URGENT HELP! - Fish seems ill.

[Jettin]

Hey guys,

So some of you may know that I recently got a Copperbanded Butterfly on Monday night, yesterday it was happy to day its not, see below.

At the shop it seemed skinny but was actively cruising the rubble looking for food.

On bringing it home it seemed to do really well, again actively cruising the rock for food. Day 3 Wed after work, I introduced some cracked live mussel and pipi into the tank to see if it would take any processed food, and I caught it pecking on the mussel for most of the evening which I was happy about. Apart from this it has just been eating what it can, it does not eat any pellets or mysis that I've tried. I think it has actually put on a bit of weight compared to when it was at the LFS.

Tonight when I got home from work I find it swimming or sort of hovering at the low flow side of the tank, not hunting like it normally does, not actively swimming around the tank, and its breathing is very rapid. From my fish experience even with fresh water fish, its about to die. All other fish are as happy as larry. Is there anything I can do to save it? Suggestions? Input?

No fish have been picking on it since Monday (clowns had a go when it was near their frogspawn, nipped right fin). Possibly looks like white spot on its tail, unsure, I wouldn't have thought that was the issue?

Tank info.
4 foot
15kg rock
SPS
A lot of flow
BM HAC H7 Skimmer

Sixline wrasse
Blue tang
Naso tang
Rabbit fish
Regal Angel
Clowns

Here's a pic of him / her as of 5mins ago:

Any help is appreciated
Thanks all,

 

[BluespotLady]

Sorry to say it is probably ich.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Was the fish collected in Aus or NZ?

If it is.diseased, do you have a hospital tank you can put it in for treatment?

 

[sandwi54]

given the white spots on his caudal fin and rapid breathing, i think he has ich, as well as the rest of the fish in your DT. the only way to eradicate it is to remove all of the fish from your DT and place them into QT, and treat with either hypo or cupramine. you'll have to leave the DT fallow for 8-10 weeks to let the ich run through its life cycle and die.

 

[MrTuskfish]

^^^^I agree^^^^^

The number of current threads on this section of the RC forum, that could have been avoided with QT use, is really hard to believe.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

^^^^I agree^^^^^

The number of current threads on this section of the RC forum, that could have been avoided with QT use, is really hard to believe.

You are right about that!! Add in the problems in the New To The Hobby section, not being able to get a fish to eat, etc. Quarantine can be such a pain but the alternative is depressing and expensive.

 

[sandwi54]

You are right about that!! Add in the problems in the New To The Hobby section, not being able to get a fish to eat, etc. Quarantine can be such a pain but the alternative is depressing and expensive.

i agree. i feel bad for the fish that are lost due to lack of quarantine... this could really be prevented with the use of QT.

 

[Jettin]

Thanks all, I woke up this morning to find the fish dead.

In NZ we have a strict quarantine procedure when all fish arrive in the country they are quarantined for 3 weeks before they are passed onto the retailer to then sell.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks all, I woke up this morning to find the fish dead.

In NZ we have a strict quarantine procedure when all fish arrive in the country they are quarantined for 3 weeks before they are passed onto the retailer to then sell.

That is not the same thing as a QT regimen for a hobbyist. Most government imposed quarantines are to safeguard the native species, not protect hobbyists. Its not long enough, for one thing, and does nothing to protect the fish from problems at the retailers. If the NZ QT procedure did work like the QT procedure hobbyists should use; your fish wouldn't have ich.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Thanks all, I woke up this morning to find the fish dead.

In NZ we have a strict quarantine procedure when all fish arrive in the country they are quarantined for 3 weeks before they are passed onto the retailer to then sell.

So the fish wasn't from NZ. Was it from Australia or elsewhere? I am curious because many Copperband butterflies from outside Australia die rather quickly and it is attributed to the use of cyanide or other bad collection practices. Yours died in the typical period. Aus fish are believed to be healthier due to better collection practices and are priced higher as a result. Thus, I wondered about the origin of your fish.

You should quarantine all fish for an extended period before putting them in your tank. Delicate fish that are hard to get eating like the cbb benefit from the time to adapt to captive food in addition to being observed or treated for disease. There is an extensive thread on copperband butterflies in reefs in the Reef Fishes forum.

Sorry to hear your fish died. Many of us have it happen with cbbs.