Threadfin Butterfly taken a bad turn in Quarantine

Bigboned · Jul 17, 2019

I have a Threadfin Butterfly in 'observational' quarantine for 16 days - until know he/she has been perfect, eating regurlalry from day 1 etc, then last night didnt eat and this morning really shallow breaths mouth almost staying open and just getting blown around by the flow( internal tunze 9004) not strong or anything.
no difference in appearance that i can see - no spots etc - ive just given a FW bath for 5 mins during which time she just laid there - ive done a 50% WC altho temp etc have been stable - 0 ammonia according to red sea and seachem badge - and yesterday i received metroplex so after the bath shes now in it

behaviour the same since the FW bath - ive added air stone to increase O2 exchange
Thoughts please? - she came from my LFS and was in the same tank for at least 2 months before i bought her - i watched her feeding and behaviour etc before i eventually purchased -

BestMomEver · Jul 17, 2019

@ngoodermuth @4FordFamily

4FordFamily · Jul 17, 2019

I don't see any obvious ailments, but on a mostly white fish it is tough to identify.

Velvet can work on the gills before it shows spots on a fish, it could also be flukes. I'd start with a freshwater dip in a dark bucket for 5 minutes - match the temperature. If you see "sesame seeds" falling off of the fish, it was flukes. Unfortunately, in the state you describe, it could pass during a dip. My rule of thumb though is a fish that dies during a dip was already dead before you started it...

Sorry for the trouble

Bigboned · Jul 17, 2019

Done the 5 mins nothing seen and didn’t really alter the behavior either ie didn’t seem to give any relief, now she just motionless but breathing slowly- I think she’s done-
Thanks for your help-

Bigboned · Jul 17, 2019

Panic over- she didn’t make it, gutted I really thought id done everything right this time, ah well
Thanks all

tdlawdo · Jul 17, 2019

Sorry for ya. What a shame! Sometimes even when we do it right it doesn’t work out. It’s a nerve racking hobby getting attached researching doing what you think is best and the problem is nature had final say.