lemon butterfly diying
- Thread starter budracer8
- Start date
nicetry
Active Member
What specifically is wrong with the fish? How long have you had it? Post all of your water parameters including pH and salinity. How long has the tank been set up? Is there any live rock in the tank, and if so how much. I see artificial plants and decorations but no Lr, which, IMO, is essential to keeping butterflies.
Butterflies are a sensitive fish as a lot and are not good beginner fish. Post a lot moe info about your total system and exactly what you're seeing with the fish. What happened to the tang? Symptoms?
Butterflies are a sensitive fish as a lot and are not good beginner fish. Post a lot moe info about your total system and exactly what you're seeing with the fish. What happened to the tang? Symptoms?
budracer8
New Member
it swims on the top of the tank mostly on its side. comes down sometimes,floats sidewads in the middle of the bubbles. and looks dull and dark in coler. also its mouth is constantly opening closing and jerks around while swimming.and it has these spots on one side of it ,and its fins are brown in spots
the tang did the same thing but it look like it got the crap kick out of it.friend in the tank are porc. puffer,panther gruper and a yellow tail damsel. the water spec. ph8.0, nitrate 10,nitrite .25,ammonia 0. the ph i putt some buffer in it last night befor i went to bed. salinity is ok. the tank been up for 6 months only had the butterfly for about a month. in the tank i got fake plants and two decerations and two bubbles on both sides of the tank. no live rock or corols. i dont know what you mean buy lr, or imo.
the tang did the same thing but it look like it got the crap kick out of it.friend in the tank are porc. puffer,panther gruper and a yellow tail damsel. the water spec. ph8.0, nitrate 10,nitrite .25,ammonia 0. the ph i putt some buffer in it last night befor i went to bed. salinity is ok. the tank been up for 6 months only had the butterfly for about a month. in the tank i got fake plants and two decerations and two bubbles on both sides of the tank. no live rock or corols. i dont know what you mean buy lr, or imo.
nicetry
Active Member
Originally posted by budracer8
it swims on the top of the tank mostly on its side. comes down sometimes,floats sidewads in the middle of the bubbles. and looks dull and dark in coler. also its mouth is constantly opening closing and jerks around while swimming.and it has these spots on one side of it ,and its fins are brown in spots
the tang did the same thing but it look like it got the crap kick out of it.friend in the tank are porc. puffer,panther gruper and a yellow tail damsel. the water spec. ph8.0, nitrate 10,nitrite .25,ammonia 0. the ph i putt some buffer in it last night befor i went to bed. salinity is ok. the tank been up for 6 months only had the butterfly for about a month. in the tank i got fake plants and two decerations and two bubbles on both sides of the tank. no live rock or corols. i dont know what you mean buy lr, or imo.
LR=live rock. IMO= in my opinion.
Your tank is not suited to this fish, for the reasons mentioned above. Live rock is essential to satisfy their grazing habits. Without knowing the size of the other fish, I would also say you are overstocked. You mention the tang appeared as though it had been roughed up. Possibly if it was small and the puffer was chasing it. Your pH should be in the 8.3 range for a butterfly. I'm also concerned why there are any nitrites showing up. These are toxic to fish and a sensitive species would not tolerate it well.
Other than the damsel, the other fish all need a much larger system. You're going to be quite crowded if you aren't already, and this is going to cause stress which often leads to illness and death. It sounds as thought the butterfly may be suffering from a parasitic infection. The jerking can be indicative of this, but it's hard to say for sure. Is the fish eating, and what are you feeding it? They have a pretty specialized diet and if not offered the right foods can exhibit color loss, listlessness, etc..
I'd suggest setting up a quarantine tank for the butterfly ASAP. This fish is not going to get better on it's own. You probably need to rethink a few things about your set-up as well. Select smaller fish that won't outgrow/crowd your tank. Choose hardy fish. Really think about adding live rock. Your system will be much healthier. I'd also lose the air bubbles. Not a good idea in a saltwater application. With adequate surface agitation, you'll have enough oxygen in the water.
You can try a bit of garlic extract in the fish food, but doubtful you'll see remarkable results at this point.