first death

[fishbait]

my beutiful yellow tang died lastnight.:( i don't know what happened. i got him about three weeks ago. he's always been very active and ate well. except for two nights ago. i noticed he was hideing in the live rock and not swimming around much. he just barely ate when i fed. and it was the same last night. we went out for about 5 hours last night and when we came home he was dead. could this have been ich? he did'nt have the white specs on him like my freshwater fish would when they caught it. is saltwater ich different? i immediately scooped him out and checked all the parameters. the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are 0. ph is 8.3 and s.g. is 1.024. the only change in my tank has been the addition of 10lbs live rock and 20lbs base rock. i checked the first three days for a miny cycle and didn't ever have one. so i don't think he would have been stressed. my other 3 fish are still acting fine. could this have just been a natural death?

 

[yote]

Hate to hear about your tang.
I guess fish would be just like anything else and die for no apparent reason.

 

[fishbait]

sadly so yote. it sucks 'cause he was my favorite one. (i only had 4)

 

[jhnrb]

Could be a lot of things, or just his time. keep a close watch on your system for any additional difficulties. wait for apprx. 3 months before adding another fish. if all is ok you can restock with some confidence what ever it was was an isolated event. good luck.

 

[SSalty]

Sorry to hear that man. I couldn't imagine how it feels to lose a bigger fish. I have only lost a green chromis.

 

[fishbait]

do you guys think it could have been from not having enough selection, or greens in his diet? i was feeding only frozen brine. i remember from the freshwater days that if you fed a oranda only flakes and didn't vary his diet with vegatable matter he would get constaped, not eat, and die. could this have been the case with my tang. i recently started using a different lfs ( i felt i was getting some bad advice from my old one, and judging by the looks of his display tanks lately, i probaly was) but anyway, back on the subject. the new guy turned me on to the emerald entree. that came in a multipack of frozen food. i havent gotten another tang yet. but maybe if i do i might have better luck with a different diet? hopefully. any input will be helpful

 

[Bifferwine]

Tangs will definitely suffer without a diet high in veggies. They are herbivorous, but will eat brine, but cannot survive on brine alone. Yellow tangs should be fed dried seaweed regularly. Emerald entree is a good food, but my tang won't eat it, he much prefers the dried seaweed sheets.

 

[fishbait]

thanks biff. i was considering buying some seaweed sheets, but i was hoping to let him graze on the hair algae for a few weeks. i thought the seaweed sheets were just a treat for them. the lfs i bought him from just said he would eat brine. and he was a grazer. you live and you learn huh?

 

[Bifferwine]

Some may graze, but some won't. My tang would literally starve to death without my feeding him seaweed sheets two to three times a week. It's always a good idea to research animals' needs online before you buy them, Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums and Saltwater Fish, Corals, Invertebrates, Clams & Live Rock generally have good summaries of how to properly care for fish and inverts that you are thinking of purchasing. And of course you can always ask here.

 

[matthew1048]

sorry to hear about your loss buddy....I know that's gotta suck....