Sunset Butterfly Fish found dead this morning. Any ideas?

[TrishK]

I’ve had him/her a month in QT with same tank mates, a PJ and a Coral Beauty. I’ve never seen him physically eat anything but assumed he was to have lived this long. I swear I spent at least $100 on different types of food, hatched live brine, clam on half shell, masstick, copepods, brine mysis, nori, algae. I kept a close eye on parameters because I know they are sensitive to parameter swings. He was fine last night swimming around happily.
When I fished him out he had blood spots on both sides in same spot of his body that when touched with a paper towel it left a blood mark. I checked all parameters and they’re right where they have been. Any ideas? Could the CB have been beating on him when I wasn’t around? I never noticed aggression from him before except when he claimed one of the plastic caves as his own so I took it out and they just had fake grass and a bio rock in with him. So upset because I was getting ready to move him either today or tomorrow to his forever home

 

[stylolvr]

Not positive, but I know butterflies can be finicky eaters, and that may have been the issue. So sorry for the loss!

 

[Qasimja]

Yea unless you saw him eating or picking at the food that fell to the bottom he may not have been eating

 

[9975]

The best way for me to actually watch my fish in QT so far is from a distance or set up a webcam. They typically act totally different with people around

 

[Qasimja]

The best way for me to actually watch my fish in QT so far is from a distance or set up a webcam. They typically act totally different with people around

yea i just let the food float and watch from the doorway

 

[TrishK]

yea i just let the food float and watch from the doorway

I’ve tried that and always just see him swimming happily along swimming right by the food. I think I saw him maybe eat something one time in the 5 + weeks I’ve had him. Hubby says he’s seen him peck at the artificial grasses but I can’t imagine that would be enough to sustain him. Even when I put 1,000 copepods and 580 brine I never saw him appear to be hunting or eating any of them. I still hatched brine eggs every other day and put hundreds into the tank along with the frozen food, masstick on a rock and seaweed/algae. I quit putting clam in the half shell in because it just sat there and got nasty. I have 3 frozen bags and even my wrasses don’t eat it ..ugh

Can anyone recommend a butterfly fish that isn’t a finicky eater? It’d have to be a smaller one because my FOWLR is only 60G.

 

[Qasimja]

maybe a pyramid butterfly they are reef safe and easy to acclimate

 

[TrishK]

maybe a pyramid butterfly they are reef safe and easy to acclimate

It doesn’t have to be reef safe. Though we don’t have any butterflies in our 180 reef aquarium yet...pretty peaceful except for Dory, blue hippo is a bit bossy.
This would be for our fish only tank

 

[Arlo]

It probably didn't eat and starved especially if other fish pushed him away during feeding time