Very Sluggish Yellow Tang

[sids8065]

Hello Everyone,

I put a Yellow Tank in my 125 gallon tank yesterday. Intitially, he seemed to be swimming around normally, slightly pecking at the rocks but when I turned on the lights this morning, he seems to be sluggish, hovering around the same spot on the bottom of the tank. He also totally ignored the seaweed which I attached to the side of the tank using a clip. He shows no physical sign of disease.

I am running a 125 gallon setup with an overflow, sump, wetdry filters and a UV sterilizer. There is no other fish bothering him and rest of the fish look absolutely healthy...Please help.

Sid

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!
What are your water parameters?
What other fish do you have in the tank?
How did you acclimate him?
You said this morning, has he improved?

 

[sids8065]

Thank you...I just moved my 55 to the 125 all the substrate and water etc . I got the water checked at the LFS and they said it was fine.

I have 2 Ocelaris Clowns, 3 Green Chromis, 1 royal dottyback, 1 firefish goby, 1 yellow tail damsel and one sargent major damsel. I also have 8 hermit crabs and 1 porcelien crab.

I checked on him at 11 this morning again and he was kind of holding his postion, moved a little from Where i saw him at 8. I had his bag sit in the tank for about 2 hours with a little hole on top to drip the tank water in..Hope i did it right..He was swimming around fine yesterday and even pecking at the live rock

 

[melosu58]

Just make sure he is eating. Mysis, vitamin fortified brine or some flake. If he still wont eat then try soaking it in some garlic oil. See if you see any parasites on him. Also answer the questions that Scott asked.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Definitely get your own test kit(s) for testing the water. Running to the LFS all the time for testing all the different params for SW would drive me insane!

I have no experience with SW, but don't these guys tend to try to hide for a while before they get comfortable with the tank? Maybe he's just a bit nervous about his new home?

 

[sids8065]

I am assuming that too.....that he is kind of nervous in the new tank...but having said that, why would he swim around yesterday and then just go into a shell today..i will be getting a test kit tonight.

 

[melosu58]

Is he eating anything?

 

[sids8065]

he was nipping at the live rocks yesterday and was going after the flakes..today is he just not doing anything

 

[melosu58]

Are you seeing any black or white specks on him?

 

[sids8065]

i closely inspected him this morning and there was no sign of disease...hope this phase passes..

 

[ccCapt]

I just moved my 55 to the 125 all the substrate and water etc . I got the water checked at the LFS and they said it was fine.

What do you use for substrate, how deep was it and exactly how did you transfer it. I wouldn't be suprised if you got a little ammonia spike and started a mini cycle.

 

[sids8065]

i use crushed coral for substrate..it is about 3 to 4 inches deep..I scooped it out of there and placed it in a bucket and then transfered it to the new tank...I also had to add new substrate to make up for the difference

 

[roka64]

Yep, that could be your issue. Your LFS didn't tell you any specific numbers on your water tests?

 

[sids8065]

here is a link to the youtube video i just took..hope this will give you an idea

YouTube - 125 Gallon Saltwater tank

 

[melosu58]

Yes he is not looking so good. Can you post water test results. I also am concerned about ammonia and nitrite poisoning.

 

[sids8065]

Hi,

Sorry I was busy all day at a conference today..Sad news is the tang died this morning and, well, I figured the problem. My hydrometer was broke. The water test results had zero ammonia and the rest tested normal. The salinity however tested at 1.030 at the store..that nailed it. Well the sad part is the poor fish made it all the way from the ocean to the store and then to my tank to die in 48 hours...That really sucks

 

[pat8you]

Very sorry to hear about your fish. I would suggest a refractometer. You can find them pretty cheap on ebay and a few other places. They are much more accurate and 100% more reliable then the swing arm hydrometers. You aren't the first thats lost fish because of a bad hydrometer reading/being broke. That and skimmers are easily two of the most under appreciated/most useful pieces of equipment in SW.

 

[roka64]

Sorry for your loss. I agree, get the refracto, I was really surprised at the difference in readings between the two.

 

[sids8065]

yes it was off by almost 8 points. The SW expert at the srore mentioned that hydrometers get that way when they get dropped or the needle just sticks..o well..i got myself a new one and i am going to get a refracto first thing today.

However if I might ask, how were the other fish doing well and all so healthy and the excess salinity only affected the Tang

 

[Innovator]

Was there any redmarks on the tang? Thin? If acclimated properly 8ppt increase or decrease shouldn't have been an issue.