Powder Blue Tang Passed Away - help with why

[mr fishy 3000]

Hi Everyone,

I purchased a Powder Blue Tang from the fish store on Sunday. He ate in front of me there and was swimming around the tank actively when I brought him home and acclimated him.

I woke up this morning to him dead. He seemed normal yesterday when I looked at him. He did not eat for me in the tank.

Here are some photos of him. I noticed two things off about him, one was he had black on his fins this morning. and you can see it in the photos, His fins weren't torn in the tank, I think they were from the crabs picking at his dead body throughout the day today.

I have a Large Sailfin Tang, Small Yellow Tang, and a Small Blue Hippo Tang, Juvenile Emperor and Gold Flake angelfish, Coral Beauty, Two-Spot FoxFace and some Chromis. I did notice a large bump on his side this morning, is it a possibility that he was spiked by the Foxface and that killed him?

All Parameters are in check. I floated him for 30 minutes the released him into the tang. He was in the bag for less then 2 hours. The fish store had him through there 28 day QT and also on display for 3 weeks.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Vinny

 

[KQuillan]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi Everyone,

I purchased a Powder Blue Tang from the fish store on Sunday. He ate in front of me there and was swimming around the tank actively when I brought him home and acclimated him.

I woke up this morning to him dead. He seemed normal yesterday when I looked at him. He did not eat for me in the tank.

Here are some photos of him. I noticed two things off about him, one was he had black on his fins this morning. and you can see it in the photos, His fins weren't torn in the tank, I think they were from the crabs picking at his dead body throughout the day today.

I have a Large Sailfin Tang, Small Yellow Tang, and a Small Blue Hippo Tang, Juvenile Emperor and Gold Flake angelfish, Coral Beauty, Two-Spot FoxFace and some Chromis. I did notice a large bump on his side this morning, is it a possibility that he was spiked by the Foxface and that killed him?

All Parameters are in check. I floated him for 30 minutes the released him into the tang. He was in the bag for less then 2 hours. The fish store had him through there 28 day QT and also on display for 3 weeks.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Vinny

Although the CUC can certainly scavenge a dead fish in the night, the fin damage I see are all on the trailing edges of the fins. That implies the thing that did it was coming after the fish from behind, and that means tankmate aggression. The question always is though: was the aggression the core cause of the death, or was the tang weakened by some issue and that in turn allowed some other fish to attack it?

One thing that kills a number of fish in the first day or two after arrival is acclimation stress. Many pet stores hold their fish at low salinity. Home aquarists often maintain their tanks at full salinity. You cannot safely acclimate a fish from low to high salinity, you need to adjust the tank, or acclimate the fish into a QT with lower salinity first. When I hear of this problem, the salinity range is usually more than 4 specific gravity points, so like 1.019 to 1.023. Do you know how the salinity of the dealer's tank was compared to yours?

Jay

 

[mr fishy 3000]

Although the CUC can certainly scavenge a dead fish in the night, the fin damage I see are all on the trailing edges of the fins. That implies the thing that did it was coming after the fish from behind, and that means tankmate aggression. The question always is though: was the aggression the core cause of the death, or was the tang weakened by some issue and that in turn allowed some other fish to attack it?

One thing that kills a number of fish in the first day or two after arrival is acclimation stress. Many pet stores hold their fish at low salinity. Home aquarists often maintain their tanks at full salinity. You cannot safely acclimate a fish from low to high salinity, you need to adjust the tank, or acclimate the fish into a QT with lower salinity first. When I hear of this problem, the salinity range is usually more than 4 specific gravity points, so like 1.019 to 1.023. Do you know how the salinity of the dealer's tank was compared to yours?

Jay

Yes, I figured out, I believe this was the issue. I rearranged the scape this weekend, and so there has been a bit more aggression then usual going on. In combined with my salinity is at 1.024 and the fish store was at 1.020.

I also noticed my emperor's fins where completely gone today. I think my Sailfin tang is the issue, he is going to get brought back to the fish store tomorrow. Most likely going to get him and my rabbit fish out of the tank today so no more damage can be done.