butterflies in reefs
- Thread starter LemonLemon
- Start date
pookstreet
Registered Stick Killer
Peter, I take it you guys down yonder survived the power outage without too much carnage?
pookstreet
Registered Stick Killer
No, no. That's a different one. I still have the first hybrid. We didn't lose power here, luckily. Glad to hear everything is ok with you. Hope more people are as prepared as you.
Dr Colliebreath
New member
I had a couple of corals in my tank when I put my double saddleback/ulietensis in, and within a day or so they quit opening. My green star polyps haven't been open for a month now. The double saddleback, which is listed as not reef safe, was supposed to be a falcula, which was listed as reef safe with caution.
I have a falcula in quarantine, but I don't think I will get to see whether it is reef safe as there won't be corals open in the tank.
jjk_reef00
New member
Is your falcula eating? If so what?
I have a 5" falcula in qt for a little over a week now and he hasn't touched a thing....
Where did you get yours from.
copps
Premium Member
You guys don't know what you're talking about... you can't keep butterflies in reefs!
:frog:
Very nice fish everyone!
Anyway... some of my butterflies in my reefs... I'm not just the angelfish guy...:bigeyes:
Happy Friday to all...
Pyramids... one of my favorites in my sps reef...
My Chelmon marginalis... the copperband alternative from down under...
And a few from my subtropical tank...
My Marshallese Roaops hybrid... seemingly a mix of Chaetodon tinkeri, C. burgessi, and C. flavocoronatus although we'll have a better answer soon!
My Prognathodes guyanensis... from the depths of the Atlantic...
And my new guy just put into the subtropical after over a month of QT... an Ogasawara tiny wrought iron butterfly from Japan... this little guy exemplifies why I put a key in my shots! :fun4:
Copps
:frog:
Very nice fish everyone!
Anyway... some of my butterflies in my reefs... I'm not just the angelfish guy...:bigeyes:
Happy Friday to all...
Pyramids... one of my favorites in my sps reef...
My Chelmon marginalis... the copperband alternative from down under...
And a few from my subtropical tank...
My Marshallese Roaops hybrid... seemingly a mix of Chaetodon tinkeri, C. burgessi, and C. flavocoronatus although we'll have a better answer soon!
My Prognathodes guyanensis... from the depths of the Atlantic...
And my new guy just put into the subtropical after over a month of QT... an Ogasawara tiny wrought iron butterfly from Japan... this little guy exemplifies why I put a key in my shots! :fun4:
Copps
Dr Colliebreath
New member
Ed,
My falcula is about 5" also and is only a modest eater. I have had it 4 weeks. It started eating slowly and has gradually increased the amount it eats, but it still is not a strong eater. It lets most of the food drop to the bottom of the QT and then picks at it here and there. The fish came from BZA. I wanted a smaller fish (2-3") as I believe they adapt to captivity and aquarium food better than the larger ones.
The falcula started out eating NLS pellets (small) only. I think it started eating pretty quickly but not very much. I gave it some NLS flakes after 2 weeks or so and it quickly quit eating the pellets and ate only flakes (it may pick some pellets off the bottom of the QT). I have given it some small meaty foods (chopped clam, shrimp, scallop, and flounder) that it has started eating. At first, it ate the clam and shrimp but not the scallop and fish. It now eats the entire mix. It also eats Rods, some PE Mysis and a few live brine shrimp. I have a yln that only eats blackworms but the falcula ignores them. (Blackworms are supposed to entice butterflies, but 3 of my 4 butterflies won't eat them. Go figure.)
The fish looks for food when I approach the tank but it isn't an aggressive eater. Adding garlic or Selcon to pellets or flakes doesn't help. Perhaps that will change when it gets off meds (PraziPro and Cupramine, but I made sure it was eating first) and is in the DT. The way it is going, it won't surprise me if the falcula just quits eating for no apparent reason some day and dies, but I hope I am wrong.
Your fish concerns me if it hasn't eaten for a week. I would try live brine shrimp, live blackworms and a fresh clam on the half shell from the grocery store, plus some chopped fresh shrimp (from the grocery store) and mysis. If those don't work, try fresh mussel on the half shell from the grocery store and Cyclop-eeze from the fish store. Also flakes and pellets, both with and without garlic and Selcon. Please report back on whether it starts eating.
If the fish eats from a shell, some people have had success making a paste of various foods, freezing it in the shell, and putting the frozen concoction in the tank.
My falcula is about 5" also and is only a modest eater. I have had it 4 weeks. It started eating slowly and has gradually increased the amount it eats, but it still is not a strong eater. It lets most of the food drop to the bottom of the QT and then picks at it here and there. The fish came from BZA. I wanted a smaller fish (2-3") as I believe they adapt to captivity and aquarium food better than the larger ones.
The falcula started out eating NLS pellets (small) only. I think it started eating pretty quickly but not very much. I gave it some NLS flakes after 2 weeks or so and it quickly quit eating the pellets and ate only flakes (it may pick some pellets off the bottom of the QT). I have given it some small meaty foods (chopped clam, shrimp, scallop, and flounder) that it has started eating. At first, it ate the clam and shrimp but not the scallop and fish. It now eats the entire mix. It also eats Rods, some PE Mysis and a few live brine shrimp. I have a yln that only eats blackworms but the falcula ignores them. (Blackworms are supposed to entice butterflies, but 3 of my 4 butterflies won't eat them. Go figure.)
The fish looks for food when I approach the tank but it isn't an aggressive eater. Adding garlic or Selcon to pellets or flakes doesn't help. Perhaps that will change when it gets off meds (PraziPro and Cupramine, but I made sure it was eating first) and is in the DT. The way it is going, it won't surprise me if the falcula just quits eating for no apparent reason some day and dies, but I hope I am wrong.
Your fish concerns me if it hasn't eaten for a week. I would try live brine shrimp, live blackworms and a fresh clam on the half shell from the grocery store, plus some chopped fresh shrimp (from the grocery store) and mysis. If those don't work, try fresh mussel on the half shell from the grocery store and Cyclop-eeze from the fish store. Also flakes and pellets, both with and without garlic and Selcon. Please report back on whether it starts eating.
If the fish eats from a shell, some people have had success making a paste of various foods, freezing it in the shell, and putting the frozen concoction in the tank.
Dr Colliebreath
New member
Nice variety of reef butterflies, John! You don't happen to know how I can convince my double saddleback to leave my few soft corals alone (so I can see whether the saddleback and falcula bother them), do you? :idea:
copps
Premium Member
Gracias Manny!
Which soft corals? I do an entire talk on angelfish in reef aquariums because it is more of a complex issue than the 50/50 shot people talk about... and much of that applies to butterflies also...
Dr Colliebreath
New member
I have green star polyps, a toadstool polyp, plus a button polyp (like this http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+599+670&pcatid=670 ). None have opened since a couple of days after the double saddleback (ulietensis) was introduced to the tank, and I saw it go after the corals, so I think the double saddleback butterflyfish is the problem. All of the corals were doing fine previously.
I haven't tried introducing more corals, although I have thought of trying a couple of small mushrooms so see what happens.
The fish are fed 4x per day. It turns out that the ulietensis is a very aggressive eater (as is the saddleback).
I haven't tried introducing more corals, although I have thought of trying a couple of small mushrooms so see what happens.
The fish are fed 4x per day. It turns out that the ulietensis is a very aggressive eater (as is the saddleback).
jjk_reef00
New member
Copps that Prognathodes guyanensis is one amazing fish!
jjk_reef00
New member
Thanks Dr. Colliebreath. I've tried just about everything except live brine and Blackworms. I will try this weekend. He picks here and there but doesn't eat aggressively like the other B/F's I've had in the past.
scionreefing
New member
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Id be really interested to hear this John. Any chance its on video any where or maybe you wrote an article? It would be a great addition to this thread too.
copps
Premium Member
Frank, it sounds like you may have to remove the ulietensis, or the corals... or wait and see if your corals adapt to the picking... soft corals can survive a while without opening...
Brett, I do not have that lecture on tape... my recent TOTM article touches on it... does your local club bring in speakers? If so I'd love to come out to Arizona... I was last there as a kid when my best friend moved from Jersey to Tuscon... my father flew with me to Denver and got me on the plane to Tuscon where I met my friend... I remember I bought a rubber band wooden gun at Tombstone that then got confiscated by the TSA on my way back!:sad1:
I've spoken in over 20 states now... but not Arizona... and this time I'll check my rubber band gun!:fun4:
Brett, I do not have that lecture on tape... my recent TOTM article touches on it... does your local club bring in speakers? If so I'd love to come out to Arizona... I was last there as a kid when my best friend moved from Jersey to Tuscon... my father flew with me to Denver and got me on the plane to Tuscon where I met my friend... I remember I bought a rubber band wooden gun at Tombstone that then got confiscated by the TSA on my way back!:sad1:
I've spoken in over 20 states now... but not Arizona... and this time I'll check my rubber band gun!:fun4:scionreefing
New member
What's a good b/f to have in a 5ft. tank with mainly sps with limited brains (favia,favite,lobophyllia,and acans. And zoos.
Raffle grabber
Raffle grabber
dave willmore
New member
Has anyone kept a school of Heniochus diphreutes the schooling bannerfish? They are a butterfly that feeds predominantly on zooplankton.
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