I Hate it When Fish Randomly Die

[Mike612]

I bought an Achilles Tang a month ago. It was doing well. It was eating everything I offered, no signs of disease, and it seemed very content. It was picking at the rocks and swimming happily. This morning I go to feed the tank and he's dead for no apparent reason. There was no ich on him or anything. No marks that would indicate that he was attacked. I know Achilles Tangs are very touchy fish, but I thought that once you had them eating that they were good to go... I know Regal Angels are known to die randomly no matter how well they're doing for months or years. Are Achilles Tangs known to do that too?

 

[Anonymous]

They can, and honestly, what I'd want to know is what this animal's internal organs look like. Regals are notoriously difficult, and in my opinion really shouldn't be collected for any hobbyists except specialists (people who'll feed them actual live coral). Just not terribly appropriate for aquaria. The Achilles takes a while, really needs a lot of room, obviously should be feeding. Did the fish look undernourished at all? That's a possible sign of poor collection/holding methods, possible parasitic infection as well.

 

[Mike612]

Nope. He was a very fat fish. He was very well nourished. He had tons of room to swim. He was getting plenty of algae-based foods and some meaty foods. Water parameters are all where they should be. He just died at random from what I can tell...

 

[blackcloudmedia]

The reef is such a dynamic and diverse place that theres more going on at the microscopic level than we can comprehend. Could have been some parasite in a nymph stage or a bacterial infection that hit its vitals. Im no biologist but I know nature is cruel. Could possibly be that something important to its diet is absent. You can live off bread alone, but only for a little while.