Fish I struggle with. Am I the norm or exception?

[Wildreefs]

The following fish i have tried to keep by wrong, and have tried no less than 6 in the past year or so. Is this typical, am I missing something ?

Moorish idols- I’ve tried probably 10. 7-8 of them were eating heavy in the store for at least a week. I will get them home and the first week or so , sometimes /, they eat heavily as well, then shortly after eat progressively less until it’s just picking them dead. Most die on me within the first 2-3 weeks. I feed nori, mysis, clam and spirulina brine.


Blonde nasos- I’ve tried about 10. Half didn’t eat at all. 3 did ok eating, 2 were strong. Eventually the 3 that were ok either died or stopped, and the two strong ones , I got them at the same time, about two inches, ate great for 3 weeks, in seperate tank, and both ended up not eating at the same time, doing that lethargic float in the water column, and oddly died a day apart of each other, again in different tanks

Majestic angels- tried 4, all about 4-5 inches, they eat great in qt, go into the display and hide, and dead about a week later. Never seen aggression, when they do come out no other fish paid them any mind, they just seem to go shy in bigger tank and end up on the bottom or in the power head.

Mustard tangs. Have tried 5, most eat ok, however they all die within the first week. No downhill slide, just eat day one and two, and then sideways dead on the bottom day 3.

Scribbled angels. The do fine in qt, die within 6 months in display. Just one day they do that trance look in the corner, stop eating , and it’s over .

Lastly, most captive bred fish. I’ve stopped trying, recently had a real and a gold
Flake, both about an inch, eat fine, pellets tooo, within a month or two there blowing around in the sand bed dead


I’m not expert but no rookie either. I currently keep a copperband, a regal angel, an Achilles , chaoti wrasse and a few other sensitive fish. The losses are certainly puzzling.

 

[Pseudodiego]

That's a lot of dead fish... Maybe stop buying those species?

 

[tzabor10]

This is your 150 tank? A build thread would help me to understand your setup. Are there hiding places? What is your light schedule ?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The following fish i have tried to keep by wrong, and have tried no less than 6 in the past year or so. Is this typical, am I missing something ?

Moorish idols- I’ve tried probably 10. 7-8 of them were eating heavy in the store for at least a week. I will get them home and the first week or so , sometimes /, they eat heavily as well, then shortly after eat progressively less until it’s just picking them dead. Most die on me within the first 2-3 weeks. I feed nori, mysis, clam and spirulina brine.


Blonde nasos- I’ve tried about 10. Half didn’t eat at all. 3 did ok eating, 2 were strong. Eventually the 3 that were ok either died or stopped, and the two strong ones , I got them at the same time, about two inches, ate great for 3 weeks, in seperate tank, and both ended up not eating at the same time, doing that lethargic float in the water column, and oddly died a day apart of each other, again in different tanks

Majestic angels- tried 4, all about 4-5 inches, they eat great in qt, go into the display and hide, and dead about a week later. Never seen aggression, when they do come out no other fish paid them any mind, they just seem to go shy in bigger tank and end up on the bottom or in the power head.

Mustard tangs. Have tried 5, most eat ok, however they all die within the first week. No downhill slide, just eat day one and two, and then sideways dead on the bottom day 3.

Scribbled angels. The do fine in qt, die within 6 months in display. Just one day they do that trance look in the corner, stop eating , and it’s over .

Lastly, most captive bred fish. I’ve stopped trying, recently had a real and a gold
Flake, both about an inch, eat fine, pellets tooo, within a month or two there blowing around in the sand bed dead


I’m not expert but no rookie either. I currently keep a copperband, a regal angel, an Achilles , chaoti wrasse and a few other sensitive fish. The losses are certainly puzzling.

I've had no real issues with idols, as long as they are housed in large tanks (1000 gallon+) Blonde nasos are a known issue, something changed in the supply chain and they really should be avoided. Majestics are pretty much all caught with cyanide in SE Asia, the ones from Australia do better. I've never kept mustard tangs. Scribbled angels always do well for me. Captive bred fish are bulletproof for me, but I keep them in a rearing tank by themselves until they get some size on them.

Here is an article that I wrote 20 years ago, and have updated since then:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/marine-fish-and-invertebrates-to-avoid.939/

 

[vetteguy53081]

The following fish i have tried to keep by wrong, and have tried no less than 6 in the past year or so. Is this typical, am I missing something ?

Moorish idols- I’ve tried probably 10. 7-8 of them were eating heavy in the store for at least a week. I will get them home and the first week or so , sometimes /, they eat heavily as well, then shortly after eat progressively less until it’s just picking them dead. Most die on me within the first 2-3 weeks. I feed nori, mysis, clam and spirulina brine.


Blonde nasos- I’ve tried about 10. Half didn’t eat at all. 3 did ok eating, 2 were strong. Eventually the 3 that were ok either died or stopped, and the two strong ones , I got them at the same time, about two inches, ate great for 3 weeks, in seperate tank, and both ended up not eating at the same time, doing that lethargic float in the water column, and oddly died a day apart of each other, again in different tanks

Majestic angels- tried 4, all about 4-5 inches, they eat great in qt, go into the display and hide, and dead about a week later. Never seen aggression, when they do come out no other fish paid them any mind, they just seem to go shy in bigger tank and end up on the bottom or in the power head.

Mustard tangs. Have tried 5, most eat ok, however they all die within the first week. No downhill slide, just eat day one and two, and then sideways dead on the bottom day 3.

Scribbled angels. The do fine in qt, die within 6 months in display. Just one day they do that trance look in the corner, stop eating , and it’s over .

Lastly, most captive bred fish. I’ve stopped trying, recently had a real and a gold
Flake, both about an inch, eat fine, pellets tooo, within a month or two there blowing around in the sand bed dead


I’m not expert but no rookie either. I currently keep a copperband, a regal angel, an Achilles , chaoti wrasse and a few other sensitive fish. The losses are certainly puzzling.

Idols have become quite easy and as you stated eating which was unheard of 30 years ago. I see no mention of quarantining which is essential with idols, tangs and most angels treating with coppersafe for 30 days in a separate tank for 30 days at 2.25 ppm. With Achilles often susceptible to velvet, are you sure no disease is within tank?
Please post a clear video using WHITE bright lighting, no blues or shimmer for at least 60 seconds to view remaining fish well for any signs and symptoms

 

[W31Olds]

I have a Moorish Idol. This is my second one and has been in my 60 Gallon Breeder about 9 months now. The first one was thin, had Flukes and never really ever got going. The second and current one was a better specimen (fatter) but would not eat right away and started eating Tank Algae, then Nori, and now will eat Frozen.
I would probably not recommend this species even if you get a good one for the following reasons:
They are known Coral munchers.
They are easily intimidated in a Community Tank and will go off Feed.
They are hard to get through QT. Not because of the Meds. Just getting them Feeding. They need to be in at least a 40 Gallon Breeder by themselves or with some peaceful bottom dweller.
They are super skittish and need to be in a very quiet area or they won't feed.

As for the others on your list.
I would Stay away from Blond Nasos as Jay indicated plus I never really liked them much anyway.
I don't have experience with the others, however the Tiny 1" Captive Bred Fish need their own Cycled Tank and need a lot of care for many months. There is very little room for error with these little ones. One mistake and their dead.

You may want to consider a different supplier. I get my Fish from NY Aquatic and yes, they have problems, but they import them direct, so they don't sit in holding Tanks as long.

 

[Seansea]

WOwza. You must have alot of stacks. Thats alot of greenbacks down the drain. You do know these are saltwaterfish not freshwater?

 

[Macropharyngodon]

A ton of losses. The more context the better, as there may be an underlying issue.

 

[winxp_man]

I have had two mustard tangs. One ended up blind poor guy. And second was only about 1.75” long. I call him/her the traveler. It would move through all the tanks at the LFS because it was so small hahaha….

He/she when little was quite the poop eater, don’t know why. I thought it would go away. That ended up being not the case. Even now it still eats turds! ticks me off! Plenty of food! Cause it’s really fat. It’s about 4.5” now and barely starting to change to adult colors. Have seen many smaller than mine already switched to adult colors.

But as Vette asked. Did you do QT with these fish? The only fish in have not had is a moorish idol. All others have been with no issues.