My CBB Died :(

C

chimmike

oxygen abuser
Got him a week and a half ago at FAOIS. He ate at FAOIS. Didn't eat the first day home but after that devoured bloodworms like they were candy. Great looking fish, no diseases.

Yesterday he didn't eat too much and this morning I found him in my overflow against the eggcrate breathing fast.
Pulled him out from the eggcrate and he swam for a few seconds mostly inverted in a vertical circle. Then nothing but breathing heavy.

I figured if he was stressed he'd recover or I'd come home and see him dead. He was dead in a rock when I got home.

:(

Ammonia and nitrates are at 0. Corals and pep and cleaner shrimp are all fine, no deaths among CUC.

My only guess could be it was cyanide caught?
 
It always sucks losing a fish.

How long has the tank been set up? According to your blog, it could only have been about 3 weeks at most. What other livestock is currently in your tank? A CBB is a difficult fish to keep and needs to be introduced into a well established aquarium. They stress very easily and that is what most likely did him in. I would also reconsider adding any anthias at this time, but if you must, I recommend an ignitus anthias.
 
Honestly, I was surprised that I did not have any major cycle of any sort. No ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites appeared at all, and I used fully cured LR and BRS pukani with livesand interspersed with thoroughly cleaned and soaked-in-RO dry sand.

Made sure everything was hunky-dory before adding any fish. I monitored ammonia and nitrates the whole time the CBB was in there and nothing appeared.

I'm not sure stress did him in as he had already found a routine and favorite spot to sleep, and he came to the same corner of the tank every time I fed.
 
Sorry to hear about your CBB. Prior to getting my CBB I had heard they could be fragile. My tank has been up and running just over a year now. I added my CBB about 6months ago and he has been doing great. I was concerned when I first got him that my tank had not been established long enough.

Was he eating good? Mine loves frozen or live brine shrimp.
 
If you keep adding difficult to keep fish in an unestablished tank, you will continue to kill the fish. If you would have posted before you got the fish, I would have said not to get it because it would most likely die. You would have responded that your tank is fully cycled. Well, 1.5 weeks later the fish is dead. It's really not to hard to understand that a CBB should NEVER have been introduced to your tank at this time and doing so is irresponsible reef keeping. Just because your nitrate and ammonia levels are in check doesn't mean your tank is ready for these types of fish. You should be waiting at least 6 months before adding the type of fish you are looking to add. You have probably heard this a million times already, but you need to slow down and be patient.
 
I fail to see how an 'established' tank vs. a tank just finished in cycle could affect a fish that is alone in a 100g cube with plenty of hiding and swimming room could be the cause of death when the chemical parameters of the tank were all in check, corals and ornamental shrimp are all fine.

I understood beforehand how difficult they are to keep, with the most difficult part being getting them to eat. If this guy didn't eat after day 2 he was going back, but he ate like a rabid wolf once I introduced bloodworms. He even pecked at the mysis added as well. He swam normally and even knew when it was feeding time every day, was curious and found his own area of the tank where he'd swim in and out of rocks and peck at stuff.

Is it me, or do you just have something against me in particular? From the GC threads to this.
 
I read the CBB primer a while back and I think I remember a lot of people saying that you wanted to feed them blackworms, not blood worms. IIRC, the blackworms are very nutritious, but the bloodworms not so much. I could be totally way off base though.
 
Copperbanded Butterfly' are very delicate!

Copperbanded Butterfly' are very delicate!

hI Chimmike ; Sorry you lost your Butterfly ,.I think its just luck of the draw when it comes to them . I had no problem keeping my first one but about 6 months ago I picked another one up and it was a little smaller than the other one they had already had for a while but I picked the wrong one and I never lost any fish from this LFS before this casualty. Definitly one of the most beautiful fish out their.
 
amheck said:
I read the CBB primer a while back and I think I remember a lot of people saying that you wanted to feed them blackworms, not blood worms. IIRC, the blackworms are very nutritious, but the bloodworms not so much. I could be totally way off base though.
Click to expand...

I had blackworms on order at my local LFS but he was eating bloodworms like crazy. I mean, I'd almost feed an entire cube of 'em and he'd eat at least 75% of 'em. Piggly eating.

I'm guessing it's luck of the draw as well. Makes me hesitant to get another butterfly, but if I find a nice pyramid that is eating in a few months I'll pick one up. Just not another CBB.
 
chimmike said:
I fail to see how an 'established' tank vs. a tank just finished in cycle could affect a fish that is alone in a 100g cube with plenty of hiding and swimming room could be the cause of death when the chemical parameters of the tank were all in check, corals and ornamental shrimp are all fine.

Well, I'm not going to debate you on the subject because you obviously have a lot of research to do. Please let me know if you run across any information from a reputable source that would support your above statement, as well as, stating that it is OK to put a difficult to keep fish in a system that has been setup less then 2 weeks.

I understood beforehand how difficult they are to keep, with the most difficult part being getting them to eat. If this guy didn't eat after day 2 he was going back, but he ate like a rabid wolf once I introduced bloodworms. He even pecked at the mysis added as well. He swam normally and even knew when it was feeding time every day, was curious and found his own area of the tank where he'd swim in and out of rocks and peck at stuff.

Regardless of your assumptions about the health of the fish, the most likely scenario is that this fish died because it was introduced into an immature system.

Is it me, or do you just have something against me in particular? From the GC threads to this.

I have absolutely nothing against you. As far as gc is concerned, it could be said that you support them much more than I advocate against buying a sub par tank. Unless you are somehow related to the people at gc, I'm not sure why you would think I have something against you. Heck, if I was against you, I would tell you to keep stocking the wrong fish in your tank and watch you fail. I have actually tried to help you, but you seem to want to do things your way regardless of the info and research available that supports the opposite. I stand by my original position in that this fish should never have been introduced into your brand new system and doing so is what most likely killed it. Had you posted in the reef discussion forum the fact that your tank was less then 2 weeks old when you introduced this fish, you would have seen MANY more posts questioning your husbandry techniques, and that's putting it nicely.
Click to expand...
 
chimmike said:
From the GC threads to this.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question Mike... past emotions bubbling up again?

Sorry about your loss... I've only ever lost 2 chromis and one wrasse (the later being a jumper). I dread the day I lose something large and personable!

One possibility: I know from my days of keeping Freshwater cichlids that bloodworms fed en masse can actually compact into a wad inside their gut and it was enough to kill a healthy Discus cichlid of mine when one at an entire cube!

Barfly makes a good (though ill worded) point as well... I don't think we really know what all the waste by-products are during a cycling phase and if the algaes in the tank are using up anything nitrogen based as fast as it showed up, it might explain why a sensitive fish is lost in a newer tank but not in an older one.

Food for thought!
 
Sorry to hear that the CBB died. I too have attempted to keep this beautiful fish, but was unsuccessful. I would love to have one again, but they are to delicate for me or my tank.

Shawn
 
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