The copper band butterfly has been glass surfing for a couple months and twitching towards the side the dark patch is on the body after the stripes. I’ve done a 5min fresh water dip 30 days ago didn’t improve the symptoms there is ick in the tank constantly for about a year it’s never gone away. The tank is 120 gallon I have a 57W UV at 110GPH 24/7 I live in Canada so medication is limited any help would be greatly appreciated I feel so heart broken seeing them so stressed.
Glass surfing is a little understood behavioral issue. Some species tend to do it more than others, and in many cases, only individual fish of the species do it. Big cats and polar bears do stereotypic pacing behaviors in zoos, and this is the fish equivalent of that. This is a very difficult behavior to break. If it surfs mostly on one area, you can try changing the outside lighting....increasing it, decreasing it, covering the outside end of the tank with a mirror or black paper. You might also try rearranging the rockwork, or putting something on the inside glass to keep the fish off of it (eggcrate, or dark plastic sheet). However, just like with zoo animals, any change may just cause the fish to surf in a new location.
The fish looks very well fed.
The spot on its side looks like a bruise to me. Did it come on suddenly? How long has it been there?
