Dead Butterfly fish diagnosis

[Miller Aquatic]

My raccoon butterfly fish was looking perfect no signs of disease he stopped eating yesterday. Everything else is looking perfect. I was just wondering if this looked like any certain disease. The main thing that looks different is those weird brown looking things on his snout. I came home from a fishing trip for a couple hours and when I came back he had a very hard time swimming he was swimming upside down and in circles.

 

[Tamberav]

I don’t see any pic but post mortem are difficult to diagnose from

How long have you had it? Any issues with other fish? What was it eating?

 

[vetteguy53081]

My raccoon butterfly fish was looking perfect no signs of disease he stopped eating yesterday. Everything else is looking perfect. I was just wondering if this looked like any certain disease. The main thing that looks different is those weird brown looking things on his snout.

You have camera flash in very area needed to be seen. These fish susceptible to both bacterial and uronema and the flash is whiting out the area. I hope you have other pics? As it decays, it becomes harder to tell

 

[Miller Aquatic]

I’ve had it for a week or so no everything else is eating well. It was eating nori, brine, blood worms and even flakes.

 

[Miller Aquatic]

 

[Miller Aquatic]

He looked completely normal this morning.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My raccoon butterfly fish was looking perfect no signs of disease he stopped eating yesterday. Everything else is looking perfect. I was just wondering if this looked like any certain disease. The main thing that looks different is those weird brown looking things on his snout. I came home from a fishing trip for a couple hours and when I came back he had a very hard time swimming he was swimming upside down and in circles.

One thing that causes a fish to stop eating and then be dead by the next day is Amyloodinium/velvet. However, that also causes the fish to breath faster. Are you certain it wasn’t breathing faster than bowlers before it died?

 

[Miller Aquatic]

It wasn’t breathing very fast.

 

[Miller Aquatic]

Wouldn’t I see a million little white dots everywhere if it was velvet?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Wouldn’t I see a million little white dots everywhere if it was velvet?

No - freshwater velvet (a different species) shows the millions of dust spots. Marine velvet shows rapid breathing, not eating and hanging in water flow as the main symptom. In some cases, towards the end, the skin can look sort of “cloudy” or congested. Many pictures online of fish with “velvet” are actually of fish with late stage marine ich.

 

[Miller Aquatic]

I don’t see any of these signs. Say I did have it what treatment would work in a fowlr system?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t see any of these signs. Say I did have it what treatment would work in a fowlr system?

Not many options for treating marine velvet. Coppersafe is the first pick, but will be absorbed by live rock and will kill invertebrates. Chloroquine will work and doesn’t absorb into the rocks, but it will kill everything in the tank except the fish - algae, most invertebrates.

 

[Miller Aquatic]

If everything is eating does that mean I don’t have velvet or could it just be waiting for its cycle to strike again. How long of them still eating would mean I’m in the clear of velvet?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If everything is eating does that mean I don’t have velvet or could it just be waiting for its cycle to strike again. How long of them still eating would mean I’m in the clear of velvet?

If the fish are all eating well, they won’t have abn acute disease like velvet. They might be chronic carriers I suppose, but that is pretty rare, I’ve not seen it myself.
Some research indicates that velvet has a 21 day life cycle, so 30 days for a clearing time would be the minimum.

 

[Miller Aquatic]

Ok I’m just very nervous because I’ve heard that velvet is the black plague of saltwater.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok I’m just very nervous because I’ve heard that velvet is the black plague of saltwater.

Velvet, Amyloodinium, kills marine fish VERY quickly, but it is not as common as other diseases like ich. I haven't seen a case myself in at least five years now.....

 

[Miller Aquatic]

I’m hoping since they are all eating and acting happy that it’s not the case I hope it’s not waiting to strike or is in its egg or whatever