What killed my yellow tang?

[ibrat82]

So i got a yellow tang 7 days ago. was in his 2nd transfer in ttm. Was very healthy and eating piscine mysis from day one. Tried seaweed but wouldnt touch it he just kept going for the mysis. Dosed half the amount of prazi 2 days ago and then the other half 24 hours later so im not shocking the fish.

Yesterday my heater was being really weird, its a brand new eheim tru temp heater and it was off an on swings of 2-3 degrees every couple of hours so i went and bought a new one and it was working just fine and holding temperature steady. Then this morning i find him dead.

I'm trying to think what could cause this? was is the prazi?, the heater issues? what?

It just sucks cause this is the 5th fish to die on me using ttm and i am doing it correctly. My water is find i use rodi i even use prime if i detect any sort of ammonia . I'm following everything to the books but i just cant keep fish alive during ttm.

I do have a pair of anthias and they are handling ttm fine but some fish dont make it some do. Makes me question if its me or the fish? I don't want to keep buying fish if im going end up killing them.

totally sucks.

[GimpyFin]

A lot of unknown variables here, but it sounds like something with your process is killing the fish, if this is the 5th one. (Yellow tangs are not really a sensitive fish either.) Unless your temp was way out of acceptable range, I doubt it caused any major issues.

A tip on the Eheim Jagers too. Excellent heater, but they aren't always calibrated 100%. When you get them, run them in about 5-10 gallons of water at the desired temp til it heats up/turns off and watch it for a little bit. If the temp is off, adjust the red plastic arrow on the top to what the temp actually is and then re-adjust the blue slider wheel.

[gone fishin]

What are you using for circulation?

What was the temp during the swings?

The higher the temps the less oxygen in the water.

[andyg1960]

You shouldn't be detecting ammonia if the tank is fully cycled. Can you provide more info on the age of the tank, how/when it was cycled, all water parameters?

[Nina51]

Originally Posted by andyg1960

You shouldn't be detecting ammonia if the tank is fully cycled. Can you provide more info on the age of the tank, how/when it was cycled, all water parameters?

the OP is doing tank transfer so he is not dealing with a cycled tank.

OP, are you getting all of your fish from the same source? online vendor or lfs? if so, i would question if the fish are truly healthy to begin with.

sorry you are having so many problems. i've done ttm lots of times w/o any hiccups.

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by andyg1960

You shouldn't be detecting ammonia if the tank is fully cycled. Can you provide more info on the age of the tank, how/when it was cycled, all water parameters?

Andy, this is a transfer tank so it is not cycled.

ibrat82, how big is your transfer tank? It's possible it is too small and you are seeing a large ammonia spike on the last day before the next transfer, although the prime should have negated any effects. I also wonder now about the source of your fish, perhaps try a different store/vendor.

[ibrat82]

It was swinging from 76.5 to 79.5

I'm using an air stone

Originally Posted by gone fishin

What are you using for circulation?

What was the temp during the swings?

The higher the temps the less oxygen in the water.

[ibrat82]

I'm using 10 gallon tanks for ttm.

Is it too small for a juvenile tang? He was only 2-3 inches

Originally Posted by thegrun

Andy, this is a transfer tank so it is not cycled.

ibrat82, how big is your transfer tank? It's possible it is too small and you are seeing a large ammonia spike on the last day before the next transfer, although the prime should have negated any effects. I also wonder now about the source of your fish, perhaps try a different store/vendor.

[ibrat82]

I have to add I keep the salinity the same from transfer to transfer. However I do remember that the nrely mixed water had anything to do with it? It was mixed 12 hours before putting in the tank.

I did notice the night before he died he was swimming really fast like darting to one side of the tank. I use Rodi and I even put .5ml prime before putting in prazi

[gone fishin]

Originally Posted by ibrat82

It was swinging from 76.5 to 79.5

I'm using an air stone

Temps are OK. I use an air stone myself. I know a few folks that seem to have better luck with a small powerhead.

[heathlindner25]

Originally Posted by thegrun

Andy, this is a transfer tank so it is not cycled.

ibrat82, how big is your transfer tank? It's possible it is too small and you are seeing a large ammonia spike on the last day before the next transfer, although the prime should have negated any effects. I also wonder now about the source of your fish, perhaps try a different store/vendor.

+1
I know I'm on the outside here ,but putting fish in buckets, and uncycled systems leads to ammonia poisoning,imo.
But I would cycle any system before putting a fish in it

[reefbroao]

TTm would be pretty stressful on a fish that just traveled across the world. Just my speculation.

I understand and IMHO ttm is just super stressful of the already stressful qt processes. Maybe try hypo or copper once.

[Marchillo]

I always use powerheads. I like some flow in there. People use airstones with success but if 5 fish have died I'd mix it up. Provide hiding spots and low light. My TTM is done in a finished basement and I have very low ambient light on during it with 4 panels blacked out - left, right, bottom, back.

My setup was simple. Very cheap dual sponge filter, heater, pvc, and a 240 gph powerhead in a 20L

[Marchillo]

Oh and a SeaChem ammonia alert badge. I didn't use prazi but I do use prime. I'm a nervous nelly with uncycled tanks.

[scooter31707]

It may be your source the fish are coming from. I have had no problem with TTM using the same equipment and process you do. Also are you sure you are using the right dose of Prazi-Pro, overdosing can cause a death in a small tank which happened to me one time.

[Dkuhlmann]

It would take a lot of PraziPro to kill a fish. I just recently had to dose my tank to get rid of flukes and wound up having to triple dose it and no problems with anything in the tank... Accept for the flukes

[rBlair]

I was having a terrible time trying to get fish through TTM, lost quite a few, several tangs and angels.

I am using rubbermaid tubs with 10 gal of water, an airstone (small barrel about 1 1/2 in long), heater, some pvc to hide in.

Finally after posting here someone said the tangs need a lot of oxygen in the water. I started using 2 airstones and that seems to have made the difference for me. I've put a powder blue, angel, a couple other smaller fish through, all treated with prazi, since and had no problems.