Lost my longnose butterfly- looking for cause

[DamselnDistress]

No clue why my butterfly died! Brought him home on tuesday, died yesterday on thursday night. I acclimated him right, floated him for 20 minutes and added water to the bag every 5 minutes 3 times. Let him out and he was fine and happy for the first day and the 2nd day he was fine and yesterday he was fine and last night he was slinking around behind the rocks and i noticed the back part of his body was a reddish color and i came back an hour later to check on him and he was lying on the bottom. my pH is fine, nitrate is 0, ammonia is 0, salinity is fine, i did a water change like a week ago. I also brought home a very small clown and never saw him again, I thought he was hiding in the rock. Perhaps it was just a sick fish to begin with? Or could it have something to do with that particular fish store catches fish with cyanide. I'm about ready to give up on my saltwater tank after losing a tang and puffer to ignorance and bad advice from the LFS. Then I went to a different store and bought live rock and a protein skimmer and they're the only store who hasn't steered me in the wrong direction. So any clue what's going on?

 

[e-cat]

20 min wasnt enuff mabey , next time try drip acclimanation

 

[reefrunner69]

Sounds like a systemic bacterial infection which may or may not have been brought on by poor acclimation or poor water quality.

 

[captivereefs]

Sounds more like cyanide to me. Butterflys are prime cyanide candidates. Try and find one from austrailia if you can. They are about 2-3 times as much though.

 

[reefrunner69]

Certainly a possibility....

Here is a little info on cyanide poisoning.

Direct flights make export quick and a high percentage of cyanide caught fish survive shipment although they only have an estimated five weeks to live. External detection of the method is impossible. However, the fish have sustained internal damage which soon takes it's toll. This includes damage to the spleen and the kidneys & liver (followed by bacterial infections). The stomach lining is lacerated releasing digestive enzymes into the gastro-intestinal tract (basically the fish digests it's own intestines). The gills are inwardly damaged causing oxygen restriction and blindness linked to brain damage. Cell renewal is inhibited in all the organs mentioned except the brain which of course cannot renew cells. This results in rapid deterioration- in other words cells are lost more quickly than they are renewed.

In aquarium centres most of these doomed fish look fine. Two signs to look for are firstly, erratic looping movements or continuous, repetitive nervous circling and secondly, a suppressed appetite. This is in fact their temporary reprieve; which is why it is important (ONCE YOU HAVE DETERMINED THAT A FISHES ORIGIN IS NOT SUSPECT) to only purchase full bellied fish which are accepting food. Often it is the cyanide caught fish's first meal that triggers their ultimate demise. Their damaged kidneys and liver are unable to perform detoxification and the fish is poisoned by it's own wastes.

 

[Guest]

Good read...Sorry for the loss of the Longnose...

 

[DamselnDistress]

yeah i found out the place i was gettin fish from uses cyanide...not good! I can't believe they catch fish like that but I found a place that nets all their fish. I have a few chromis in there for a couple weeks and then I'm gonna try a yellow tang.

 

[tyler]

next time see if the lfs will put a hold on it, then watch it in their tank for a a while. make sure it's eating and everything, and after all that, then you can take it home.

 

[Thelionfishman]

Happy Holiday,

Tyler gave good advice ask the employee to feed the fish first and watch to see if he is eating. Before you buy any fish check it out for a while. Check it's fins and make sure the fish has a round full bottom. Before you buy your Yellow Tangs keep an eye on red markings this a sign of stress on the fish.


Good Luck