Im loosing fish, pic. attached

R

richm20

AC Members
Oct 10, 2005
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Long Island, NY
Ok, about 2 days ago I lost a Butterfly fish who looked like he got into a fight and had a scratch. Now today, I come home to find my other butterfly with almost the same thing on him, and I'm sure he's not going to make it. I have no idea what could be doing this, I only have (new tank) 2 damsels, 1 butterfly, a chocolate chip star fish, a brittle star and 2 mollies that I used for cycling. I do have a few Aiptasia but I don't think they have any affect.
 
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looks parasitic? Just a guess, im no expert... just looks that way to me with white spot behind eye and mouth. Plus loss of color, my guess is a parasite.... if you want to make an attempt to save it, maybe a Freshwater Dip would kill the parasite... although do not by any means do this on my thoughts alone i do not want to be the cause for killing your fish, just an idea

HOPEFULLY others here will chime in quickly.
 
if you feel like you are loosing him, dip him in FW for 10 seconds or so.... not any longer than pull him out quickly... best I can do, i really hope this helps i so bad watching a fish in agony like that..
 
Looks like uronema to me. I'd QT the fish immediately and do a FW dip with methelyne blue. Although you will need to go much longer than 10 seconds to have any effect on parasites with a FW dip.

Most people recommend 3-6 minutes but it is important to monitor the fish for signs of extreme stress. If the fish exibits signs of extreme stress such as repeatedly running into the wall or laying on the bottom even after attempts to keep it swimming then you should cut the dip short.

I usually FW dip for 4-5 minutes and have only had to cut one short so far due to stress. You'll also want to make sure to use methylene blue in the dip to treat the uronema. Becareful because a few drops go a long way. You'll want to put enough in so that you will still be able to see your fish through the blue but just barely. Make sure to adjust the PH and temperature of the dip water to match that of your tank and airate it by blowing bubbles into it before dipping your fish.

Depending on how your dip goes, you may want to treat your QT with methylene blue in very low doeses. Also make sure to monitor your other fish closely and be prepared to treat them as well if they show signs of the parasite. Good luck, urenoma is a tough parasite but it can be treated.
 
I don't know if it's a disease. My first thought was that the 2 butterflies fought with each other, or your damsels are bullying them. How new are/were the butterflies?
 
Here's a pic of a fish with uronema for comparison:

uronema.jpg
 
well the other fish died before I could do anything last night.
I feel as if it was attacked only because the "cut" seemed to show up out of nowhere and they died shortly after that.
I did notice something weird.....once the fish died, a fiddler crab (no idea where he came from) was trying to eat him. Could a crab do this?
The butterfly's weren't in my tank for long, the first one to die was 2 weeks old and the one who died last week was 3 weeks. I want to put more fish in this tank, but if something (animal or parasite) will attack them, I don't want to get anything. Thanks so much for all of your help.
 
All the crab was doing is what it does best, and scavenge food from the dead carcass i would say..I would say that its purly down to fighting...

Really sorry to hear about the losses...not good at all..

Niko
 
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