Butterflyfish selection

K

kaledrina

Okay guys, I promise I'll stop bugging you about my future fish purchases. I've been researching for the past hour on various butterflyfish and I'm about to make a final decision. I've narrowed it down to 3 choices, each has their own pros and cons. I've taken into account coral nipping and found the ones least capable of decimating my corals. If anything they'll just nip the zoas and I have a nano tank for the zoas to go into if that ends up being the case.

The 3 contenders?

1. Black Pyramid Butterflyfish
- Cons? No good pictures available on internet so its kind of a potluck.
2. Longnose butterflyfish
- Cons? Well... Too yellow for my taste but still beautiful
3. Heniochus butterflyfish
- Cons? Probably least adaptable to aquariums of the 3.

I do have sps and anemones and don't want as many yellow fish as interesting fish.

The Threadfin is also on the back burner. Supposedly both really adaptable and will drop dead at the drop of a hat.

The tank is 75g with a green spot puffer, yellow wrasse, lunare wrasse (I know. He's growing slow so hopefully I have time to upgrade), 2 Clarkiis, and a neon goby. The puffer is only 2-3" and is full grown.

The butterfly will be in addition to a small 3" wrasse. The butterfly will be my last addition. Any other suggestions will be well taken. Thanks in advance.
 
Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people here keep butterflies because of their tendencies to eat corals. I plan on adding a couple to my 90 ...a cbb and probably a bannerfish...I'll happily report on my failure/success in my tank. I plan on keeping the fish regardles...I'll just move the coral.
 
ive been keeping a klein's (blacklip) butterflyfish in my reef tank with a few sps, lots of softies and zoanthids. i'd guess he's about 3-4" long. i havent seen him pick on anything and nothing looks like it's irritated...but that doesnt mean he wont in the future. ive had him since the beginning of june. i feed him twice a day and clip on a chunk of shrimp to let him nip at that during the middle of the day. i like him alot!

sorry i dont know anything about any of the species you listed. i just wanted you to know someone else is reading this :)
josh
 
Yeah. Hm. My tank is kind of starting to look crowded but I love butterflies... How about their survival rate? My boyfriend gave me a strict "NO" because he doesn't want it to die on me.
 
the klein's butterfly is supposedly the hardiest of the butterflies. it made it through hypo with absolutely zero problems. never seen a spec of ich on him even when i bought him. he eats like a pig and he loves me! he's always the first to greet me when i come home...LOL :lol:
 
I'd like to QT but all I have is a 20g that specifically says, "do not fill with water". So all I'd be able to do is a freshwater dip.
 
how many fish do you have in your tank so far? mind naming them off? im just curious. also a FW dip really wont solve any long term problems. it would just knock some of the parasites off for a short term relief, but also i would think it would cause the fish some stress.
josh
 
Kaledrina,

I have a 20H/tall whatever you wanna call it that you can have for $10. Its just the tank.

I've only used it once as a HT tank for a fish I bought that had ich, and I no longer even have it running. I thought if I cleaned it really well with water and a touch of vinegar it would be as good as new....turns out newbie theory was all but completely wrong.

I don't really need it anymore because when I upgrade my old tank will become a HT tank and I wont be adding any fish between now and then.

Just let me know if you'd be interested.
 
Green Spotted Puffer (Full grown at around 3"), yellow wrasse, lunare wrasse (grows slow, so hopefully in a few years I can upgrade), 2 Clarkiis, 1 neon goby, and a damsel. The tank is 75g, no sump yet but will have one set up in the next month. The tank has been set up since June/July and the previous tank had been set up at least 6 months. Everything is stable and my corals won't stop growing. :?
 
cool stuff! well like i said the kleins is a pretty cool fish. it's done really well for me so far, but only the future will tell how it does with the corals.
 
Klein bottle butterfly.. can swim _through_ rocks because it needs a four dimensional tank..

Science geek in me couldn't resist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle
 
I think it might be too yellow. And I'm not allowed to buy one anyways since the sump project kind of needs me to purchase a pump... :roll: Thanks for the help though. I think I might as well go with the Threadfin when/if I do get a b/f. I like the hatching on the body, and the thread is pretty nifty.
 
i think when you talk about fish that will or wont pick on corals its hit or miss with some exceptions. I have never heard of a firefish nipping so that is an exception. But i have a tang that is so fond of nipping at my kenya tree. Maybe this is normal. But I have always been told tangs dont.
 
I've taken into consideration that they might nip. I researched a long time online and they may or may not nip, mostly going for Zoas. If I do get one that ends up nipping I'm sure there's someone who'd enjoy it.
 
Should be fine I've never heard of a cooperband bother SPS much at all zos only very rarely.

Make sure you get one hardily eating frozen already at the LFS. They are extremely finicky eaters.
 
I have had a CBB (Chelmon rostratus) for 5 years. Never picked at any sps corals I have had. I tried an Organ Pipe Coral (Tubipora musica) once and he tore that apart. They do like feather dusters tube worms(annelida worms) and will eat any they find.
If you get one, watch it in the store for a week or so. Make sure you see him eat at the store before you buy. Make sure he is active and responsive. Also I would look for one from Australia.
 
I've heard the threadfin eats those mejano anemones. Anyone heard that? If I got one, would he eat my sps or RBTA?

BTW, I've had a bannerfish that did not bother any corals. He wasn't the normal one with the long streamer. If you do some research on it, there is one with the stripe through the eye and short banner that won't bother your corals, and very hardy fish. Mine grew too big for my tank.

Kay
 
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