What would you do?

2 weeks ago we bought a raccoon butterfly fish. Didn't QT. From the very beginning he was scratching on the rocks. Never showed any external signs of anything. No spots, dots, dust, sores..nothing. And believe me, I looked. On Sun. he died.

Now I'm worried for our other fish. We only have an ocellaris, percula, and orange spotted goby. The percula MAY be slightly less active then usual.

Params I think are good. Checked just after the butterfly died. pH 8.0, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10. salinity 1.023. 90gal.

Would you pull the other fish? We bought a QT. Would you treat? With what?

 

Well i cant say definitively... but my guess is that your fish are okay.
They probably wont get anything but just keep an eye out to be sure. I have had tons of fish that have some unknown issue when they come in and then after a few days they just up and die, even when they are super active and eating and show no signs of stress.

The best bet is to buy from reputable dealers or a clean and caring LFS to reduce the risk of bringing in something nasty and wiping out all the inhabitants in your DT.

Also, how old is your tank? usually the older the tank, the more "healthy" the inhabitants and additions will be.

 

Butterfly fish are very hard to keep, and are even harder to acclimate and get to eat.

IMO, moving the fish to a new tank at this point would be more stress then benefit. IF it was ich it is in the system now already. However ich is not as major of a deal as many think. I would not add anythign new at this point but if your fish are eating they will more then likely be just fine.

I would recommend buying HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids) and vitamens and add it to your food. Make sure you are feeding high quality food and keep up with the water params. If the fish stop eating than you can add garlic also.

I like your avatar.......black puggie!

 

Thank you both! I have bought Selcon and have some food soaking right now. I'm just a little twitchy right now. It was hard to lose the fish. The tank is pretty new. I do think we rushed the fish a little, but the params were always good. We are def gonna just let things sit as they are for a while.

Your puggie is cute too! Ours is actually pug/boston terrier. Just the best little dog ever. Pugs are great.

 

I dont think anything will happen to your guys. Sounds like it may have been stress induced from being moved, and you never know what happened to the fish prior to it being introduced into your aquarium.

 

I was thinking he had a little boston in him. Unfortunately I need to update my avatar.....it is time to move on This was Oscar my rescue pug that I had to put down a couple years ago just havent got around to putting up a new picture yet! We actually have a boston terrier now. I can imagine a BUG.......the energy of a boston and the hard headness of a pug.

I know it is hard to not be upset over this, but honestly ich in saltwater is nothing like ich in freshwater. When I entered into this hobby one of my first fish was a blue hippo tang, a baby at that. They are known for ich. Well, he got it. I had all my fish out and did fw dips etc. Almost killed everything I had.....not from the ich but from me. I had always had freshwater and you get ich in those tanks and you loose everything.

Saltwater is not as bad. Again if the fish are eating and the water is good, they will more than likely beat it. (again if it was ich, I would just bet it was the butterfly itself!) I havent had much luck with any butterfly in the past!

 

Bruce (as in the shark from Finding Nemo to bring it back around to fish) is absolutely the best dog ever. Energy and frisbee/fetching lovin of a Boston and cuddle loving of a pug. Perfect. Oscar looks like he was quite the guy! Lucky that you rescued him!

Thank you for all the reassurance about the fish. We are animal lovers to be sure and it was hard to lose one.