My Pearlscape Butterfly fish is dying FAST....help please?

[zenn]

Ok, so my Pearlscape Butterfly is laying on his side breathing really fast. It's not going to be long and he'll be dead. I don't know what's wrong. I checked for ammonia and all seems fine. I just did a %40 water change a week ago since the tank setup is only 2-3 months old. He seemed to have a gash or something on his side behind his gills yesterday and i could figure out what it would be from. I don't know if that has to do with anything. But he's trying to hide under rocks and stuff and breathing heavily while laying on his side. Any clues.

I'm about 20lbs LV
1" sand
salenity is perfect
ammonia is fine
temp is good
i have a Aqua C Remora skimmer
and a power filter
PH = 8.2

2 small red crabs
2 3 strip damsals
1 blue devil
2 yellow tail damsals

What's the deal?

 

[zenn]

also, i've been feeding him a mix of flake and brine shrimp.

 

[zenn]

well, i'm guessing it's nitrate or nitrite that's killing him from the water change i did. Maybe that was too big of a water change for him to handle. How long does it take for new water to aclimate itself with the nitrogen cycle of the old water? I mixed the water like I was supposed to, but maybe i didn't wait long enough before I added it to the tank?

 

[Fluff]

As long as the water was the same temp and same PH and salinity, that shouldn't be the problem. I notice you didn't list nitrites. Also, when you say ammonia was fine, what was the reading? What size tank do you have and what are you using for filtration? Really gonna need a bit more info in order to try and figure out what's wrong.
I had a pearlscale and although they are one of the more hearty butterflies, butterflies in general can be hard to keep. I have no idea about the gash in it's side. Sure it wasn't ammonia burns? What type of test kit are you using?

 

[zenn]

ok, i knew more info was needed but i didn't know what all i needed to include.

there's plenty of algae thriving in the tank as we speak. It's even grown in the last week a little bit.

=45 gallon
=amonia was reading 0
=Red Sea test kit
=Emporer Power Filter that hangs on back / Bio Wheels


I didn't think the gash was ammonica burns because it was behind hid gills. Not on te gills. So i don't know. Maybe that's what it is.

He's still alive right now. Just breathing heavliy and laying on his side. He moves around every now and then.

 

[Fluff]

Do you have a QT tank you could move him too? How much LR do you have? Do you have a nitrite test kit?
Damsels can be pretty aggressive, is it possible they've been harrassing him?

 

[zenn]

yeah, i have about 20-30 lbs of LR ( i think i said that in the first post)

I have Nitrate, Nitrite, PH, Ammonia, and ALK testing available.
I have no QT tank unfortunately. Just haven't the room for one. I guess that's a risk i take. I don't think it was the damsals, although i can't be certain. The 3 stripped damsels see to be pretty aggressive at times. They're always humping eachother in the fake coral and then running out and chasing other fish down when they come into their domain. But i've never seen them really get that aggressive with the pearlscape.

 

[Fluff]

yeah, i have about 20-30 lbs of LR ( i think i said that in the first post)

Yes, you did. Sorry about that.

Well, I don't know then. I guess it's not impossible that perhaps he got trapped between some rock and hurt himself getting free. Hard to say. Without a QT, makes it hard to treat. Especially with inverts in the tank.

The only med I know of that's safe with inverts is Melafix. It's an antibacterial medicine that's safe to use in SW. Not sure it's coral safe, or how it will affect your LR, but your crabs should be ok. It's used to repair damaged fins and open wounds. And helps with regrowth of the damaged tissue. I would suggest picking up a cheap ten gallon though for treatment. You don't have to have it set up all the time but, comes in handy when thing go amiss.


Maybe some others will pop in with some other suggestions.

 

[zenn]

i appreciate the help greatly. Unfortunatly, i think he's going to die. That sucks pretty bad. I really like that fish.

 

[Fluff]

I'm sorry. They are lovely fish.

 

[Salttanker]

What size thank is this? Perhaps filtration could be the culprit.

Mike

 

[quarryshark]

How long has he been in the system?
Also curious, do you know what kind of crabs the red ones are? Hitchikers? How big are they?
Does it look like any of the rockwork may have shifted?
*moved to the sick fish forum*

 

[zenn]

it's a 45 gallon. And nothing has changed in the tank except the water change. The crabs are very small red crabs of some kind. Just the generic kind of crab i guess. I don't think filtration has anything to do with it. He's still hanging on at this point. I don't know what the deal is.

 

[zenn]

 

[Salttanker]

What kind of filtration do you have in there? Powerheads, etc.

Mike

 

[zenn]

i only have an emporer power filter that hangs on the back of the tank. It has two "bio wheels" as they call it, that the water gets sprayed onto and turns them like a water wheel. I believe this is called a power filter. I use to use i for my fresh water setup and now i use it for the SW setup. Remarkably, the Pearlscape has somehow gotten better in the last hour. He's swimming more upright and seems like he's coming around. I don't know what's going to happen. The gash on his side is hard for me to tell what happened. I think he might have ran into something. I really doubt it's an ammonia burn. The only other thing it could be is some kind of infection/parasite i suppose. But i really can't get a good look at it since it's pretty small and hard to tell what exactly happnened. I hope he pulls through.

 

[zenn]

update****

nitrites & nitrates all read 0 again. So it's not nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia. Must be something else.

 

[zenn]

I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!111

I noticed the Pearlscape rubbing up against shells and stuff the other day. I thought, oh no. That's not good. But then nothing came of it. He looked fine. No discoloration, or spots, or anything. Then the gash appeared on his side yesterday. He seems to be laying on his side so that the gash is against the ground too. What is he doing?

 

[quarryshark]

Once again, how long have you had him? Or have you introduced another fish recently?
Scratching (flashing) is a possible sign of a impending parasitic outbreak. Sounds like he injured himself while scratching/
Keep a very close eye on him. Look for developing spots on his body and especially his fins.
Please keep us updated.

 

[quarryshark]

He seems to be laying on his side so that the gash is against the ground too.

This probably gives him some relief.