Sailfin tang help

[Mbnavy98]

I have new tang had for 3 days he mostly hid but now he's swimming sideways at top of tank and not sure if normal or not. Just tested levels ammonia at 0 ph is at 7.8 nitrate and nitrite are present but just barely. I just did water change with salt water from pet store. Should I use the rodi stuff instead?

 

[Humblefish]

I have new tang had for 3 days he mostly hid but now he's swimming sideways at top of tank and not sure if normal or not. Just tested levels ammonia at 0 ph is at 7.8 nitrate and nitrite are present but just barely. I just did water change with salt water from pet store. Should I use the rodi stuff instead?

How long has your tank been cycled? Nitrites should be 0 in a fully cycled saltwater aquarium.

 

[DaveK]

Swimming sideways at the surface usually indicates a serious problem. It's tough to tell much else from the information you gave us, since this can be caused by bad water or by damage to the fish at some point.

I prefer to use SW that I made myself using my own RO/DI water, since often the LFS dose a poor job mixing water. However, unless their water is really bad or very different from the water in your tank, this shouldn't be an issue.

Please tell us more about your system. What is the size of the system, type of filtration, how long has it been set up, and what else your keep in the tank.