Woke up to a dead Yellow Tang

[wmbolling]

I've had a Yellow Tang and a chocolate chip starfish die on me in the last 24 hours... Needless to say, I'm skerred. But I don't know what is wrong. I'm still new to the saltwater hobby, and am learning a lot. Here are my readings:

- Salinity: 1.022
- Ammonia: 0
- Nitrite: 0
- Nitrate: 20 ppm (I did a 20% waterchange shortly after)
- pH: 8.4
- Temp: 79 F
- Calcium: 200
- GH/KH are off-the-charts high... The dropper kits can't measure it accurately because they only measure up to 12 drops before the water changes colors. Mine change colors around 35 drops. Hopefully that makes sense. I don't use RO water - could that be it?

I filter with a HOB Marineland Penguin 150. It has 2 carbon media filters in it, and one Phosphate filter media. I also have a protein skimmer, and a fluval orbit light. I do not have a sump tank.

I tinkered with it a lot during the water change, scrubbing algae off of the walls and blowing off the live rock. I usually spray some cologne on my arms in the morning - but I was messing around with it late last night. Could the toxins in the cologne have killed them, even if I sprayed it on myself 12+ hours before? I don't typically wear gloves when reaching into the tank. Should I be doing that?

I have recently had a problem controlling red slime algae growth, and I have treated my tank 3 times over the past 2 weeks with this stuff:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Ultralif...Algae_Control-Ultralife-UL1311-FIADAL-vi.html

It says that it is not harmful to the fish... But I am just trying to cover all my bases of what could be wrong.

Lastly - could the stress I caused from the water change simply be it? I know that stress can sometimes kill fish, but the fact that the starfish died too is making me doubt that problem.

 

[wmbolling]

By the way this probably should have been posted somewhere else... Sorry about that. #YOLO

 

[SynDen]

Wow, well hello there. There are several things in here that could have killed them. But first we could use more info

For one, If you dont use Ro water, what are you using and what do you put into it? I'd recommend to start using ro water as soon as possible

What else is in the tank, and how big of a system?

How often and how much are you feeding?

GH/KH needs to be read-able. Which kit are you using for this. Arguably this and salinity are the 2 most important numbers in a tank, and you need to get this under control. Too high, or too low or fluctuates alot, will be more then enough to kill most inhabitants, especially invertebrate and more fragile creatures.
If this a fish only system then 200 calc isnt crazy horrible, but it still should be up between 300-500 range or if you want corals it need to be in the 400s. Calcium and Alkalinity are directly tied to one another so if one is crazy high the other one is crazy low. Very important in any saltwater tank to get these numbers in line.

HOB Marineland Penguin 150 - I hope you took the bio wheels off at least, but This right here is not exactly an ideal filter for a saltwater aquarium, these are designed for freshwater aquariums. Would recommend looking into other options. I'm sure we can help provide some better options if you give us more info about how your system is setup, space requirements, ect...

Yes, cologne could have killed them, although likely it was a compounding effect. But Always wash hand and arms before putting them in the tank. Tried to keep hands out of the tank as much as possible but when you have to go in, be sure to wear gloves or wash/scrub your arms with just water, no soap, before sticking your hands in the tank. Otherwise you risk introducing chemicals and other bacteria, and viruses to the tank.

Salinity is also a tad low but not critical. Again depends on type of tank but generally try for 1.023 - 1.026 range

 

[Munch]

How old is your tank?

 

[wmbolling]

It's a 30 gallon tank. I live in ️Boulder- so I just use tap water here. I also have a coral beauty, a clownfish, and a recently introduced dwarf lion. I had a cleaner shrimp die on me about 2 weeks ago, but at the time I thought it was just that the new lionfish must have eaten it. I don't think I feed too much. About half a cube every other day, and some algae flakes every other day too.

 

[SynDen]

Well tap water works fine for freshwater tanks but does not work for saltwater tanks because harmful nutrients and various other heavy metals and such can build up in the tank over time. It can work in a pinch and over small periods of time to some degree, but I would not recommend using any treated public water. Look into an RO filter asap
And like munch asked, how old is the tank? and how long you had it stocked with fish that all require much larger tanks? Did you use live rock in this or how is it setup? Unlike freshwater fish which you can often time stuff into smaller tanks with some success, saltwater fish and invertebrates require very specific care.
Every fish you put on there requires quite a bit bigger tank. Only the clownfish possibly qualifies for a nano fish, and that depends on what type of clown it is, everything else needs 2-3 times that tanks to survive and be healthy long term. eg...Yellow tangs need a 5' or longer tank 70-90g range, coral beauties need like 70g tanks or larger, and the lionfish needs a 50g if its by itself but much larger if other inhabitants (otherwise it can skewer its tank buddies pretty easily).
Plus invertebrate like shrimp, starfish, crab ect.. are all very sensitive to drastic water parameter shifts, as well as elevated levels of Nitrates/nitrites and ammonia will all kill these guys first. If you are having trouble keeping these alive for long, or they suddenly die one day, its a pretty good indicator that you have a water quality issue.

In the end though there are several factors that are killing off your animals. If you want to keep a successful tank I recommend you sit down and really think about what you want out of your tank and then start researching everything you can about it. Things you can do to improve your tank include but not limited to:
- Get a better filter. Since its a fish only tank, you could likely do a canister filter of some some sort, or look into HOB refugium/sumps, or even a wet dry, but get rid of that bio-wheel filter.
- Get an RO system or start buying saltwater from the LFS
- Take the lionfish and coral beauty back to the LFS before they die too. Neither of those will remain healthy for long cramped inside a tank that small together.
- Research fish and invertebrate better to to determine better suited tank mates for the tank you have
- Work on getting the water chemistry better in line and stable

 

[sethsolomon]

Well tap water works fine for freshwater tanks but does not work for saltwater tanks because harmful nutrients and various other heavy metals and such can build up in the tank over time. It can work in a pinch and over small periods of time to some degree, but I would not recommend using any treated public water. Look into an RO filter asap
And like munch asked, how old is the tank? and how long you had it stocked with fish that all require much larger tanks? Did you use live rock in this or how is it setup? Unlike freshwater fish which you can often time stuff into smaller tanks with some success, saltwater fish and invertebrates require very specific care.
Every fish you put on there requires quite a bit bigger tank. Only the clownfish possibly qualifies for a nano fish, and that depends on what type of clown it is, everything else needs 2-3 times that tanks to survive and be healthy long term. eg...Yellow tangs need a 5' or longer tank 70-90g range, coral beauties need like 70g tanks or larger, and the lionfish needs a 50g if its by itself but much larger if other inhabitants (otherwise it can skewer its tank buddies pretty easily).
Plus invertebrate like shrimp, starfish, crab ect.. are all very sensitive to drastic water parameter shifts, as well as elevated levels of Nitrates/nitrites and ammonia will all kill these guys first. If you are having trouble keeping these alive for long, or they suddenly die one day, its a pretty good indicator that you have a water quality issue.

In the end though there are several factors that are killing off your animals. If you want to keep a successful tank I recommend you sit down and really think about what you want out of your tank and then start researching everything you can about it. Things you can do to improve your tank include but not limited to:
- Get a better filter. Since its a fish only tank, you could likely do a canister filter of some some sort, or look into HOB refugium/sumps, or even a wet dry, but get rid of that bio-wheel filter.
- Get an RO system or start buying saltwater from the LFS
- Take the lionfish and coral beauty back to the LFS before they die too. Neither of those will remain healthy for long cramped inside a tank that small together.
- Research fish and invertebrate better to to determine better suited tank mates for the tank you have
- Work on getting the water chemistry better in line and stable

+1

 

[kio707]

Well tap water works fine for freshwater tanks but does not work for saltwater tanks because harmful nutrients and various other heavy metals and such can build up in the tank over time. It can work in a pinch and over small periods of time to some degree, but I would not recommend using any treated public water. Look into an RO filter asap
And like munch asked, how old is the tank? and how long you had it stocked with fish that all require much larger tanks? Did you use live rock in this or how is it setup? Unlike freshwater fish which you can often time stuff into smaller tanks with some success, saltwater fish and invertebrates require very specific care.
Every fish you put on there requires quite a bit bigger tank. Only the clownfish possibly qualifies for a nano fish, and that depends on what type of clown it is, everything else needs 2-3 times that tanks to survive and be healthy long term. eg...Yellow tangs need a 5' or longer tank 70-90g range, coral beauties need like 70g tanks or larger, and the lionfish needs a 50g if its by itself but much larger if other inhabitants (otherwise it can skewer its tank buddies pretty easily).
Plus invertebrate like shrimp, starfish, crab ect.. are all very sensitive to drastic water parameter shifts, as well as elevated levels of Nitrates/nitrites and ammonia will all kill these guys first. If you are having trouble keeping these alive for long, or they suddenly die one day, its a pretty good indicator that you have a water quality issue.

In the end though there are several factors that are killing off your animals. If you want to keep a successful tank I recommend you sit down and really think about what you want out of your tank and then start researching everything you can about it. Things you can do to improve your tank include but not limited to:
- Get a better filter. Since its a fish only tank, you could likely do a canister filter of some some sort, or look into HOB refugium/sumps, or even a wet dry, but get rid of that bio-wheel filter.
- Get an RO system or start buying saltwater from the LFS
- Take the lionfish and coral beauty back to the LFS before they die too. Neither of those will remain healthy for long cramped inside a tank that small together.
- Research fish and invertebrate better to to determine better suited tank mates for the tank you have
- Work on getting the water chemistry better in line and stable

Don't take his advice as bashing you. The ppl on this forum really have a passion for this hobby. I can't think of one person that wouldn't try to help you here. Don't be afraid to ask questions. You have no idea of how much knowledge is at your finger tips.

 

[amonchak]

Woke up to a dead Yellow Tang

IMO keep it simple. Try to not use the magic algae killers and use the scrub method.

The hob bio wheels are great filters as long as they are properly sized for your tank. Be sure the bio wheels are working properly as this is providing a biological filter for your tank.

If you treat with medication I'd remove the bio wheels temporarily and replace them after the treatment.

Patients and maybe some gfo will help the algae.

I do agree the tank sounds to be a bit overstocked but a little research before buying the fish and inverts will go a long way.

Good luck.

 

[FinsUp]

+1 to all of the above. We are definitely here to help.

One thing about saltwater tanks is that they take a lot more work in the beginning, and the inhabitants are finicky. Water parameters need to be stable and within range, or things die. Some fish don't get along with other fish. Most fish need a certain size tank (almost all of the ones you listed need way more room than they have). And you have to stock much lighter than a freshwater tank. And you have to go really slow with just about everything, especially adding fish. Last, but not least, there are LOTS of ways to do this successfully, just as many ways to do it unsuccessfully, and both are expensive.

Don't trust the advice of anyone who doesn't ask a lot of questions. Especially if their advice involves you giving them money.

 

[fonduecat]

Don't take his advice as bashing you. The ppl on this forum really have a passion for this hobby. I can't think of one person that wouldn't try to help you here. Don't be afraid to ask questions. You have no idea of how much knowledge is at your finger tips.

I second this motion. This is a really hard hobby to get started in and there are so many things you can only learn from experience. Everyone on the forum has been super helpful so I would take their advice.

+1 to the RO water and taking the other fish back for right now.

My 2 cents, yellow tangs need big tanks. While they can do okay in smaller tanks when they are little they will grow up fast. Very fast. They can also be super aggressive. I had one baby itty bitty yellow tang who did great in my 75 gallon, but out grew it in a few months. Ended up killing 3 fish before he got the boot to the fish store.