Originally Posted by peckhead
i have had 2 butterflies. in 2 different tanks. niether lived. and there was no reason for them to die what so ever.....................expert or beginnner they would have died. good luck though. i love butterflies
I'm not understanding here when you say there was no reason for them to die. In most cases of fish death, there can be a reason attributed to the cause. As a whole, bf's can be touchy. There are species that are not good candidates, but that are routinely sold. Others can fare well given the right conditions. This is a fish that IMO holds an element of luck when it comes to keeping them succesfully, but overall they have some specialized needs. I've kept several with varying degrees of success. My current blackback has been with me for 5 years, has shown steady growth, tolerance to varying tankmates and conditions, and is going strong. He is my "canary in the mineshaft" fish. I look to him as a barometer of my tank and if he's out of sorts I need to tweak things in the tank a bit.