Emergency!!! Please help my fish!!!

[JulieAnnx33]

here is my Heniochus Black & White Butterflyfish, i purchased him on saturday and he as doing wonderful... i woke up this morning and he was laying on the ground breathing heavy not able to swim. he had an issue with his dorsal fin (a little was gone) when i got him and now it's completely gone (i think my clowns ate it). now he won't get up and i don't know how to help him! please help me help him, i don't want him to die!!! i treated his scratches by his dorsal fin with bio-bandage after cleaning it. i don't know what else to do to help him and save his life.

 

[JulieAnnx33]

for some reason i can't upload the picture.

 

[MCCOOL]

I'd start by removing him, so he's not continually stressed by the clowns. Then upload a picture through photobucket.com so it can be properly diagnosed.

Good luck, hopefully he pulls through

 

[snorvich]

Tank size? How long set up? Water parameters? Tank inhabitants?

 

[AuroraDrvr]

Not to be a downer, but chances are that a fish laying on the ground breathing heavily is usually too far gone.

I doubt the clowns had much to do with his dorsal filament being chewed/torn. It almost sounds like flukes. A FW dip would confirm this, as the flukes would die and be apparent in the dip bowl.

Are any of his other fins ragged? Are his eyes clear?

 

[aleonn]

It would have been ideal to have started him off in a quarantine tank. If it's possible, I'd set a QT up for him to stay in. Is he eating?

 

[JulieAnnx33]

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h386/mccarthyju/PB170001.jpg

let me know if this link works. i have a makeshift QT tank set up but i don't think i have time to set up one properly. i have every kind of medication that one can have would anything else work? and a freshwater water dip is 1/3 tank water and 2/3 freshwater correct?

 

[JulieAnnx33]

the tank has been set up for 7 months, water conditions and levels and everything is perfect. 29 gallon, but this guy is only about 2 inches big and he would be moved into a bigger tank when he got bigger.

 

[JulieAnnx33]

his eyes are clear, his back fin is a little ragged but nothing extreme and this dorsal fin (not the one that's gone but the other one) is slightly ragged. he was treated with a bio bandage where he was cut up at the bottom of his dorsal fin.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Some fish, sad as it is, just don't acclimate and we never know the reason. All fish arrive stressed and carry the possibility of disease and parasites. A bare bones QT could be found (Craigs List?) for less than you paid for this fish. IMO&IME; acclimation through QT is as vital as anything in the hobby---I can't imagine doing without one. Unfortunately, I have no suggestions for your butterfly. New, unacclimatized fish are very vulnerable and most losses occur at this time.
BTW, how many clowns do you have? If more than 2, I assume you have juvis and you'll have a clown war as they mature. An adult female clown will not tolerate clowns, other than her mate, in the same tank---especially a small tank. If you have an adult pair, its not impossible that one of them went after the butterfly. Established clowns are very territorial; again, especially in small tanks.

 

[JulieAnnx33]

i only have 2 clowns. and a firefish goby, and my butterfly if he makes it... and that is all i'm going to have for a while... at least until i get a QT tank set up properly.

 

[snorvich]

What is the SG of your tank and what was the SG of the transport water?

 

[aleonn]

Any updates, JulieAnn? We're all pulling for ya.