Tangs sudden death

[Aquanino]

Warning: Pics of dead fish below.
Hi, I am bit boggled about sudden death in tangs in my new tank. My previous tank I had for 10 years and rarely lost fish. I have lost 3 tangs in my current tank. They were perfectly fine, no white spot, had them each around for 6 to 12 months in this tank. All eating perfectly fine. The two Naso tangs on the day were eating and when I saw them before they died they were close to the bottom of the tank breathing heavily and as fast as possible and then dead. I lost the first in November last year and the second today. My Achilles tang, I was sitting next to the tank and he swam from the top of the tank to the bottom started breathing heavily and died. This was in Feb this year. They all 3 had no injuries, I put them in FW after death and no flukes either. All other fish in the tank were and are still completely fine.
The system is 6000l(1500gal), split into two tanks with tons of fish. Tangs - Gem, Black, Regal, Orange Shoulder, Purple, and a few yellow. There also a host of angels on the side. No other fish shows any signs of distress, no real fight either.
Has anyone experienced something like this, I don’t want to add another Naso or Achilles with the same thing happening again. Hopefully looking to find more understanding why this has happened.

Pics below of the dead fish, Achilles minutes before he died.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

water parameters?

Was water cloudy at time? Wondering if an algae bloom took all the oxygen but I'm guessing

Any additional information you can think to share which might be relevant? This is Jay's link to info suggestions for diagnosis help:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Aquanino]

water parameters?

Was water cloudy at time? Wondering if an algae bloom took all the oxygen but I'm guessing

Any additional information you can think to share which might be relevant? This is Jay's link to info suggestions for diagnosis help:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef mixed
Aquarium water volume: 6000l/1585gal
Filtration type: Sump with Skimmer
Lighting: T5 & Illumagic Blaze on mixed side. T5 with Radion on angel & sps side
How long has the aquarium been established?
14 months
Digital image of the aquarium under white light (will upload on the next post)
Water quality (be sure to indicate what measurement units you are using)
Temperature 25 deg Celsius
pH: 8.2
Salinity / specific gravity 1.026
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 22,4
Phosphorus 0,1
Copper 0
KH 7,2
Calc 440
MG 1320

On the oxygen part it is exactly what it looks like, but the crazy part is no other fish is impacted at all. I did clean the sump the day the Achilles died and yesterday I was manually removing water from the sump so I may have disturbed the detritus in there but again I am looking at all the fish in there right now and they gracefully and peacefully swimming around. Totally bizarre.

 

[Aquanino]

 

[G Santana]

Unfortunately many times we just don't know the root cause for their loss.
Sorry for your loss, that was one beautiful fish!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

@Jay Hemdal
@vetteguy53081

 

[TheDragonsReef]

The naso looks a little thin, were they ever treated for internal parasites with prazi or something?

 

[Aquanino]

The naso looks a little thin, were they ever treated for internal parasites with prazi or something?

Yes with Prazi.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Ever dosed lanthium chloride or other liquid phosphate remover in the system?

 

[Aquanino]

Attached is an ICP test from May. I had sone elevated levels so I removed the Continuum Nitrate and Bacteria bricks.

 

[Aquanino]

Ever dosed lanthium chloride or other liquid phosphate remover in the system?

Well no, but I have tried Vibrant. Went through 6 500l bottles. The first Naso died before I experimented with Vibrant though.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

None of those icp results would kill any fish though. What do you have for flow in the tank? You have a lot of water and it could be possible the oxygen levels are low. Tangs tend to need higher flow/higher oxygenated environments than most fish. Im not sure what else could cause it. Also do you monitor orp?

 

[Aquanino]

None of those icp results would kill any fish though. What do you have for flow in the tank? You have a lot of water and it could be possible the oxygen levels are low. Tangs tend to need higher flow/higher oxygenated environments than most fish. Im not sure what else could cause it. Also do you monitor orp?

I have 4 x Tunze 6255 20000lph ea + 2 4K gyre 15000ea on the one side
The other side has 2 Tunze 6255 and 2 Stream 3
Return is an Abyzz A400

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Well no, but I have tried Vibrant. Went through 6 500l bottles. The first Naso died before I experimented with Vibrant though.

I've not used Vibrant, but I keep hearing from folks that have had adverse reactions with it. The earlier fish losses may not be related, so perhaps this was the issue for this case? From what I can tell, the issue with Vibrant revolves around low dissolved oxygen/high CO2 due to bacterial consumption of the ingredients. Not all fish will succumb to low oxygen at the same time. I would always ensure good aeration - through air stones, when using that product.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

healthy naso tangs are hit and miss and often when eating at LFS can quickly shut down and reach starvation.
Any unusual behavior, breathing, twitching or fluttering the fins the last few days?

 

[Aquanino]

healthy naso tangs are hit and miss and often when eating at LFS can quickly shut down and reach starvation.
Any unusual behavior, breathing, twitching or fluttering the fins the last few days?

No strange behaviour except about 30min before it died, it ate that morning as well. Even the Achilles was swimming and eating perfectly fine the day it died.

 

[Aquanino]

I've not used Vibrant, but I keep hearing from folks that have had adverse reactions with it. The earlier fish losses may not be related, so perhaps this was the issue for this case? From what I can tell, the issue with Vibrant revolves around low dissolved oxygen/high CO2 due to bacterial consumption of the ingredients. Not all fish will succumb to low oxygen at the same time. I would always ensure good aeration - through air stones, when using that product.

Jay

Thanks Jay, it is very possible these things could have impacted them. I was hoping to find others that have had perfectly fine eating tangs that died suddenly.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

It really sounds like a dissolved O2 issue. Tangs have extremely high O2 requirements. First time I ever saw a healthy achilles tang in person was at the Shedd aquarium, where it was zooming through the surge on their "surge zone" tank, while all the other fish were hiding in the rocks to avoid being slammed around by the water. I gained a real appreciation for the water flow preferred by them that day.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks Jay, it is very possible these things could have impacted them. I was hoping to find others that have had perfectly fine eating tangs that died suddenly.

I’ve had only one, and it too happened to be a smaller naso tang

 

[Oceanavekid]

I think the same thing just happened to my tomini tang. I was rearranging the rock work and about 20 minutes later it was on its side gasping for air and soon after died. Maybe I disturbed the sand bed and that caused some adverse reaction. Not sure but definitely sucks seeing a seemingly healthy fish die suddenly