

I had a yellow tang in there for about 2 months and one day he just died. i replaced him with a sailfin tang and he lasted about 7 - 8 days and he died....

They were both bought from different LFS and both were eating good until the day before they croked... acclimation period was about 4 hours for each fish.

It is a 55 gal tank with 20 gal sump. the fish were both 1.5 - 2 inches.. I have no idea what is going on and why they keep dying.

I don't care what size a sailfin is, it does not belong in a 55 gallon tank. The Yellow should've done okay for a few years in that tank. Tangs tend to be a bit fragile and I agree that a super small one might not be able to deal with the stress of transfer. Also were you ordering them from the LFS and taking them straight home on the day the shipment came in? Or had they been in the holding tank for a couple of weeks? Realistically a 55 gallon tank is too small for just about any tang, although a Tomini or Squaretail might work and they tend to be some of the more durable ones.

 

[mcarroll]

they ate mysis and were getting algae off the rocks.

It's hard to imagine there being any signifant growth on the rocks of a 4 month old tank. Would you be willing to post a recent full tank shot?

IMO you're simply going a litte too quickly in a very small tank. That's a tough situation – made tougher by the fact that you're a noob.

Don't be in denial of all that – take it slower.

(Almost everyone things they're already going really slow. Is "Going Slow" The Most Controversial Reefing Topic?)

Don't even think about adding another fish for a few months AT LEAST.

Focus on what you have.

Get everything stable.

Expand your coral collection SLOWLY.

Make sure your CUC is right-sized for your tank and algae load. (add CUC as you see more algae grow!)

After everything has been nice and stable for a few months THEN consider adding another fish.

But realize that your tank is already close to its limit on fish – I'd keep with small fish if possible. Maybe one or two more mediums. No tangs or other large fish at all – you have a small tank.

And revise that QT tank you picured....add some naturalistic decor like fake plants and add at least one chunk of live rock for stability.

Remember that you aren't setting up a hospital tank.

You're setting up an observation tank/living quarters.

The object for you is to NOT stress the fish out further than they are by keeping them in a prison-style QT for weeks before you let them have access to a real home. All you're supposed to do is beef them up and get them back to 100% before introducing them to your current fish population. Iff (= if and only if) they display any sickly behavior, further action may be called for – but cross that bridge when the time comes. Remember that your fish is there for recovery – not for medication.

 

[Blackened]

have you ever had ich or velvet in this tank?

 

[Devan Petersen]

have you ever had ich or velvet in this tank?

Not that i am aware of.

 

[Devan Petersen]

I don't care what size a sailfin is, it does not belong in a 55 gallon tank. The Yellow should've done okay for a few years in that tank. Tangs tend to be a bit fragile and I agree that a super small one might not be able to deal with the stress of transfer. Also were you ordering them from the LFS and taking them straight home on the day the shipment came in? Or had they been in the holding tank for a couple of weeks? Realistically a 55 gallon tank is too small for just about any tang, although a Tomini or Squaretail might work and they tend to be some of the more durable ones.

I can't tell ya how long the LFS had them. no more than a few weeks to be sure.

 

[ca1ore]

BTW, one thing that is underappreciated about tangs is how much they need to be fed. They are not efficient metabolizers (herbivores never are), and really do need to be fed a lot. I never really had long term success with tangs until I started keeping anthias, and feeding the tank 3-4 times per day. Also agree that a sailfin has no business being in a 55. They can get quite twitchy and idiosyncratic if cramped.