CopperBand Butterfly Fish Breathing Heavy HELP!

Neither video worked for me.

Breathing heavy often suggests a parasitic infestation in the gills, which is hard to treat. Treatment will depend on the infection type.

The fish looks incredibly emaciated. What are you feeding and how often? I didn't see any parasites externally...do you see anything? How long have you had it?

So sorry for your loss.
I agree, the B-fly is very thin. It has not been eating well enough for the entire time. Starvation has taken it. It's not your fault. Some fish just won't eat enough of the supplemental food we use. Some fish have internal parasite problems making it uncomfortable to eat or have an intestinal parasite which steals all the food for itself. Some fish are caught with Cyanide, so their bodies just cannot utilize the food they eat.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I thought you ought to know that it looks to me like the Mandarin is also starving. It's belly looks sunken in. A healthy Mandarin will be fat in the area behind and below the pectoral fins. How long has it been in the tank?

If you would like to post a pic of the entire tank and another pic if there is a Refugium, we can try to help. If I recall, this 90 is upgraded from a 55. How many months has this 90 been running? How long was the 55 running?

Aloha 


Edited by Mark Peterson - August 15 2014 at 7:48am

Tank has been up since March, I feed daily at night and all fish eat as I have been keeping a close eye on it. My Mandarin eats all the time and since the Tisbe pods have been introduced 2 months ago I see him munching on stuff all day! 

What is the best way to verify parasites? I dont want to dose our tank unless its absolutely needed!!

Three Wrasse alongside a Mandarin in that tank means that whatever bugs were not eaten will live in hidden areas so they don't get eaten. With that many bug eaters in that tank, someone (the Mandarin) is going to go hungry.

It's in the Mandarin's nature to go around and pick at possible food targets all the time, but that does not mean it's getting anything, or getting enough. Look at it's empty belly. The evidence is in it's emaciated appearance.


Edited by Mark Peterson - August 15 2014 at 11:47am

My suggestion with my limited knowledge it to install a very large refugium where you can continue to grow a healthy amount of these bugs that your fish need to consume.

I am willing to visit and give specific suggestions. Just call or text to schedule.

Adding supplemental tisbe copepods and other "bugs" to a system can be helpful, but that creates competition for the finite food supply. Perhaps a more practical approach is to feed the many varieties of bugs that already exist in the system. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of bug species already present in every system. With increased feeding comes an increased population of all those bugs. What to feed? Pulverized frozen meaty foods and microscopic sized invert/fish larvae foods.

The RDP (Reverse Daylight Photosynthesis) Refugium was first suggested over 15 years ago by John Walsh in the hobbyist magazine Freshwater and Marine Aquarist. (See the article "RDP Filtration" in this newsletter: http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/wmasSeaStar02Feb.pdf) The concept was to grow algae and bugs which typically got decimated in the display in a separate but connected tank, thereby providing the amazing water filtering benefits of algae growth on a reverse photoperiod, combined with the additional benefit of supplying the display with new bugs and their spawn as cleaners and fish/invert food. The original RDP Refugium did not use a modern day skimmer or had no skimmer at all. Algae growth and bug populations were extremely abundant in these early RDP Refugiums.

This is just my opinion but based on what I have seen in recent years, too much of a good thing may be interfering with some aspects of our reefkeeping. Specifically, the super skimmer of today is working too well. It is cleaning the water for sensitive coral but also removing the food that bugs and algae require in order to flourish.
It's very difficult to have your cake and eat it too. Acropora require different water conditions than Mandarin Fish.

To achieve a good balance, I suggest the following:
1. Use a skimmer that is rated for half the system's capacity or run the current skimmer half time.
2. Leave the filter sock out of the system for half time or less.
3. In tight spaces, use a baffle-less sump where the Refugium (sand bed and algae) can occupy almost the entire area, where the return pump intake is near the water surface (overflow safety, etc.) and both the return pump and skimmer pump intakes are double screened to prevent algae clogs.

Hope some of this helps.

Aloha,
Mark