White spots on Copper Banded Butterfly

[JoeReefz]

So I recently picked up this butterfly from my lfs. It looked fine in the tank maybe a bit skiddish but wtv. Brought him home was swimming around fine wasn’t really interested in food but seemed healthy all around. Today I looked in the tank and he was covered in white spots and laying on the sand bed. I tried to get him into a QT tank but he died while trying to transfer him. What could have caused this.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm really sorry you're experiencing this. Let's ask the R2R Fish Medics what's going on :)

#fishmedic

Good luck with your CBB!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

How long did you have the fish before it died?
Do you know the salinity of the LFS tank versus yours?

The pics aren't super clear, but this is either ich, or mucus plugs. I'm suspecting ich, but that takes a few days to develop, and if this happened faster than that, it might be mucus. Mucus is a reaction fish sometimes show when stressed out.

 

[JoeReefz]

How long did you have the fish before it died?
Do you know the salinity of the LFS tank versus yours?

The pics aren't super clear, but this is either ich, or mucus plugs. I'm suspecting ich, but that takes a few days to develop, and if this happened faster than that, it might be mucus. Mucus is a reaction fish sometimes show when stressed out.

I had gotten the fish Saturday and didn’t see the spots until Monday night. I don’t know the salinity of where I got it from but I keep my tank at 1.025

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I had gotten the fish Saturday and didn’t see the spots until Monday night. I don’t know the salinity of where I got it from but I keep my tank at 1.025

Many LFS keep their salinity low. Trying to acclimate a fish from say, 1.020 to 1.025 must be done slowly, over 24 hours or so. That means lowering the salinity of the receiving tank to match the LFS water and gradually raising it from there. However, given the time frame here, I'd say this fish died from Cryptocaryon, marine ich. Watch any other fish that were exposed to this one as ich is very contagious.