butterflyfish

deejeff442

Active Member
does anyone keep butterflyfish?
i dont see much aboutthem.
i would like to get a saddleback it is for a tank without corals ,but i will have snails,shrimp and crabs .do butterflyfish eat these also?
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3090809
does anyone keep butterflyfish?
i dont see much aboutthem.
i would like to get a saddleback it is for a tank without corals ,but i will have snails,shrimp and crabs .do butterflyfish eat these also?

Depends on the fish, just be sure to google each one and make sure. They are beautiful fish..
 

deejeff442

Active Member
yea i did but the info i can only find is that they eat corals and small inverts that live on the rock so i dont know .
i did send an email to another big online store and i will se what they come back with.
i dont see too many people keep butterflyfish.wonder why?
they are pretty cheap compared to alot of other species of fish.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3090847
yea i did but the info i can only find is that they eat corals and small inverts that live on the rock so i dont know .
i did send an email to another big online store and i will se what they come back with.
i dont see too many people keep butterflyfish.wonder why?
they are pretty cheap compared to alot of other species of fish.

I have a reef tank, and butterfly fish that can go in a reef are few, they are also not a mean fish...those who don't have a reef usually have an aggressive tank..the butterfly doesn't fit in much.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
no its not an aggresive tank .most aggresive fish will eat the shrimp.
it will have 4 tangs a lg. angel(havnt decided what yet)
foxface ,clown,couple reef wrasses .
just dont want my cleaner shrimp eaten.
i have a 90 reef thats eneough corals for me.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3090875
no its not an aggresive tank .most aggresive fish will eat the shrimp.
it will have 4 tangs a lg. angel(havnt decided what yet)
foxface ,clown,couple reef wrasses .
just dont want my cleaner shrimp eaten.
i have a 90 reef thats eneough corals for me.
LOL...mine is 90g reef as well..I can barely reach the bottom of the tank for maintenance. Those with bigger tanks must go swimming to care for them...the 90g is the biggest I think I can handle, but I love the bigger ones.
 

jp30338

Member
The saddle back would do just fine. The main reason most people do not have butterfly fish is typically because they can be quite difficult to acclimate to the home aquarium. Many die due to not eating and stress. Also, her are quite a few butterfly fish that are obligate coral eaters and would require certain types of corals to keep it happy. The sadlleback is a good hardy butterfly for your set up as long as it is eating at the lfs you buy it from. I personally would never purchase a butterfly fish online, and most online retailers typically do not offer a guarantee on them.
I have a blackback butterfly in my 180g with a blonde naso, sharptail eel, porc. puffer, and lunare wrasse.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
thanks for the info.
i actually buy my fish from a wholesaler he has connections in hawaii.they get the fish and i meet him right at the airport so they arent bounced around like the fish stores move them.
do butterflyfish get along ?i would love to have two i see some are more friendly to each other than other .i am pretty good with tangs and havnt had a problem mixing any together just need to introduce them right.
they will be going in my 225 tank and in about 18-20 months i am building a home and plan on a 350+ set up so i would love to go with a couple small butterflyfish.
hey flower funny you mention reaching the bottom of the tank.i can reach my 90 no problem but my 225 is on a 36 inch tall stand and the tank is 33 inches tall.i bought a ladder just for this pourpose. i have to take my shirt off and almost have to put my face in the water to hit the bottom.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
well the online store came back saying they dont recomend this fish with the snails,crabs and shrimp.so now i dont know what to think.
i dont have the inverts yet but i like the way they clean the tank and rock .
dunno maybe since the fish i have are algea eaters i dont need the inverts?
 

aquaknight

Active Member
jp, has some great points covered. Yea, Butterflies tend to be fairly unpopular for a number of reasons. First, most of them pretty fragile. They aren't disease resistant, don't take to aggression well at all, they often times don't take to prepared foods, and there's the obligatory corallivores that even the best of us can't keep.
And those that are somewhat hardy (Raccon's, Saddleback), typically aren't remotely reef-safe, and those that quasi-reef safe, Copperbands, Kleini, are more on the fragile side. (only two species, Pyramid and Zoster's, are IMO the only true reef-safe B/Fs).
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3091380
well the online store came back saying they dont recomend this fish with the snails,crabs and shrimp.so now i dont know what to think.
I wouldn't worry about what a retailer's site suggests. Most of them are either auto-generated or put up so hastily, they aren't thought though. Butterflies will eat some inverts, anemones, coco worms, feather dusters, etc, but they don't go after mobile crustaceans like shrimp/crabs, etc.
As far as adding one to your FOWLR, I would be very careful with the tangs you have established in there with a butterfly. I think "my yellow tang is beating up my Copperband B/F" is one of the most popular threads all time.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
dont yellow tangs beat up everything

i was thinking its a 225 tank with alot of rock.
i wont be getting any fish for another month so i will think about it.
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3090879
LOL...mine is 90g reef as well..I can barely reach the bottom of the tank for maintenance. Those with bigger tanks must go swimming to care for them...the 90g is the biggest I think I can handle, but I love the bigger ones.
LOL I have a 180 gallon reef.
How deep is your tank?
 

saltyjewell

Member
I have a LongNose Butterfly in my 170g tank with a yellow tang and sailfin tang and it's doing fine. When the lights go out though it's more active and sometimes swims upside down
 

dragonboy

Active Member
From my experience they need very good water and feeding requirements but as far as coral goes I do not know if they really eat most corals.
 
Top