HELPPPP! YELLOW TANG not Eating :/

[merlberg]

I bought my tang 2/12/15. So for last 2 days he has not been eating and is either low underneath a rock hiding or all the way to the top of the tank just sitting in 1 spot not moving at all. Before these last 2 days the day before he was eating but was still barely moving in the tank and he is usually the most active. All over the tank which is the main reason I decided to upgrade.

When I came in yesterday evening I thought he was dead but when I looked closer he was still breathing. He usually eats brine shrimp he is not really a fan of the seaweed from what I notice. He also looks pale and a little piece of his tail looks like it's falling off.

In my tank I have a black ribbon eel, domino damsel & a green chromis and they are eating and swimming around like normal. I know none of them attacked him because once he was placed in the tank he seemed to be the one in charge. When I tested my water parameters yesterday they also seem ok.

Temp= 79f
Salt= 1.024
Ammonia= 0.25
Ph= 8.2
Nitrite= 0
Nitrate= 0

The only thing I can thing of is that I recently upgraded my tank and to do tht unfortunately I had to leave him in a bucket overnight but I had put air in there for them just couldn't put the filter. When I first put him in the new tank he was fine. Could it be he is stressed? I seen what ich looks like and I do not think its ich and I do not have a quarantine tank :/. Any help would be appreciated PLEASE .

I've had such great luck here with my ribbon eel so hopefully some of you can help me out with what's going on with my yellow tang!

 

[Libimagana]

1st,of all I would lower the Ammonia to ,0 zero there shouldn't be ammonia that's one factor ,2 did u put any heater in the bucket? Or only the air stone.?
3rd ich can be in its Gil's specially tangs are so prune to get it
I learn the hard way with ich you must quarantine your fish is the only way your going to get rid of that parasite
If you want to save your fish
I know it is a pain! To deal with this, i'm just giving you an advice here.
Do a water change to lower the ammonia.

 

[merlberg]

Ok I will do a water change today for the ammonia. I had put the heater and airstone in the bucket.

Yikes really so are you saying I might not see it right away if he has ich?

So does that mean I would have to move my ribbon eel as well to QT or just the fishes? And can I just QT the tang? Thanks for the info so far

 

[Libimagana]

I've never had an eel, but u might have to quarantine it too and leave the main tank fish less for 4/5 weeks I know is sad but leave your inverts in there I have my anemone and shrimp in the display tank and is nice to see my nem too

 

[Libimagana]

Look at seahorsekeeper he explains how to properly quarantine and shoes you what you need to know.

 

[Libimagana]

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0904/q_tank.jpg

 

[merlberg]

Thanks aloy for all your help so far. I'm actually about to get a QT in a bit.

 

[Humblefish]

As mentioned above, you need to get the ammonia down to 0 and keep it there. It sounds like you may be seeing an ammonia spike from the recent upgrade aka mini-cycle. If you can't do an immediate WC, dose an ammonia reducer such as Prime or Amquel as a temporary fix.

 

[Humblefish]

A really great guy I know wrote this "How to QT" guide: :wink:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-disease-treatment-diagnosis/189815-how-quarantine.html

 

[merlberg]

I went to get the QT and when I came back he was at the bottom :/. I was too late which sucks. I'm still not sure what his death was from and hoping it was not ich but when I took him out the tank his body had no spots, it was just really frail :/.

 

[Humblefish]

It was probably the ammonia. Even low levels can be harmful to fish. Brief exposure burns the gills. However, prolonged exposure can damage a fish’s liver and kidneys. The other fish you mentioned (eel & damsels) are much hardier than a tang.

 

[merlberg]

Wow... And even tho the ammonia wasn't super high I didn't think it would of killed them. My ammonia is usually always 0 up until the tank upgrade :/. Sucks I lost him so soon. I had recently purchased him :/ but I know for next time.