Lost my Raccoon butterfly

[66chuck]

Lost my raccoon butterfly a few days ago and can not figure out why. I watched him for a month at the LFS, they let me feed him, he was kept seperate from other fish in a section usually reserved for corals. In other words - a sure thing.
In my DT, at first he had a hard time with yellow tangs, but after a couple of days they all got along. Would eat like a pig, but only if brine shrimp were involved - would only pick at mysis and krill. Could this be the problem?
Died w/out warning - maybe 2 hours of apparant distress. Water parameters appeared good.
Ph - 8.2
Nitrite and ammonia - 0
Nitrate usually at .10, but was at .15 the day he died (that was the only unusual reading)
Salinity - 1.023
Nothing new in the tank for months. The last time I added a butterfly, it did not last 2 weeks. Any ideas?

 

[gmidd]

Sorry for your loss. By now means am I an expert but I've read in my studies that Butterfly fish have relatively short lives in captivity and their degree of 'hardiness' is determined by the method of capture.

 

[hot883]

How did you acclimate them? The method of capture, diet of brine and surely the method of acclimation played a big role.

 

[xdave]

What did it eat at the store?

 

[66chuck]

I drip acclimated him for 4 hours in a heated tank. At the lfs, he ate mostly brine shrimp which is why I think he was picky with other foods. He was a pig eating though. As soon as I opened the lid, his mouth was out of the water for a meal.

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by 66chuck
I drip acclimated him for 4 hours in a heated tank. At the lfs, he ate mostly brine shrimp which is why I think he was picky with other foods. He was a pig eating though. As soon as I opened the lid, his mouth was out of the water for a meal.
There have been 3-4 threads started today on brine shrimp and how fish can "pig out" on it and still starve to death. Sorry for the loss.