Very sick butterfly

[nsinger]

4 days ago I place a semilarvatus into a new, cycled, 20 gallon QT. She looked good for 2 days, and on day 3 she started breathing heavily, with one gill (operculum) moving quickly, and the other side hardly moving. I had noticed depressions on both sides of the head just above the operculums, seemingly at the front of the lateral line, but they didn't appear to be sores. I'm not sure if it is part of the normal anatomy. The ammonia had spiked to .5 on day 3, and I did water changes, added LR, and today it is back near 0. However, she is still breathing very quickly, almost as if shivering, and one gill is moving much more than the other. Any ideas? Is this from the ammonia spike? Are the depressions hole in the head? Should I try hyposalinity? Thanks.

 

[greenmonkey51]

The ammonia spike caused the problems. You have to watch the ammonia is quarentine tanks closely. The best thing is to watch the water quality and prevent any future spikes.

 

[nsinger]

Thanks. Unfortunately she died this afternoon. I'd hate to think that my negligence was the cause of her death. It is still weird to me that she was breathing heavily out of only one gill, which makes me think of a more localized problem or infection. Thankfully I can't be sued for that like I can in my day job! I will be more careful in the future.