added new fish...It was probably too soon

[lisad8763]

I have a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for 2 months. It has 2 damsels, hermit crabs and turbo snails. I added a yellow eyed tang to the tank and after one day he appeared to have ich. I did a bunch of stuff, a partial water change turned up the temp a little , put liquid garlic on the seaweed being offered, but the tang would not eat that I saw, and after the second day in the tank, one of the turbo snails (big) in my tank was gone and the tang had white ich stuff all around it's lips. I did not know what to do. Did he eat the snail? He was dead by the end of the day. I don't want to try again until I think it will be a better addition when I add something to the tank, but it is boring right now, and I am impatient, any suggestions on a safe addition that can eventually live with a tang and trigger fish? I have fish only now, but would like to try the idea of a reef tank later.

[bteagle93]

first of all, this is a hobby that REQUIRES patience. Also, when purchasing fish I always put them in a QT tank, so that if they do have ich, or another disease I can treat them without harming the rest of the inhabits. As for the snail, any thing could have happened. Basically, take it slown, and QT your new fish. =)

[LePep]

bteagle93 is correct. Also, keep in mind that most triggers are not reef safe. The Blue throat and the Sargassum triggers are considered somewhat reef safe. Do some reaserch before buying.

[Andrew]

To Reef Central

[Norward]

I also agree with bteagle93. Started introducing fish too fast and without QT and nearly wiped out all of them by ich and the bacterial infection that followed. I encourage you to do what I did: focus on getting your tank back to health and set up a small, inexpensive QT. In the meantime, think about your plans for the tank, how your going to stock it, and proper order by reading any and everything you can find and asking opinions here. Sounds like you still have the start the a satisfying tank, just be patient.

[DrBegalke]

A 55 is too small for a tang OR a triggerfish, let alone both.

[lubyone1]

As opposed to cutting you down like many others will by saying you're "rushing" things or your tank is two small - you should look at other factors that may have had an effect on your fish prior to adding it to your tank.

Did you acclimate it long enough? Where did you buy it? What are your tank parameters. If you got this fish at the local LFS, it probably needs significantly less aclimation time than one bought over the net. Was the fish being harassed by the damsels? These are just a few questions that come to my mind and I'm sure others would have more.

My tank is 2 months old and I currently have Royal Gramma, Yellow Tang and two Ocellaris clowns which are all doing wonderfully along with a handful of corals.

If my tang came down with Ich in two days, it would lead me to believe that something stressed him out. If your tank had been set up for 1 year, your fish could still come down with Ich - I'd like to believe most Ich outbreaks are related to stress.

Having all that said, in the long run, your 55 is probably too small for a 10" Tang but in the mean time, he may be fine and down the road you'll have to either get a new tank or sell your fish.

QT is a great idea, but not everyone can afford one or have the space to add one. Without using one, its a gambling game that can lead to many headaches. It's your tank and you can make your own decisions. ReefCentral should just be a place to get opinions...not direct orders. Best of luck to you and I'd recommend you look at your acclimation procedures.

[lisad8763]

Thank you for your feedback. I spent about 2 hours on the acclimation process, slowly adding water from my tank to the water he was in, but he was very stressed, I watched closely to see what my four stripe damsil was going to do to him, because he seems to think the whole tank is his, but he let the tang be for the most part the tang stayed shyly in the back corner with some live rock to hide in. Unfortunatly I purchased him at Petco because that is the only available salt water fish in at least a one hour drive radius from my home. Is there a good supplier I can purchase from online? My tank is looking the way it should ( I think ) but I have a lot to learn.

[lubyone1]

I've never had good luck with fish from Petco for w/e reason. Last time I was in this hobby (10 yrs ago), I never paid close attention to the current status/behavior of the fish prior to buying it. If it looked ok, I'd usually go ahead and purchase it. Now I spend a little more time watching the fish prior to purchasing. I'd like to believe this has helped me quite a bit.

I'd probably recommend asking the question - "when did these guys come in?" If they had just come in, and you buy it the next day, this is definitely going to stress the fish out. Some shops will let you purchase the fish and leave it in the shop for a few days to make certain it stays healthy. Also - do you turn your lights off when acclimating your fish? I'm pretty sure most places recommend keeping your lights off during the acclimation process included the entire day the new species are introduced. If the fish looks ok and is out swimming around, it's probably ok to turn the lights on. If its still hiding, your best bet is to probably keep the lights out.

We too have a local petco that supplies saltwater fish. It seems that most of the time, the fish look extremely stressed. They all run on the same system from what I can tell and I know for a fact that they don't QT new arrivals. If you can't find a local shop within an hour, you could look online at places like www.liveaquaria.com or marinedepotlive.com. With the shipping costs you'll have to pay, it may be worth it to drive to a "nearby" shop. I think buying a fish from a store rather than an internet site would lead to a less stressed specimen.

Here is what my tank looks like after two months - probably similar to what yours does.



In my opinion, you probably bought a fish that was already sick but just didn't know it. Lastly, are your water parameters ok?

[reefkrazy]

ah good old pet death. Use kick ich, the stuff kicks @ss!

[lisad8763]

Parameters are :
Nitrate: 20
Nitrites: 0
Alkalinity: 300 (KH)
Ph: 8.4
Saline level 1.024
temp:78 degrees
Ammonia: .25

Can't seem to get ammonia back to zero. There is a lot more live rock in your tank ( to lubyone1) than in mine, also I have white crushed rock (not live), but some live thrown on top from an established tank. Can I throw a few inches of live sand over the crushed rock, I really wanted sand, but someone gave me all the rock as a birthday gift? I don't have my protein skimmer yet, either but plan to get one soon, I was told I did not need it right away.

My lights were off when trying to acclimate the tang, I really did try hard, and want my tank to be succesful. So thanks to anyone who can help. There was a small salt water fish store, nearby and I liked the info I got there, but I went to town one day and they had packed up all tanks and were gone, I am feeling a little lost without their help. I could just go in and tell them what I was thinking and they would help me with what I needed. You don't get that at Petco.

[Norward]

Lisa, luby has made some excellent observations. For right now I encourage you take a step back, watch your tank for any further signs of ich and monitor your parameters. I still think you are in good shape. Continue to research online and ask questions here.

My experience with Petco fish has been positive, but I had the benefit of a couple of people there that knew the basics and didn't pretend to know more. I would always pick them up the day they came in, before they went into the store tank, or watched them carefully before buying. My ich came from a firefish purchased at the independent LFS!

A QT is not that expensive, time consuming, or space absorbing to set up and will save you lots of headaches. Get confident with your tank again and start thinking about a good fish to add next!

[Norward]

BTW, it's just possible the tang was a fluke. A couple more water changes and your parameters should be where you want them. There are many good choices for a protein skimmer, but I have been happy with the AC Remora. I think it's more important later on when you have a higher bio-load than you have now. BTW, crushed rock has also worked fine for me... how much LR do you have in there?

[petoonia]

A tang will add alot to your bioload, maybe the tank wasn't mature enough to handle the bio load the tang created. You probably need more live rock as well. What type of filtration are you using? For now I would focus on getting the tank in order. Get your levels where they need to be. Get the live rock that you need. Get a skimmer, by then the tank will have aged a bit. Then you could slowly start adding the livestock you want.

I would seriously start planning out what fish you want to keep in your tank. Then research those fish as much as possible. A tang, and a trigger probably aren't the best options for a 55g. I would say you could probably get away with a young kole, or tomini tang. A trigger probably wont do well in a 55g, unless it is very small, but once it starts getting bigger it will need a larger tank. There are so many smaller fish that are absolutely beautiful. Some ideas are dwarf angels, blennies, gobies, clownfish, wrasses, there are so many fish that are suitable foe a 55g to choose from. I would also ask about other people experiences with keeping damsels in their tanks. You might want to rethink keeping them, or just keep them until your ready to start adding more expensive fish.

[lubyone1]

I agree completely with the posts above. Protein skimmer and more live rock would go a long way. 1-1.5lbs of rock per gallon is a general guideline.

Try and get the ammonia down. I bet you don't have enough filtration (live rock) in your tank. With your current bioload - you shouldn't have any ammonia.

Good luck and keep posting!

Oh yeah - if you can get the fish at Petco before they place them in their tank, you'd be better off :P