Originally posted by Bang Guy
Typically they live less than a month. They are not easy to care for. If treated well in an appropriate environment they should live for decades. That's rarely the case though.
Be very picky when choosing a Butterfly and do your homework.
this is true that they wont live very long if they dont have the appropraite environmnet.
but i succesfuly had a yellow tang, auriga butterflyfish, yellow big long nose butterfly, and a rock beauty in a 75 for. there were 3 of the "most" difficult to keep for a long time. and i had them for more than a 13 month before i deside to go reef.
the only thing about butterfly and angel in my case was feeding. they are extremly picky, extremly. there were day that they will eat even flake. but there were day that they wont eat notthing else than Live Brinde shrimp, and my angel well i always had sponges for him to eat. they need a big big variaty of food, and the best is to feed them a couple time pero day with diferent type of food.
they also require good water lever and no stress. as well as tang, they are very susceptible to ich, and they are not very tolerant to copper treatment.
also a good tip to make them it, is not to have aggresive tankmate. if you are keeping butterfly make shure they feel at the same level as the other fish.