Semilavartus Golden Butterfly

[nonimmigrant]

No you completely have me stunned that you can get away with this without UV or ozon??????????It's almost unbelievable:lolspin:
Are that the only tangs in your tank then???
grtz J

That tank has the following:

4x Achilles
1x YT
1x PBT
1x Grey angel (11+")
1x Euxiphipops xanthometopon (9+")
1x C semilarvatus
1x Ornate leopard (male)
1x C nox
1x C potteri
1x Myrichthys maculosus (1 meter long)

Pairs of:

C burgessi
C mitratus
C declivis
Centropyge aurantius
Borbonius Anthias

Other than the addition of the three smaller AT's In Jan of last year I've had this tank running in its current form for 3+ years. Many of these fish I've had longer, including the Myrichthys, GBF, BF Angel, all centropyge, PBT, and large Achilles.

 

[ROBONE20]

Nonimmigrant: What are the dimensions of your tank and how big is your sump? What are the specs of your filtration? Very nice collection!

 

[nonimmigrant]

Nonimmigrant: What are the dimensions of your tank and how big is your sump? What are the specs of your filtration? Very nice collection!

DT: 2M x 0.8M x 0.9M, sump is 3/4 the DT volume. Sump-wise it's a simple set up. First chamber is filter media to catch the large stuff and I've an army of snails here. Second chamber holds the Reef Octopus skimmer (which takes one full cup of skimate out a day, ~one gallon cup), then into the live rock / sand chamber, then into the return pump chamber which holds about 2 liters of carbon media, which is changed out every month. If I could do it all over again, I'd add another chamber just for calupera like I have on the SPS tank. This, however, I'm waiting to do until I build out the big tank next year. The live rock chamber also holds all of the airheads. The final chamber is also getting a Bio-Ball reactor in about a month. I want to see how this works in this tank and I'm all for over cleaning of the water...

I know that this is working rather well, as I do not get any sediment in the final chamber (glass bottom). Also, NO2 et al have been undetectable for years.

Beyond that, I do weekly ~15% water changes and daily RO top offs. I typically only feed Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 (or similar) pellets and various forms of Nori. The only meaty food that I feed anymore is the weekly feeding of the snake eel (~1 cup of Selcon soaked SW fish) and the 2x week mysis shrimp dump (10 Hikari cubes again soaked in Selcon).

 

[ROBONE20]

Ok so the pair that I was originally going to receive from PIA actually didn't make it past shipment. They weren't exactly up to par prior to shipping so Kevin at PIA was not comfortable sending them to me. So I waited for him to get more in. In fact, I asked him to try to find at least one good specimen to ship me...but now I have 3 coming to me tomorrow LOL - hopefully they make it through the transit. Wish me luck!!

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Good luck! That should be a stunning display. Please post pics.

 

[ROBONE20]

I give up! All 3 died on me. Didn't make it past the QT. They started out really healthy, but slowly dwindled. One out of the 3 was bullying the other two. I separated them, but one died because it got stressed out (went on a hunger strike). I was left with 2 that were separated and they both developed some kind of red streaking along their bodies (not the pattern of its body), but like reddening along its scales. Then they both loss scales. They were still eating but one day stopped. It's weird, never had signs of ich, or flukes either. It might have been a bacterial infection of some sort. Really bummed.

 

[Triton_Z]

Robone20,

Sorry for your loss of your fish. It does sound like a bacterial infection. How large was your QT and were you treating them with anything during the stay in the QT?

 

[rpjaws74]

I give up! All 3 died on me. Didn't make it past the QT. They started out really healthy, but slowly dwindled. One out of the 3 was bullying the other two. I separated them, but one died because it got stressed out (went on a hunger strike). I was left with 2 that were separated and they both developed some kind of red streaking along their bodies (not the pattern of its body), but like reddening along its scales. Then they both loss scales. They were still eating but one day stopped. It's weird, never had signs of ich, or flukes either. It might have been a bacterial infection of some sort. Really bummed.

I know exactly what you mean man. I had 3 once I bought one bigger than the other two so maybe there wouldnt be a pecking order between them and establishing the bigger one to be the dominant. I have a 500 glln and definitely thought I would be ok cause of the size of the tank. Well I was wrong in about a couple of weeks I was down to only my bigger one. He harassed them them until there was no tomorrow. So after my experience I really dont believe you can keep them in pairs or trios IMO!

 

[ROBONE20]

Robone20,

Sorry for your loss of your fish. It does sound like a bacterial infection. How large was your QT and were you treating them with anything during the stay in the QT?

My QT consist of two 20 gallon tanks, combined together using an overflow box into a 40 gallon sump (approx 20 gallons water). Total volume is 60 gallons. Bare tanks other than PVC pipes for shelter. I started with a low dose (0.3ppm) of Cupramine for 2 weeks (after 3 wks no treatment), removed with carbon and water changes. I fed twice a day with Spirulina Brine & Mysis Shrimp. Did water changes (5 gallons) every 4-5 days. Treated them with Prazipro for 7 days. I was taking it easy on them in terms of medications, because I didn't see any signs of any diseases. After they stopped eating I tried performing larger water changes.

 

[ROBONE20]

I know exactly what you mean man. I had 3 once I bought one bigger than the other two so maybe there wouldnt be a pecking order between them and establishing the bigger one to be the dominant. I have a 500 glln and definitely thought I would be ok cause of the size of the tank. Well I was wrong in about a couple of weeks I was down to only my bigger one. He harassed them them until there was no tomorrow. So after my experience I really dont believe you can keep them in pairs or trios IMO!

Yeah I'm done with chasing my dream fish. I was hoping at least 1 out of the 3 were going to make it. Was planning on selling the other 2 when I got one acclimated. I'm done adding to my stocklist, it's probably better this way. Wow, even in a 500 gallon huh??

 

[geaux xman]

I had tried a pair about a year ago also. They died in QT, <14 days.

Beautiful fish but they left a very bad taste in my mouth as they were the 2nd pair of BF's that just up and died on me in QT.

I think BF's are just too sensitive to cupramine. If I cant put a fish thru 2-3 weeks of cupramine, I'm not putting it in my DT.

 

[flameangel88]

Over the 4.5 years my semi have gone through multiple rounds of cupramine, hypo and prazi in the first 3 years. Sensitive, yes but from my experience they can get through it. Once settled in they are pretty bulletproof and can tolerate high nitrate well (I tend to over feed). It may be best just to try one and not multiple. As much as I love keeping pairs and trios I feel this is one that is better off being single.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Thought I would bring this to the top. I have had my semi for almost 3 years. It is about 3.5-4". It has done great, eating just about everything but pellets. I typically feed a lot of seafood from the grocery store (chopped shrimp, salmon, scallop, and clam that is frozen), plus mysis and spirulina brine and occasional other foods.

About a week and a half ago, I added 50-60 small hermits and snails. 4 days later, I did a major water change and scrubbed algae off half of the rock (brush and saltwater only).

The semi stopped eating that day and has been swimming with its head higher than its tail. It has difficulty swimming and tends to hang in one spot in the aquarium not too far from a MP40. It also is breathing hard.

Once the semi refused its normal food, I started feeding blackworms. It ate a couple of worms about half the feedings but not enough to maintain a healthy fish.

I see no evidence of any damage or disease. There is a black stripe on the right fin and the fish's forehead area is darkened.

The other 4 butterflyfish and 2 tangs are completely normal and show no problems.

I treated the tank with a 1/3 dose of antibiotic and a dose of prazipro in case something came in with the crabs and snails.

I note a couple of people had some long-term success with these fish but thought I would ask about others. Are these the type of fish that go along fine for a handful of years and then suddenly up and die?

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

A day later it looks like a clear case of dropsy. Swollen stomach, the beginning of pineconing of scales, difficulty swimming, largely but not completely lost appetite, etc. It seems to be fairly uncommon in saltwater fish that have been in an established tank for a long period. Maybe the fish has a bad liver and the disease was taking hold, or perhaps the stress of extra tank maintenance had some impact. At any rate, it seems pretty clear that the outcome will be the fish dying. I treated the tank with an antibiotic anyway just in case the fish can fight the disease off.