Anyone keep Golden Semilarvatus Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus)?

[Western_reefer]

Anyone keep Golden Semilarvatus Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus)? If so, is it easy or hard to keep? Are they more on the reef safe side? As in it wont pick at LPS/SPS. What size tank do they require? Pictures of your Chaetodon semilarvatus would be great!

 

[Pickupman66]

from reading around quickly, I would say they readily feed on offerings including coral polyps.

 

[JHemdal]

We've kept one for 12 years in a FO tank...feeds on a wide variety of seafoods; mysis, krill, gel, etc. I never tried one in a reef because of having a strong hunch that it wouldn't work out. From many years ago, I seem to recall that larger wild caught ones didn't adapt particularily well to captivity (our current one arrived at about 1.5" long).

Jay

 

[snorvich]

I have a pair. Voracious eaters, mildly aggressive around feeding. Very pretty, but not small. I recall they reach 9 inches across.

 

[Western_reefer]

Will 1 or perhaps a pair be fine in a 125 gallon tank? Dimensions will be: 48"long x 30"wide x 20"high

 

[snorvich]

Will 1 or perhaps a pair be fine in a 125 gallon tank? Dimensions will be: 48"long x 30"wide x 20"high

In my opinion that would be pushing it. These will be BIG fish. Best to acquire as small ones though.

 

[Western_reefer]

In my opinion that would be pushing it. These will be BIG fish. Best to acquire as small ones though.

So they get to about the size of a dinner plate?

 

[snorvich]

So they get to about the size of a dinner plate?

Yes, exactly.

 

[Western_reefer]

Yes, exactly.

Yikes, that's big!

 

[Big E]

That tank is big enough in my experiences. They grow slowly & mine never got close to dinner plate size. The largest one was about 6" after about 6 years. This is one fish that won't get close to the size they do in the wild.

Mine were in a lightly stocked 180g. They are voracious eaters & tore up most corals. If I was going to try them with anything it would be Sps.

I'd love to have a large pair in a 200g tank with some smaller red sea fish. It was common to see 7" size ones come in years ago, but I haven't seen any but small ones available in a long time.

 

[suta4242]

For those that have them, which corals are left alone?

Regarding trying them with acro, not sure that'd work either. A friend kept two for a brief period with SPS and they munched on most colonies. Have no idea whether this is the norm - although stony corals form a big part of their diet in the wild don't they???:sad2:

 

[snorvich]

That tank is big enough in my experiences. They grow slowly & mine never got close to dinner plate size. The largest one was about 6" after about 6 years. This is one fish that won't get close to the size they do in the wild.

Mine were in a lightly stocked 180g. They are voracious eaters & tore up most corals. If I was going to try them with anything it would be Sps.

I'd love to have a large pair in a 200g tank with some smaller red sea fish. It was common to see 7" size ones come in years ago, but I haven't seen any but small ones available in a long time.

If the OP had asked about keeping them in a 180, my answer would have been different.

 

[Big E]

I kept 4 in a 180g & added two more about 4 years later. They had already stopped growing before that 4 year mark.

I'd have absolutely no issues with keeping two in a 4 foot 120g. They aren't going to grow past 5-6 inches.

I'd like to see some proof from someone who has grown these from small fish to dinner plate size. They won't even come close to that.

 

[snorvich]

Well, Big E, you expressed your opinion, I expressed mine. Clearly "proof" goes both ways. So you have two in your 120 gallon reef?

 

[JHemdal]

IDK: the one we have had since 1998 is only 4 1/2" long - and its in a 700 gallon tank. Kind of hard to say since its a one-off, but this fish isn't going to reach dinnerplate size in my lifetime (hack, hack).

Jay

 

[Big E]

Steve,

I've had 6 of these fish & the largest grew to 6". The others barely grew or added maybe an inch from the size I bought them at. I had them in the early 90's to about 2000.

It's my personal experience with the fish not an opinion. I don't have a problem putting a pair of 4-5" butterflies in a 4 foot 120g tank especially when I know they won't get any bigger.

If these fish grew to 9" I would have bought a small pair to grow out in a big tank, but I know the only option is to find a source willing to sell me a large pair. They are magnificient at the larger size as the bodies round out giving them more of a discus shape.

 

[markl17]

hi did you semilarvatus eat all the shrimp and cleaning crew

 

[caribfan]

I kept 4 in a 180g & added two more about 4 years later. They had already stopped growing before that 4 year mark.

I'd have absolutely no issues with keeping two in a 4 foot 120g. They aren't going to grow past 5-6 inches.

I'd like to see some proof from someone who has grown these from small fish to dinner plate size. They won't even come close to that.

Curious, your saying that you kept multiples of these fish without issue? I've always wanted more than one, but heard it usually ends poorly, specifically in the case of semis.

 

[Big E]

Hi Matt,

I bought four all at once. I was lucky enough to have them pair off on their own.

I later added another smaller pair that had paired up in a store. I added them to the other four and the new pair broke up and one became a bully to the other. I removed the one getting bullied and kept 5 together for a few years with no issues.