Hi! help with butterflies?

silvermon

silvermon

Member
We have 2 Butterflies dont know the name though... One is fine, its swimming in the aquarium. The other one is quite lazy I think because it usually stays on one location...
I'm curious what should be the right food?
We have foods that are for our freshwater cichlids, Our tangs and clown are eating it but the butterflies do not..
We fed them brine shrimps, all of them are loving it but the butterflies ate only few or maybe none, cant actually see because brine shrimp is really small?...like its a tiny salt..
is there any food that i can assure they are eating?
Any seafood that i can slice it very very small to feed them? Seafood is abundant in our place. The local fish store here have incomplete supplies and it is quite expensive..
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by silvermon http:///forum/thread/382086/hi-help-with-butterflies#post_3332183
We have 2 Butterflies dont know the name though... One is fine, its swimming in the aquarium. The other one is quite lazy I think because it usually stays on one location...
I'm curious what should be the right food?
We have foods that are for our freshwater cichlids, Our tangs and clown are eating it but the butterflies do not..
We fed them brine shrimps, all of them are loving it but the butterflies ate only few or maybe none, cant actually see because brine shrimp is really small?...like its a tiny salt..
is there any food that i can assure they are eating?

Algae sheets in a little screen feeder made for butterfly fish.
 
silvermon

silvermon

Member
i think its hard to get that algae sheets in here..
is the algae sheet same with the seaweeds for sushi?(the human can eat it.)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

All I know is regular algae sheets...then you buy a clip feeder that has a screen. It's made for butterfly fish to nip at
 
burrito

burrito

Member
a clip and seaweed is always food but had you try frozen clam then break there shell and put the clam in? i think it eat clam
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Firstly, stop feeding food that is meant for fresh water fish. Brine shrimp is not a good source of nutrition for any of your fish, unless it's spirulina enriched brine shrimp, and even then, there are far better things you can be feeding your fish. Brine Shrimp has little to no nutritional value, it's like candy to a fish.
Try Frozen Mysis Shrimp first as well as a seaweed/algae strip on a clip (you should be doing this for your tangs anyways).
You should also pick up some frozen foods that are designed for salt water fish. Marine Cuisine and Emerald Entree (both made by San Francisco Bay Brand) would be excellent starters. I would also recommend adding vitamins and garlic to the food to try to entice them to eat more.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/382086/hi-help-with-butterflies#post_3332208
Firstly, stop feeding food that is meant for fresh water fish. Brine shrimp is not a good source of nutrition for any of your fish, unless it's spirulina enriched brine shrimp, and even then, there are far better things you can be feeding your fish. Brine Shrimp has little to no nutritional value, it's like candy to a fish.
Try Frozen Mysis Shrimp first as well as a seaweed/algae strip on a clip (you should be doing this for your tangs anyways).
You should also pick up some frozen foods that are designed for salt water fish. Marine Cuisine and Emerald Entree (both made by San Francisco Bay Brand) would be excellent starters. I would also recommend adding vitamins and garlic to the food to try to entice them to eat more.

+1
However in Silvermons defense, before I found this site in 2009, my fish had eaten nothing but brine shimp or spiulina mix when I couldn't find it plain and nothing else. Everything was fat and healthy. Brine shrimp may not be very nutritious, but it is made for saltwater fish, in fact it is a saltwater critter. We go to the store and get fish food, most of us don't know about nutrition and such till somene like you lets them know...LOL...all that just to say... be gentle.
Silvermon, your one butterfly may stay in one place because that is the only space the other butterfly will let it have. Two butterfly fish in one tank can spell war if they have the same body type or color.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
By no means did I mean to put down the OP.
I'm simple stating that brine shrimp is basically garbage. It should really one be used as a treat, not as a sole diet. Sure, the fish will eat a ton of it and be fat, but their health won't be so great. They may look healthy, but if you look a say a Ocellaris clownfish that is fed nothing but brine vs one that has a good diet, you can visibly see a healthier fish (better coloring, more alert, etc). The best way I can describe brine being fed to most fish (besides the candy reference) is the explain it this way:
brine shrimp is like corn. It has little to no nutritional value, but it will fill you up and most people eat it.
I'm aware that many people don't know any better, but I don't really sugar coat things either. The food that is being fed to these fish is the wrong food, which may be half the reason the one fish really isn't eating and that the other is lethargic. If it is aggression, this can be even worse if the fish are not being fed a proper diet. A lot relates back to diet with fish.
 
burrito

burrito

Member
ya brine shrimp is basliy nothing i feed mine fish brine shrip then 2 hour later i feed mine flake ^^ tuffy belly lol
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Burrito http:///forum/thread/382086/hi-help-with-butterflies#post_3332236
ya brine shrimp is basliy nothing i feed mine fish brine shrip then 2 hour later i feed mine flake ^^ tuffy belly lol
Burrito....the flakes are also worthless.....I thought you were getting rid of them

OP.....there are frozen foods made especially for Butterflies and tangs too.....mega marine algae, and SanFrancisco Bay sells an angel and butterfly food,
and look at the frozen H20 foods....they come in large varieties....
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
I think you should take any SW fish you have back to the store and really do some reading on this hobby. Butterflies are not beginner fish and I'm afraid your doomed if you keep buying fish without any idea of their requirements. The move from FW to SW requires a lot of research and planning.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by srfisher17 http:///forum/thread/382086/hi-help-with-butterflies#post_3332242
I think you should take any SW fish you have back to the store and really do some reading on this hobby. Butterflies are not beginner fish and I'm afraid your doomed if you keep buying fish without any idea of their requirements. The move from FW to SW requires a lot of research and planning.
They also need established tanks to survive.......and
How old is your tank Silvermon?????
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I found these butterfly pictures in Silvermons album...


I can't find the first butterfly but I did find the second in my book..here is what it says:

LOL...Silvermons picture was so simular that I thought at first he copied the picture, but the rocks are not the same.
 
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