Scopas Tang Death

[ronreef]

Hi. A couple of days ago our tang died within 15 minutes of eating mysis shrimp with the rest of our fish. It didn't have any disease markings or attack marks from other fish or emerald crabs. We looked in and saw the shrimp and a hermit crab starting to eat it.

The water quality was excellent. Maybe we didn't feed it enough for its needs...? Any thoughts? Thanks. :(

[naesco]

How long have you had it?
Was it eating when you bought it?
Was it skinny? Do you have a pic?


REEForm: Never buy a fish from the Philippines or Indonesia where the use of cyanide is rampant.

[ronreef]

We had it for about 2 months.

It was eating regularly.

It was skinny though. Never really got plump like the rest of my tank fish.

I fed the tank. Saw the tang actually eat pieces of the mysis.
I then walked away. Came back 15-20 minutes later and found it
lying at the bottom dead with a hermit starting to feed on it.

What gives? It was a total shock.

Sorry no pic. Do tangs keel over often as juveniles?

Ron

[naesco]

Your LFS or online store sold you a cyanide caught fish.
Cyanide damages their internal organs. They eat but nothing happens. In your case your scopas tang took 2 months to die.
Scopas are available from many islands so if you replace her, make sure you avoid P/I fish.
Indo-Pacific is synonymous for Philippine or Indonesian so don`t fall for that con.

If you still have the fish return it to the LFS so that it knows that the cheap Philipinnes fish they are buying are dying in their customers tanks.

Never buy a fish from the Philippines or Indonesia where the use of cyanide is rampant.

[BrianD]

Were you feeding the scopas any vegetable matter?

[Jerry W]

That would have been my thought. Scopas tangs are herbivores and need the majority of their diet to be vegetable matter like nori, spirulina, seaweed selects, etc. They will and should accept some meaty foods, but a staple diet of these is not sufficient. The lack of weight gain can also be attributed to malnutrition. With regard to the cyanide issue, If I'm not mistaken, sudden death is not one of the symtpoms. Not saying the fish may not have been captured using cyanide, but the death is usually preceded by other symptoms, and just does not come about in 15 minutes. Was the fish acting normally prior to it's eath or were there other issues evident with it's health?

[BrianD]

Exactly. I wondered if the mysis was its major food source. If so, it would not done well, and the fact it was eating wouldn't change the fact that it wasn't getting the diet it needed.

Brian

[ronreef]

Spirulina and Nori were also part of it's diet. It was mysis I fed it minutes before it died.

It just never got plump like the rest of the tank inhabitants.

Cyanide during collection may be the cause, but how would I know?

[BrianD]

Unless it had algae available for continual grazing, it may not get as "fat" as it should.

[naesco]

Originally posted by ronreef
Spirulina and Nori were also part of it's diet. It was mysis I fed it minutes before it died.

It just never got plump like the rest of the tank inhabitants.

Cyanide during collection may be the cause, but how would I know?

If you were feeding a proper diet of greens and the fish would not gain weight this is symptomatic of cyanide poisoning. The fish is unable to utilize the food it is eating as a result of damaged organs.
The length of its survival is determined by the degree of poisoning. Most instant, some weeks and some months.
In addition, in their weakened state, the fish often succumb to parasitic, fungal and ich infections and die of these before the eventual death by cyanide occurs.
Cyanide poisoning is not certain but is likely as most of the tangs we import come from the Philippines and Indonesia (PI).
There is a cyanide detection test (CDT) that is available that could test on a random basis fish entering the country.
There is no way to positively confirm cyanide unless the fish is tested within days of its capture.

REEForm: Never buy fish from the Philippines or Indonesia where the use of cyanide is rampant.

[ronreef]

Thanks...

Ron