jonnybravo22
New member
cool. by the way, i got these guys from Diver's Den (liveaquaria) and they eat everything. flakes, rod's food, pellets, i think they even munch a little cyclopeeze when i drop that in.
butterflies in reefs
- Thread starter LemonLemon
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LemonLemon
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i wish i could get fishes from liveaquaria too 
i cannot. so i subscribe anyway and ogle and beautiful fish pictures daily
i cannot. so i subscribe anyway and ogle and beautiful fish pictures daily
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I found one in an LFS a long time ago, but it wasn't healthy and I couldn't save it. Sad.I personally have never seen one.... and I look
I've been wanting one of these guys for so long, and may pull the trigger on a flavissimus once I do the move into my bigger tank (hopefully in a week or so). Do you think there would be conflict between a foxface and the longnose bf?
Well, fingers crossed. My reef is very mixed, so he'll probably dine on something. I'm willing to remove some corals, if need be. Otherwise, I'm 8 and 0 with my trap
I've had this guy for a year. Eats pellets, and anything else I feed, like crazy, so I'm hoping he's "acclimated" enough to not want coral.
I've had this guy for a year. Eats pellets, and anything else I feed, like crazy, so I'm hoping he's "acclimated" enough to not want coral.
LemonLemon
New member
the longirostris "big longnose" can be found. occasionally. it has a longer snout, spots on the chest and the black mask covers the whole eye. flavissimus is the opposite. shorter snout, no blackspots on chest, and the eye mask only covers half the eye. i've even seen hybrids of these two where the spots are very very faint, and the eye is 3/4 covered. but the hybrids need alot of work to search given how similar both parent species are. but longirostris is harder than flavissimus. they eat slower and they are slightly harder to get feeding on frozen foods. body weight is harder to maintain also.
peter you added the saddleback in! it's freakin gorgeous! i want one too! your SPS and euphyllia will be ok. we'll have to see if it leaves the other corals alone. as you've said, it isn't one of the safest but if it were me, i will take the risk anyway seeing how beautiful it is. if it does not work out, he is easy to trap right?
i've kept a semeion in a reef before (not the one i have now) and the only thing he nipped on was my SPS. he left my LPS and soft corals alone. i'm thinking of keeping pomacanthids in reef tanks can be done, then ambiguously reef safe butterflies should be able to be done too. unless they're all different stories.
peter you added the saddleback in! it's freakin gorgeous! i want one too! your SPS and euphyllia will be ok. we'll have to see if it leaves the other corals alone. as you've said, it isn't one of the safest but if it were me, i will take the risk anyway seeing how beautiful it is. if it does not work out, he is easy to trap right?
i've kept a semeion in a reef before (not the one i have now) and the only thing he nipped on was my SPS. he left my LPS and soft corals alone. i'm thinking of keeping pomacanthids in reef tanks can be done, then ambiguously reef safe butterflies should be able to be done too. unless they're all different stories.
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LemonLemon
New member
well it's beautiful! keep us updated. i'm sure he won't be too much of a problem
LemonLemon
New member
young semeion :}
before i go on, i would just like to say that every fish is different and what works for me may not work for everyone else. so some risk is always involved..
young semeion :}
before i go on, i would just like to say that every fish is different and what works for me may not work for everyone else. so some risk is always involved..
Lovely specimen!
I think that's really the point of this thread... to document what works, what doesn't, and give everyone an idea of the pros and cons of trying to keep these difficult fish in a reef.
LemonLemon
New member
here's a tank shot to show the butterflies (if you can see them ). they're living in an almost cube tank. well, a shorter height anyway.
over the months i've been slowly putting into place my vision of a butterflyfish dominated reef. it's not easy but it's getting there. there's been many gorgeous examples of angel-reefs like copps's tank, but i seldom see butterfly dominated ones. so i'm trying it out and hopefully it works.
i'll skip all the other livestock in the tank. there's a pair of spawning flame angels, a pair of spawning pseudanthias sp. 4 (cf. marcia), a pair of spawning bathyphilus fairy wrasses etc..and a juv pomacanthid
but the butterflies are 1x longnose, 1x semeion, 1x mitratus, 1x declivis. they're only 4 at the moment. i've had a mesoleucos from the red sea and a marginalis in there before. but the marginalis died one fine for no reason after keeping it for so long. i was heart broken but have gotten over it. (it's impossible to obtain another one now. they just don't come in). the mesoleucos did not make it after i brought it back from Hong Kong. it survived pretty well but developed a sore in qt that quickly killed it.
sorry for the blur and washed out photos. the SPS and fishes are much more colourful in real life but i cannot get the colours right under the new 12k bulbs.
i plan to add a few more butterflies and that's it for this tank. if my paucifasciatus comes in, it will go into the reef. i'm hoping to get another marginalis again too.
). they're living in an almost cube tank. well, a shorter height anyway.over the months i've been slowly putting into place my vision of a butterflyfish dominated reef. it's not easy but it's getting there. there's been many gorgeous examples of angel-reefs like copps's tank, but i seldom see butterfly dominated ones. so i'm trying it out and hopefully it works.
i'll skip all the other livestock in the tank. there's a pair of spawning flame angels, a pair of spawning pseudanthias sp. 4 (cf. marcia), a pair of spawning bathyphilus fairy wrasses etc..and a juv pomacanthid
but the butterflies are 1x longnose, 1x semeion, 1x mitratus, 1x declivis. they're only 4 at the moment. i've had a mesoleucos from the red sea and a marginalis in there before. but the marginalis died one fine for no reason after keeping it for so long. i was heart broken but have gotten over it. (it's impossible to obtain another one now. they just don't come in). the mesoleucos did not make it after i brought it back from Hong Kong. it survived pretty well but developed a sore in qt that quickly killed it.
sorry for the blur and washed out photos. the SPS and fishes are much more colourful in real life but i cannot get the colours right under the new 12k bulbs.
i plan to add a few more butterflies and that's it for this tank. if my paucifasciatus comes in, it will go into the reef. i'm hoping to get another marginalis again too.
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LemonLemon
New member
thanks! i do see some nice growth on my SPS. if only i had a better camera
i like butterflies but i LOVE wrasses! and i hope to have as many fish as you and yet maintain an outrageous tank at the same time! hats off to you.
Iwishihadgills
New member
ahhh the mitratus! I read a thread along time ago that stated there are very few butterflies that have the mouth structure to extract the polyp from the skeleton.It also said that most just make the coral mad causing it to excretes some mucus like stuff and thats actually what they eat. I think it was on glassbox and they actually had a video.
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