CBB swimming upside down

[outdrsyguy1]

I've had this copper band butterfly for three weeks now and it's been eating Misys regularly since I got it. Have several other fish in the Corentine with it but none have shown any signs of parasites or visible issues. I did have one fire fish die early on and lost an anthias a few days ago. Ammonia might have crept up, shows just a little greener than the pure yellow on the api test kit. I did a 40% Wc yesterday and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the fish. Put a bunch of prime in the tank and can do another Wc if needed. Also added some bacteria supplement today to try and help.
I have some prazipro on hand but no copper. Haven't done any treatments yet
Looking for suggestions.

Upside down 75% of the time currently

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[outdrsyguy1]

Also saw the martensii butterfly scratch a couple times just below his eye and he doesn't have his regular appetite today. Still don't see any visible issues though on any fish.

 

[bkostuch]

Can SW fish have swim bladder issues? I had a FW fish do the same thing because of swim bladder issues.

 

[hzheng33]

bkostuch;1083117 wrote: Can SW fish have swim bladder issues? I had a FW fish do the same thing because of swim bladder issues.

yes they can have bladder issue.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

So I've noticed several fish scratching. I don't see anything on them though. What treatment options can I try? Did another 30% Wc this evening.

 

[bkostuch]

Are they in quarantine? If so start running copper.


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[outdrsyguy1]

Yes all in qt. I'll have to get some tomorrow. Isn't there an equivalent to cooper that's better if you can find it? Chloroquine phosphate I think?

 

[bkostuch]

I just ran copper in my qt and worked well on my tang that had ich.


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[lsu_fishfan]

Chloroquine phosphate can be a lot harsher on the fish. Most Lfs should carry copper, I know pure reef does.

Another option is to begin lowering your salinity to do a hypo salinity treatment. I don't believe this method will eradicate ich, but it should kill most of it.

If you decide to use chloriquine phosphate, make sure to do a lot of research.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

It doesn't look like ich. There are no little white dots on them anywhere. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Can't get to the store till after lunch. I'm somewhat near pure tomorrow. I'll try to swing by there. Been a while since I've seen their awesome tanks anyways.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Grabbed some copper and a test kit at pure. They also suggested a cleaner wrasse to help.
Within 5 minutes of putting the cleaner in the tank there was literally s line of fish waiting to be cleaned! And the cleaner obliged. This is amazing to watch. Sorry for the cipp but you get the point.

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[outdrsyguy1]

Well... As these things go it's hard to turn around a fish once they start acting funny. Lost the cbb last night and the martensii butterfly in the pic next to it along with another anthias. Things sure went down hill quick. I'm due for the second dose of copper today to up it to the recommended level for 2 weeks. No losses this morning so I'll keep my fingers crossed that things may be slowing down.
Next time I think I'll do the copper once fish are eating good. Waiting till you see any sign of an issue seems to be living dangerously if you have more than a couple fish in qt.

 

[jennm]

I'm too late the the game here...

Firstly, I'm sorry for your losses.

Secondly, butterflyfishes are delicate and do not typically tolerate copper very well, and I don't think that was the Copperband's problem. Copper treats for external parasites. External parasites don't cause swim bladder issues. Infection does.

Unfortunately the cleaner wrasse probably won't last long either. They are very difficult to keep in captivity, except in rare circumstances in very large tanks. Those are a fish best left in the ocean, where their presence literally affects many other fishes on the reef. They don't tolerate copper well either - so I'd get it out of copper asap.

If you have any other fishes in the display, they should probably be quarantined too. I'm not sure what they all died of - the Copperband definitely had some kind of infection but not sure if the other butterfly and anthias died from not tolerating the copper or something else.

Respectfully suggest doing some research on fish diseases going forward. Not all remedies treat all problems, and not all fishes tolerate all remedies.

Jenn

 

[outdrsyguy1]

Thanks for chiming in Jenn. Ironically I had read that cleaner wrasses were hard to keep but the sales guy at the lfs recommended it and showed it was eating mysis so maybe I got suckered.

I could use some advice on how to finish this quarantine. I didn't see any external parasites but I did see several fish scratching. The cleaner wrasse was definitely picking stuff off all the other fish. Maybe internal and external parasites I don't know.
I have some anti parasite (medicated) food I've started feeding them (looks like rods but has medicine in it). The fish seem to be behaving better now. I finished the second dose of copper on Wednesday. I counted the drops and measured the tank volume and bottle said it should be .5mg/l but my test kit says its .3mg/l. Bottle instructions recommend 1.5 weeks more before removing copper.
I have several fire fish, 2 small skunk clowns, and 1 anthias left in the 55 gallon qt. this is my first quarantine setup and I get different recommendations from just about everyone lol. These fish aren't going to the dt till I'm certain they are clean.
I did see a few small red lines on the outside of the butterfly. The fish would sometimes wince when the cleaner would pick something off of them. I haven't seen the cleaner pick anything in a day or so but I do see it looking.