Please help my new Sohal Tang!

[W31Olds]

So your saying he will recover, and you don't see any physical injury?

 

[littlefoxx]

I remember them struggling to get him out of the tank at the fish store and I do feel like they dropped him from pretty far away from the bucket. But I was distracted talking to one of the other workers while he was being transferred into the bucket.

But I’m really starting to feel like he’s paralyzed. I feel so sad

What do you mean dropped him??

 

[littlefoxx]

Can you post a video of him to YT? Some cant see the video including me

 

[randiLee]

What do you mean dropped him??

Like, plopped him into the bucket instead of release him into the bucket. They sent me a video of him transferring him and it looks like the transfer was okay. But he did jump when he was put into the bucket pretty forcefully. You can see him clear the top of the bucket and then the guy adds water to the bucket.

The LFS is going to let be bring him back to QT at their shop tomorrow at 11am, if I can keep him alive that long. He’s moved to laying in the sand. I don’t think he has much longer.

All the other fish are doing amazing.

 

[bluemon]

What temperature does your house run at?

Considering it’s Houston in August I don’t think the lack of a heater in the main display was an issue at all.

How many powerheads do you have in the tank?

Even if only the return was off, a 260g tank with that many fish should have enough water movement to provide enough dissolved oxygen.

 

[MnFish1]

That’s sad. Still don’t think it adds up though.

1. Your live rock is your tanks main filtration

The water flowing through and around the live rock and providing oxygen to ammonia removing bacteria in the rock is the main 'filtration'

2. The temp drop would have been gradual and most homes are in the 70s so I don’t think temperature is the culprit here.

Probably

3. Even with no surface agitation in a 200 some gallon tank there should have been enough oxygen to last over night. I mean people ship fish in a bag overnight and they do just fine.

With apologies you are incorrect. Fish with no surface agitation in an empty 200 gallon tank may do well overnight. However fish in a tank with rock, etc etc - are going to do poorly.

What’s done is done. I just don’t want it to happen to you again. You never really answered me how you check your salinity.

They double check it

 

[TwelveL16]

That’s sad. Still don’t think it adds up though.

1. Your live rock is your tanks main filtration

The water flowing through and around the live rock and providing oxygen to rheumatoid arthritis bacteria in the rock is the main 'filtration'

2. The temp drop would have been gradual and most homes are in the 70s so I don’t think temperature is the culprit here.

Probably

3. Even with no surface agitation in a 200 some gallon tank there should have been enough oxygen to last over night. I mean people ship fish in a bag overnight and they do just fine.

With apologies you are incorrect. Fish with no surface agitation in an empty 200 gallon tank may do well overnight. However fish in a tank with rock, etc etc - are going to do poorly.

What’s done is done. I just don’t want it to happen to you again. You never really answered me how you check your salinity.

They double check it

So rather than providing insight to the OP. You took the time to try and discredit what I said to the best of your ability. You can try to tell me the scientific process behind live rock being the main filtration it’s still going to be the live rock that allows it all to happen, obviously everything needs oxygen in the tank. Agree to disagree on the oxygen you may be right because something killed them overnight and oxygen is the most likely culprit. With powerheads moving water around I find it difficult to believe but maybe they didn’t have power heads then. I guess they should have double checked that. Thanks for the solid reply, and welcome to my ignore list.

 

[MnFish1]

FWIW - it wouldn't seem that a disease is causing the problem - so when you say they are going to QT him, do they mean for disease or just watching him. If they think there is some disease (which I can't see why they would) - you will need to watch the rest of your fish as well. Sorry sounds like you've had a hard time

 

[MnFish1]

So rather than providing insight to the OP. You took the time to try and discredit what I said to the best of your ability. You can try to tell me the scientific process behind live rock being the main filtration it’s still going to be the live rock that allows it all to happen. Agree to disagree on the oxygen you may be right because something killed them overnight and oxygen is the most likely culprit. With powerheads moving water around I find it difficult to believe but maybe they didn’t have power heads then. I guess they should have double checked that. Thanks for the solid reply!

I provided insight to the OP - I said - it was likely lack of oxygen or possibly ammonia. I mean - disease wouldn't do it, the temperature didn't do it. There is a direct correlation with multiple fish deaths and turning off the filter. So thats the most likely. I believe that they have all of their equipment on a controller - and the OP said that her husband turned everything off - so I would assume that meant 'everything'.

By the way. I wasn't trying to discredit you - As a member of the fish medic team I said I apologize but leaving a filter off all night can cause a problem. There are people who have had a power outage for 4 hours and lost everything. And it's important for everyone to note that. In my next post I addressed the question about the tang.

 

[W31Olds]

I concluded it was a low O2 event based on the Op's Fish List. Even with a 200 Gallon Tank the fish they lost are active ones and consume a lot of oxygen. The inverts and 1 Gobie survived is also a clue. Going forward, I would be most concerned about having a solid Qt Procedure in place before restocking. RandiLee seems to be making good progress putting additional safeguards in place.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So rather than providing insight to the OP. You took the time to try and discredit what I said to the best of your ability. You can try to tell me the scientific process behind live rock being the main filtration it’s still going to be the live rock that allows it all to happen, obviously everything needs oxygen in the tank. Agree to disagree on the oxygen you may be right because something killed them overnight and oxygen is the most likely culprit. With powerheads moving water around I find it difficult to believe but maybe they didn’t have power heads then. I guess they should have double checked that. Thanks for the solid reply, and welcome to my ignore list.

Sorry again with all this and I believe there were many insights provided. These occurrences are unfortunate and often helps us to do things differently next time you add a specimen/ If there is suspicion this fish was dropped during transfer, I would discuss with store owner/manager as it seems you are not inexperienced.
Oxygen in a closed environment such as aquarium can be affected by many factors and again, enough tips were provided to identify need going forward.

 

[randiLee]

Can you post a video of him to YT? Some cant see the video including me

I’ll try.

Hi! Brand new member here.

I found a very active Sohal tang at our local aquarium store. They’ve had him 9 months. I brought him home because he was SUPER interactive through the glass, ate like a piggy, and just seemed like such an active and healthy guy.

We added him to our tank yesterday and he has been acting extremely weird. Swimming vertical, flapping his side fins and barely using his tail.

At the store, he was kept in a smaller aquarium but with no live rock or anything else in the tank…they had him 9 months with no issues.

Is he potentially afraid of all the stuff in our tank? Is this usual Sohal behavior? Could he have been stung by our Condy anemone?

Our tank is very well established but we recently had a major accident and lost all our fish (went out of town and accidentally left the filter off. Fish died by the next morning, it was devastating. We now have extensive alarms set so we can prevent this tragedy from ever occurring again.).

We’ve just been taking care of our invertebrates for a few weeks and are just now adding fish back. Water parameters are all normal.

We added this Sohal along with a wrasse, moorish idol, powder blue tang, & coral beauty. No bullies have been identified. All other fish doing great. Invertebrates still doing great as well.

We’re currently considering removing the condy and some of the rock to give him some more open space in the tank. He is quite larger than we expected him to be for our tank so, we need to make some adjustments for him. Upgrading to 400+ gal in the next 3-6 months.

Any feedback or help is appreciated.
I don’t want to lose him

For anyone who can’t see the videos I originally posted…here is a YouTube link

This is how he behaved all day yesterday


Finally last night, he laid down in the sand.
This morning, he still was struggling at the bottom of the tank. The LFS said we could bring him back in at 11am today. When we went home to pick him up, he was gone

Thank you to everyone who took time to read my post, asked questions to better understand our situation, and offer suggestions to help my fish. I’m so sad to lose him…he was so happy and seemed so healthy in the store. We’ve never lost a fish so fast before.

 

[littlefoxx]

I’ll try.


For anyone who can’t see the videos I originally posted…here is a YouTube link

This is how he behaved all day yesterday


Finally last night, he laid down in the sand.
This morning, he still was struggling at the bottom of the tank. The LFS said we could bring him back in at 11am today. When we went home to pick him up, he was gone

Thank you to everyone who took time to read my post, asked questions to better understand our situation, and offer suggestions to help my fish. I’m so sad to lose him…he was so happy and seemed so healthy in the store. We’ve never lost a fish so fast before.

Awe Im sorry. That behavior is exactly how mine behaved after his fall. Im not a medic but does look to me like he was injured somehow.

 

[randiLee]

Awe Im sorry. That behavior is exactly how mine behaved after his fall. Im not a medic but does look to me like he was injured somehow.

I watched him for HOURS yesterday. And the only thing that seemed reasonable is that he somehow broke his tail. He could kinda still move it…but it didn’t look right. And he developed what looked like a bruise right where his body and tail meet. (The thin part)

So, I think you’re right. He somehow injured himself.

The other 4 fish in the tank are doing great. Moorish idol going crazy over all the sponges he has to eat, wrasse flying around doing his thing. The powder blue is very passive and nips at the rocks all day long. The coral beauty is eating up all
the algae. So, I feel confident our water parameters are stable and not the cause of the Sohal’s demise.

 

[MnFish1]

Sorry to hear. Best of luck with the rest of your fish and tank!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ll try.


For anyone who can’t see the videos I originally posted…here is a YouTube link

This is how he behaved all day yesterday


Finally last night, he laid down in the sand.
This morning, he still was struggling at the bottom of the tank. The LFS said we could bring him back in at 11am today. When we went home to pick him up, he was gone

Thank you to everyone who took time to read my post, asked questions to better understand our situation, and offer suggestions to help my fish. I’m so sad to lose him…he was so happy and seemed so healthy in the store. We’ve never lost a fish so fast before.

Still show LFS video and see if there is anything they are willing to do for you

 

[randiLee]

Still show LFS video and see if there is anything they are willing to do for you

We’ve been in contact with the LFS continuously.

They originally said that he was acclimating. Then, we asked if they dropped the fish when transferring him into the bucket and they sent a video of the transfer from the store surveillance. All seemed okay with the transfer based on the video. And then after more pressuring that something was wrong, they offered to take the fish back into their system to see if they could get him to feel better. Unfortunately, he died 1 hour before the LFS opened.

I have quite a bit of experience with our fish and our system but not with sick or injured fish. We’ve had minimal fish death in the past (with the exception of our recent total loss from the accident) and if one has died, we usually can pinpoint why or how it died (we have cameras on all 3 of our tanks)

They’ve offered to give us a new fish. But, money or a new fish isn’t really the point. I buy fish for their personalities. This guy was so fun at the store and I fell in love with him. So, I feel pretty disappointed that we couldn’t save him.

We’ll probably wait a few weeks to ensure the other 4 fish are healthy and do not develop any illnesses before trying to add anything else.

 

[randiLee]

Sorry to hear. Best of luck with the rest of your fish and tank!

Thank you

 

[W31Olds]

Sorry for your loss. Large, strong fish like this probably need special care when handling. Going forward, I would consider holding off additional restocking until you can safely say the fish you currently have are clean. Bear in mind that every time you add a new item without proper Qt, you're rolling the dice. Treating a 200 gallon Tank full of sick fish is very stressful and time consuming.

 

[vetteguy53081]

We’ve been in contact with the LFS continuously.

They originally said that he was acclimating. Then, we asked if they dropped the fish when transferring him into the bucket and they sent a video of the transfer from the store surveillance. All seemed okay with the transfer based on the video. And then after more pressuring that something was wrong, they offered to take the fish back into their system to see if they could get him to feel better. Unfortunately, he died 1 hour before the LFS opened.

I have quite a bit of experience with our fish and our system but not with sick or injured fish. We’ve had minimal fish death in the past (with the exception of our recent total loss from the accident) and if one has died, we usually can pinpoint why or how it died (we have cameras on all 3 of our tanks)

They’ve offered to give us a new fish. But, money or a new fish isn’t really the point. I buy fish for their personalities. This guy was so fun at the store and I fell in love with him. So, I feel pretty disappointed that we couldn’t save him.

We’ll probably wait a few weeks to ensure the other 4 fish are healthy and do not develop any illnesses before trying to add anything else.

I totally get it. If nothing else, retain the credit offered for future occupant. Best of luck going forward !!