I bought a Kole Tang 15 days ago after having decided it would be my last fish. I find these tangs to be beautiful and I was very excited to have him. He was bright and was eating when he was first purchased and at about 2-3". He did well acclimating to my tank and was doing fine but he was being reclusive. After a couple of days, although still eating (Nori and algae from rocks and glass was always available, and he grazed a lot!) and coming out every now and then, he had considerably faded. Still, no signs of spots, fin damage, or anything different was noticed. Also, all of the other fish went about just as happy as ever. This past Sunday, after finishing changing my light fixture out, I noticed he was laying on his side breathing a little heavy. I tested my water and my ph had gone down from the normal 8.2 to 7.9. All the other parameters were the same. Yesterday morning, I found him dead, being scraped by the Cleaner Shrimp. My heart was broken. 
Nothing seemed/seems out of whack and I had assumed (especially since hearing from people who have kept koles and from reading about them) that his shyness was normal at first. I did mess with the tank quite a lot this past week (skimmer and light changes, return of power heads, a little fiddling with the rocks) but the other fish were fine with the changes/commotion.
One thing that did happen was that I had problems with the powerheads I was using and therefore my tank had no water circulation for about the first 10 days the tang was in EXCEPT for my return line. I think the return (plus the sump process itself) would've been enough to put oxygen in the water though.
I am lost as to what might have happened to him. The only thing I could assume is that he was doomed to begin with, but he looked healthy, ate well, had no signs of sickness, and was very active in a "shy-kind-of-way" at first. Does anyone have any idea what might've happened? :?:
I'm going to wait a little before replacing him. I also don't know if I will go with another Kole for now since I've always been a little hesitant to get the the same fish to fill in for one that has died. But I still want a bigger fish that swims a lot and has great colors! Suggestions? :?:
Thanks for the help! And sorry this is so long.
:arrow: Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, Nitrate=5ppm, PH=8.2, SG=1.025, Temp=78F
Nothing seemed/seems out of whack and I had assumed (especially since hearing from people who have kept koles and from reading about them) that his shyness was normal at first. I did mess with the tank quite a lot this past week (skimmer and light changes, return of power heads, a little fiddling with the rocks) but the other fish were fine with the changes/commotion.
One thing that did happen was that I had problems with the powerheads I was using and therefore my tank had no water circulation for about the first 10 days the tang was in EXCEPT for my return line. I think the return (plus the sump process itself) would've been enough to put oxygen in the water though.
I am lost as to what might have happened to him. The only thing I could assume is that he was doomed to begin with, but he looked healthy, ate well, had no signs of sickness, and was very active in a "shy-kind-of-way" at first. Does anyone have any idea what might've happened? :?:
I'm going to wait a little before replacing him. I also don't know if I will go with another Kole for now since I've always been a little hesitant to get the the same fish to fill in for one that has died. But I still want a bigger fish that swims a lot and has great colors! Suggestions? :?:
Thanks for the help! And sorry this is so long.
:arrow: Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, Nitrate=5ppm, PH=8.2, SG=1.025, Temp=78F
