Why did my fish die? :(

[Sglinias1]

I came home to my yellow tang dead on the sand bed. Had the fish a little over two years. Tank parameters look good. Ammonia 0
Nitrate 2
pH 8.3
Alk 9.9
Cal 428
Phos 0.02
Temp 78.3

I have 3 tanks running and havent lost a fish in years. He was eating and looked fine yesterday. What could have caused this?

 

[ChadLo]

I came home to my yellow tang dead on the sand bed. Had the fish a little over two years. Tank parameters look good. Ammonia 0
Nitrate 2
pH 8.3
Alk 9.9
Cal 428
Phos 0.02
Temp 78.3

I have 3 tanks running and havent lost a fish in years. He was eating and looked fine yesterday. What could have caused this?

Am I safe to guess nitrite is 0? What other kinds of fish are in the system?

 

[MSB123]

Brook possibly?

 

[4FordFamily]

Going to need more information:

Tankmates?

Any other symptoms? (Flashing, scratching, swimming in to powerheads, fast breathing, erratic behavior, being more cryptic, etc)

Do you quarantine and treat all of your fish?

I noticed the fins are tattered a bit but sometimes dead fish get picked at rather quickly after they die so it’s tough to tell if it’s due to bullying.

 

[Sglinias1]

There is one blue chromis and 2 onyx clowns. Thats it for fish. I saw no behavior that led me to believe anything was wrong. I did not quarantine, however, the tang was the last fish i added and that was 2 years ago so i wouldnt think that it would be the issue after so long

 

[Sglinias1]

Am I safe to guess nitrite is 0? What other kinds of fish are in the system?

Unfortunately dont have a nitrite test kit but since ammonia and nitrate are low i assume nitrite is too. Tank has been running for 2.5 years. Havent added any fish. Last coral added was probably a few months ago

 

[HB AL]

It just happens for no apparent reason every once in a while,

 

[Tahoe61]

What were you feeding the fish? In the image the tanks abdomen looks thin and pinched, could just be the image though.

 

[4FordFamily]

There is one blue chromis and 2 onyx clowns. Thats it for fish. I saw no behavior that led me to believe anything was wrong. I did not quarantine, however, the tang was the last fish i added and that was 2 years ago so i wouldnt think that it would be the issue after so long

What size tank? I suspect if the tank was smaller than say 55-75 gallons that stress of being cramped didn’t help. Tangs don’t handle long-term stress well.

 

[madweazl]

Fins suggest it was being picked at but that could have been postmortem.

 

[Sglinias1]

What were you feeding the fish? In the image the tanks abdomen looks thin and pinched, could just be the image though.

Fish has been eating new life spectrum flakes and nori

 

[Sglinias1]

What size tank? I suspect if the tank was smaller than say 55-75 gallons that stress of being cramped didn’t help. Tangs don’t handle long-term stress well.

50 gallons

 

[Sglinias1]

Fins suggest it was being picked at but that could have been postmortem.

I never saw any nips before so must have been post

 

[4FordFamily]

50 gallons

That probably didn’t help, unfortunately