newbie? longnose butterfly acting wierd

joslinhome

New Member
i have a 90 gal fish only tank with koran angel juvie, fancy clown, snowflake eel, sailfin tang, longnose butterfly, and inverts. I have had my butterfly about month now and is know as fatboy as he is always hungry. When feeding time hes first to race and last to eat. I have noticed last night and allday, i feed twice daily, he is not interested in eating. His favorite is frozen brine shrimp as well as a angel/butterfly frozen meal. I alternate them both. he is also hiding more. I have never noticed him hiding, hes actually my most friendly fish. If you put a net or hand in tank he is not afraid to investigate and never runs away. Is he just have bad day or is he showing signs of something serious? He has no other physical signs, swimming well, no physical defects. Is there different temperments im not aware of? Please give me advice, thanks
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Keep an eye on it, and see if you notice any aggression going on. You may want to offer him some food using a butterfly clip. And add some variety to the diet.
 

joslinhome

New Member
i do use algea sheets, and pellets and flakes. he is now swimming upside down sometimes. Being very timid and barely swimmimg mostly hiding in rocks. Still looks good. I did my tests and show as follows
ph 7.8...i know its low, i added a buffer to raise
nitrate...0
nitrite...0
salinity...1.023
so hes getting worse could it be from PH?
also i noticed this started after my last water change few days ago, so is it the water change?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Could be. Slowly raise the pH to at least 8. Why the low pH. If you he upside down, it is rather serious. Do you have a QT for him?
 

joslinhome

New Member
well she swam upside down, still didnt eat, and then was dead the next morning...that morning noticed my sailfin tang (oldet fish in my tank) was swiming funny, and later that day DEAD...had my water tested at LFS and was perfect. I have not signs of parasites...what happened?
 

deejeff442

Active Member
7.8 is a little low but wont kill the fish.
how old is the tank?
longnose butterflies need an established tank and really are not for beginners.
what do you have for flow in the tank.
i really like to overdo the flow i have over 10,000 gph worth of flow in my 225 and 5500 gph in my 90.
could be o2 exchange .
need to have a ph at the top moving the surface water and alot of water movement in the tank.
i there is no sign od disease and the other fish are breathing heavy probably an o2 issue.
 
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