How to get Punctato Butterfly to eat

[Aronsaquarium]

Thank for you for this!
So I had mine since Monday last week, so a week and 2 days.

I see him pecking at mysis but haven’t seen him eat a piece yet.
I don’t have him in my main display so there isn’t much to pick at which might be a really bad idea here..

But with the eye looking like that, I’m also scared for there to be anything that can transfer to other fish in the tank. And this tank has no copper in it so it should in theory be easier for the Butterfly.

Hard to know what’s right. But I guess there’s some hope here!

 

[Aronsaquarium]

When a single eye balloons up and turns white like that, it is almost always due to a strike injury. If it doesn't get infected, no treatment is needed other than time. If it does start to get worse, then Maracyn 1 / Erythromycin could be used. One thing of course, with an injured eye, the fish will be a bit less prone to wanting to feed.

Hi Jay,
So this is a 2 week 2 days update. I got the Punctato Butterfly on Monday the 13th.

My question is like this,
I haven’t seen him eat an actual piece of food since I got him. But I’ve seen him pecking at bits of mysis.
Since that eye injury he got back then, the eye puffed up for a week then started to deflate. And from my NON expert opinion, it seems to have lost that eye. There’s no bulb anymore as you can see here.
There is also some white/pink fluff stuff above that eye as you can see in the videos.

So..
I was thinking maybe I should return it to the LFS and maybe them or someone else can care for its needs better.
And I’m also scared if he’s weak will it make my other fish sick?
As it is, I feel like it adds some stress to the tank because it’s quite territorial over the tanks main caves where it goes back and forth between them staying inside 99% of the time.

Having said that, I just caught it, and it doesn’t seem skinny to me..
Does that look right to you?
And if that’s the case does that mean it’s really eating much more that I think it is?
Or is 2 weeks 2 days a drop in the bucket, and normal not to loose weight this fast? In which case most likely it won’t make it staying by me.

and should I worry about it getting my other fish sick with that fluff stuff?

Because then Id wanna take it out.
I have a double saddleback Butterfly in the tank too. So I don’t want it catching anything from it..

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay,
So this is a 2 week 2 days update. I got the Punctato Butterfly on Monday the 13th.

My question is like this,
I haven’t seen him eat an actual piece of food since I got him. But I’ve seen him pecking at bits of mysis.
Since that eye injury he got back then, the eye puffed up for a week then started to deflate. And from my NON expert opinion, it seems to have lost that eye. There’s no bulb anymore as you can see here.
There is also some white/pink fluff stuff above that eye as you can see in the videos.

So..
I was thinking maybe I should return it to the LFS and maybe them or someone else can care for its needs better.
And I’m also scared if he’s weak will it make my other fish sick?
As it is, I feel like it adds some stress to the tank because it’s quite territorial over the tanks main caves where it goes back and forth between them staying inside 99% of the time.

Having said that, I just caught it, and it doesn’t seem skinny to me..
Does that look right to you?
And if that’s the case does that mean it’s really eating much more that I think it is?
Or is 2 weeks 2 days a drop in the bucket, and normal not to loose weight this fast? In which case most likely it won’t make it staying by me.

and should I worry about it getting my other fish sick with that fluff stuff?

Because then Id wanna take it out.
I have a double saddleback Butterfly in the tank too. So I don’t want it catching anything from it..

Well, the eye seems damaged, but the sclera is still there and it doesn't look infected.

Help me out here - I skimmed, but didn't study the start of this thread. Is the fish being kept in this acclimation chamber? If so, I think you need to release it into the tank. Anything it might have disease wise, is already in the tank, so there is no way to avoid that now.

Have you tried live clams or mussels on the half shell?

Jay

 

[Aronsaquarium]

Well, the eye seems damaged, but the sclera is still there and it doesn't look infected.

Help me out here - I skimmed, but didn't study the start of this thread. Is the fish being kept in this acclimation chamber? If so, I think you need to release it into the tank. Anything it might have disease wise, is already in the tank, so there is no way to avoid that now.

Have you tried live clams or mussels on the half shell?

Jay

Oh sorry, probably wasn’t clear there..
I caught it for a minute with the intention of maybe bringing it to my LFS. But it didn’t look so bad when I caught it, so I released it back.
It’s been in the main tank for the last week.

Are you saying that the Cornea can potentially regrow and his vision be ok?


My question is more, is the fluffy stuff above his left eye contagious?
And if so should I be moving him out..

And is it looking (from the top angle) like it hasn’t eaten in 2 weeks?
Or is this a pretty normal size, which means he’s eating more than I think it is..

It’s being super territorial now because of its condition, so I’m not sure if it’s doing more harm than good keeping him..

Thank you so much for your time!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Oh sorry, probably wasn’t clear there..
I caught it for a minute with the intention of maybe bringing it to my LFS. But it didn’t look so bad when I caught it, so I released it back.
It’s been in the main tank for the last week.

Are you saying that the Cornea can potentially regrow and his vision be ok?


My question is more, is the fluffy stuff above his left eye contagious?
And if so should I be moving him out..

And is it looking (from the top angle) like it hasn’t eaten in 2 weeks?
Or is this a pretty normal size, which means he’s eating more than I think it is..

It’s being super territorial now because of its condition, so I’m not sure if it’s doing more harm than good keeping him..

Thank you so much for your time!

No - it has probably lost its sight, but the eyeball itself seems to still be there and fish can live like that with no issues.

I once had a saddleback butterfly that didn’t eat for four months and it looked the same as the day I bought it, but it did starve to death eventually.

Jay

 

[Aronsaquarium]

No - it has probably lost its sight, but the eyeball itself seems to still be there and fish can live like that with no issues.

I once had a saddleback butterfly that didn’t eat for four months and it looked the same as the day I bought it, but it did starve to death eventually.

Jay

Oh wow! Ok that’s super helpful though.

If I can’t get it to eat soon, it’ll probably be best to give it to someone who might have the right foods growing in their tank for it..

Thank you so much!