HELP very weak yellow tang-ASAP-3reef Forums

sparkienyc · 02-03-2008, 04:56 PM

65 gallon tank 4 weeks old .. 60 lbs live sand 65 lbs of live rock, running refungium in tank for pods 3 days ..

berlin sump about 15 gallons with a urchin pro skimmer

4 oceallis clowns, one condy anemone, one bubble tip anemone, bullet gobie , yellow coris , 1 fiji blue devil, 3 peppermint shrimp, 4 turbo snails

everyone is healthy no ick or other issues

yellow tang was added 3 days ago with the yellow coris .. both swam about full tank for about 45 minutes before hiding .. the tang came out the following day .. the coris 2 days later.. coris is now free swimming in the tank

today he is hiding again and on his side? i fed everyone ( fresh ground clams, juice and mysis shrimp.. Tang got up to eat then turned on his side and is back on his side.. there does not seem to be labored breathing he is just weak....

i first took reading before feeding and they were
salt 1.024 ph 8.2 - 8.4 ammonia .50, nitrate 40 , nitrite 1.0

then i fed with the filters and powerhead off for 20 minuts ....

i changed the berline sock as well as did a 6 gallon water change , then topped off with 1 gallon of fresh water to bring the levels down.. the change was due to be done on tuesday ....

in addtion i added 1 unit of chemi- pure to remove more of the impurities

what should i do for the tang?
a. shut off the refungium pump and move him into the refungium?
b. move him into the sump for a day or so?
c. leave him alone ......

what are the other warning signs to be aware of

amcarrig · 02-03-2008, 05:09 PM

You have added waaaaaaaaaaay too many animals. I usually add one yellow tail damsel when I start a tank and let that sucker cycle for 8 weeks before I add more fish. Heck I don't add a refugium to a tank until it's several months old because the macro algae doesn't have enough to "eat" in such a new setup. However, in your situation, the refugium might do you some good.

Please, is there any chance that you can take most if not all of those critters back to the store to hold for you until your tank finishes cycling? Your tank simply cannot support such a heavy bioload at this point and anemones require very mature tanks and very high lighting. The fact that you're still reading nitrites means most certain death for your invertebrates. That high of an ammonia and nitrate level can and might kill all of your fish. Also, the food that you're feeding is bound to cause you some problems in the long run as it's polluting your water. I don't see any fish on your list that would require that kind of food.

Sorry if I sound like I'm lecturing but you stand to lose most, if not everything, in your tank at this point.

sparkienyc · 02-03-2008, 05:39 PM

thank you very much for your reply and no you were not lecturing believe me .. prior to moving to a 65 gallon, i was running a 12 gallon with the shrimp, snails, gobie 4 clowns and the purple anemone.. under a current 1611 light set.. everyone was fine though twice a week water changes were always in order..

what i didnt say in my first note was that i seeded the new tank with 5 gallons of water from the old tank as well as 2 cups of the live sand.. then i added 2 doses of bio-spria marine ( enough for a 110 gallon tank) and let it cycle a week before adding the fiji devil.. he lived there a week and was fine.. all levels were trace or neglible.. my purple condy in the old tank was contracting more than usual and i was advised to move her to the new tank ( i know anemones always go last ) but my fear was that she was too stressed and needed the new environment. she the following day perked up 100% and was back to her normal self.....

the tank went on for another week with me only adding live rock a little at a time ....

based on this other information do you still feel the same way? should i transport the live stock back to the store.. i know the store owner well and he will take then back and keep them for me..

my immediate concern is the tang

amcarrig · 02-03-2008, 05:56 PM

[quote=sparkienyc;4098930" based on this other information do you still feel the same way? [/QUOTE]

Unforunately yes. You can't rush nature so although you used bottled bacteria, as well as water and sand from an existing system, it does not house nearly the amount of bacteria that you'd need to support that many fish and inverts that quickly. Leave one fish in the tank for another few weeks until all of your levels drop down to "0" then add another fish and wait another few weeks before adding more.

I'm glad that your lfs will hold onto your animals for you. You should bring all but one hardy fish back and most definitely bring all of your shrimp and anemones back as they will die alot faster than your fish will. If I was to choose which fish to keep for cycling, it would be one of the clowns. When it comes time to take your fish back from the lfs, I would reconsinder the Fiji blue damsel as they can get very aggressive.

mandarin11 · 02-03-2008, 06:05 PM

In the mean time you need to feed your tang a diet high in marine algae content as well as continuing the meaty items. Feed him formula two flakes since they are good for the herbivorous part of his diet. Also clip some dried seaweed in the tank for him. They don't do well on nuisance algae, a fact that often finds them starving to death in home aquariums. Try not to bother him a lot because he doesn't need any undo stress. Nitrates are to high but I can't suggest a water change since the tank is cycling and it would be pointless. Take a lot of those fish back to the store and go slow. Good luck.