tang died.

[munki]

hi guys-
my yellow tang died yesterday. i have had it for a couple of months and it seemed healthy until about 2 weeks ago. it was still swimming around and eating, but it started getting skinnier. online i read that i should feed it nori or frozen thawed spinach, so i was feeding it spinach. i also read that they like chaeto so i added some chaeto to the tank. i was also feeding it the flake food that i feed my other saltwater fish and it was eating everything. i would like to get another one, but i want to know what happened to my first one so it doesnt happen again.
nitrates, nitrates, ammonia-0. pH 8.4 1.025.
can anyone help me?
thank you-
o and i dont know if this matters, but when it started getting skinnier it started going poo' all the time. a lot more than when the tang was thicker.

[DaveK]

It's hard to tell from a written description. I suspect some sort of permanent damage when the fish was caught. In the old days, I'd suspect cyanide poisoning, but there should be less of that now days.

It could also have been some sort of shock, for example was there a drastic change in water temp or other parameters that might cause this. Was the fish acclimated correctly? Were any FW or other dips used on the fish?

The fact that it was eating, yet wasted away suggests something similar to what I described above.

[munki]

Originally Posted by DaveK

It's hard to tell from a written description. I suspect some sort of permanent damage when the fish was caught. In the old days, I'd suspect cyanide poisoning, but there should be less of that now days.

It could also have been some sort of shock, for example was there a drastic change in water temp or other parameters that might cause this. Was the fish acclimated correctly? Were any FW or other dips used on the fish?

The fact that it was eating, yet wasted away suggests something similar to what I described above.

no there was not a drastic change in water temp or other parameters and no i did not do any fw or other dips on the fish. it never really acted stressed. was i feeding it proper foods? i would like to get another one, but i dont want it to die.

[Dentoid]

So sorry to hear that Munki! Sometimes there are intestinal parasites that no matter how much they eat they still don't get the nourishment they need. Cyanide capture is another things that results in those symptoms. Keep your chin up!

[murkywaters]

I'm sorry Munki. I don't know what happened but I'm sorry for your loss.

[KimPossible]

Sometimes there are intestinal parasites that no matter how much they eat they still don't get the nourishment they need.

I just read a similar thread here on RS of intestinal parasites....cant remember which one, but it was in the last day or two.

[lcstorc]

It was probably a parasite of some kind but I would feed nori instead of the spinach. Fish really won't find spinach in the wild so it is not a natural food source for them. Also none of my tangs ever ate cheato. Did you see yours eat it? That would be quite interresting. I may have to try to feed it again just to see.

[cheeks69]

I believe most if not all Yellow Tangs that are sold in the hobby come from Hawaii so Cyanide poisoning is most likely not the case IMHO, I suspect intestinal parasites.

[blue_eyes53813]

I am sorry for your loss Munki

[munki]

thanks guys and yes i have seen the tang eat chaeto. how could it have gotten an internal parasite?

[cheeks69]

Originally Posted by munki

thanks guys and yes i have seen the tang eat chaeto. how could it have gotten an internal parasite?

It could've been infected in the wild, wholesalers holding tank or even in your own system.

[DaBird]

sorry munki, my tang is like a friend to me, I forget, how big is your tank? To have it for 2 months and then in the last 2 weeks waste away is kinda strange...I'll also vote on the parasite.

[sasquatch]

Sorry Munki, Karma for you. Steve

[munki]

if there was a parasite in the tank then how come the tang is the only one that caught it? do you think it would be safe to get another one and how would i make sure there is a parasite in the tank and how would i remove it?
-thanks guys

[charlir1954]

Sorry for your loss Munki. And you ARE correct, my yellow tang also eats chaeto strands when I give it to him every so often. He also mostly eats the flake food when I feed. His favorite food however is "Pleco Passion" over the the other kelp types. He has become a thorn-in-the-side to my lawnmower blenny. Every time the blenny tries to scrape the micro algae off the sides of the tank or the accessories like the thermometers, water-pumps, etc., the tang gets within a half-inch of the action to check it out. lol