2 Dead yellow tangs

[humahuma]

Hey I thought my tank has been doing pretty good up untill now. I bought 2 med yellow tangs yesterday and they did fine all night and when i came home from work today they were both dead!  I did test and found out that somehow my ammonia was at 1.0 ppm How can I lower that I have plenty of filtration a eheim 2227 wet/dry a fluval 404 and a regular power filter.  I just added the eheim a couple of days ago would that make any difference at all.  All the other fish in my tank is fine no problems. I called the store to see if they would replace them.  I did not tell them my ammonia was high they would not replace them no warrenty at all. I can not belive that stores can have no warrenty at all. Please help me to lower my ammonia back to zereo.  thank you
humahuma

 

[Pooky125]

I don't believe I've ever seen a store, with a garantee on saltwater fish. Most of the saltwater fish (including those tangs you've got there) were once wild, swimming freely in the ocean. There are various methods of catching the fish, anything from nets, to dynamite, to cyanide. Dynamite and cyanide being being the most commonly used. The fish are caught illegally in the Phillipenes, and and shipped over, usually in very poor conditions. Tangs, are also pretty delicate fish, and do not do well in tanks under 4 feet long. There should be no more then 1 tang per tank, in less then atleast 100 gallons, they are very territorial.

As for your ammonia problem, I'd say 20% water changes, daily, but, you might want someone else opinion on this also..

 

[colesea]

The cycle on a saltwater tank is a subtly different process from one in a freshwater tank.  What you might get away with in freshwater (such as adding so many fish all at once) you definatly will not get away with in salt.

First question: How big is your tank?
Second question: How long has it been operating?
Third question: How many of what kind of fish at what sizes did you have in there when you added the tanks?
Forth question: Did you quarintine your tangs before adding them?

Adding the Eheim could've made a differance. Sometimes when you add more biological filtration surface area, the tank goes through another "cycle" period as the bacteria begin to colonize the new surfaces.  This can cause drastic ammonia spikes.  

Also, fish tanks only cycle to the present bioload, not the maximum bioload.  Your tank could've been running fine, but the addition of two new fish off-set the balance, again sending the tank into spikes.  In salt water, ammonia is ten times as toxic at the same level as freshwater. And salt water fish are ten times more sensitive to it.  Tangs already under the stress of transport and acclimation would certainly drop dead from an ammonia spike while your current fish swim around as if nothing happened. Adding two tangs was definatly going overboard.

There is only one shop around me that garuntees saltwater fish, and that is only for 24hrs. That is how great a place they are.  Everywhere else doesn't. The othe shop even has stickers posted on every tank warning customers to "choose wisely no saltwater fish are garunteed." I don't blame them, after working in the trade, I've seen how fragil some saltwater fish can be.  The selection process of purchasing SW fish is definatly all up to the consumer, and one must research and be very strigent and picky with what they buy. But this is part of the "elite" status of the SW side of the hobby. Getting such fragil fish to survive and thrive, especially after what they've been though in the retail aspect of it all, is definately a tribute to the skills of the aquarist.
~~Colesea

 

[nick fowler28]

colesea is completely right.  but they may have just died from shock not the ammonia.  the ammonia spike could've been caused by the dead fish sitting in the aquarium.  just like any uneaten food.  also do the water changes and keep checking if it doesnt go down then give it time it will. where there is ammonia there will be that much more bacteria.  

peace

nick