[Delphinus]

Thanks M, great post. I was looking for that thread last night but in my state (just a lot of things going on right now, my dad's in the hospital atm) I didn't give myself enough time to actually find it.

The butterflies are not huge but they are not tiny either. I would call them in about 3". I'm starting to have serious doubts that treating them in a 20g is advisable. Unfortunately it's all I've got. I had a 36" long 30g which would have been better but it was dropped and the bottom is cracked and it's just sitting there taunting me waiting for me to find enough crap to load up the truck to take to the landfill.

I'm also starting to doubt whether the problem with the butterflies may be in fact each other. With the removal of the other fish the social dynamic is of course different, it's like the old married couple who after 30 years the last kid moves out of the house and they become empty nesters and then all of a sudden realize they can't stand each other's company but they never noticed this before because things were always just too busy. Don't know for sure if this is the case but I'm left to wonder. There is nobody to pick on them except for each other. The eel is afraid of his own shadow and spends his day hiding in a rock only to occasionally peek out, see his own shadow is still there, and then scurries back into his cave. So I don't see how it could be him that stresses the fish.

Quick question, how long does it take to seed a sponge with nitrying bacteria? Is a couple of days going to suffice or does it need more time than that?

I'm wondering if I should separate them, take the one that is more afflicted, treat him alone in the 20g, and see if the other one recovers on his own in the big tank. If he does then I know that it is the pairing that is the problem and I then take steps accordingly (sell one or both or something along those lines).