butterflies in reefs

hey those are some great pictures

I might have to give up feather dusters for a longnose, they are nice fish :D
 
I'm actually a little worried that he's damaging his mouth by hitting it on the side of the tank constantly. Is this a common stress response for butterflies?

Could it be seeing its reflection in the glass and going after the reflection? This is common for fish new to a tank if they see their reflection (frequently, from light outside the tank). My cbb is chasing its reflection in the QT right now.
 
Could it be seeing its reflection in the glass and going after the reflection? This is common for fish new to a tank if they see their reflection (frequently, from light outside the tank). My cbb is chasing its reflection in the QT right now.
I suppose it's possible but since he's been doing that for five days I'd still be worried. My other idea is that maybe the tank is really bright for him. They don't have much lighting on the tanks in the store and I have 2x250w MH. He is in the darkest part of the tank. But now he's really not eating well so that just concerns me more. I'm gonna get some food when I go into work today and we'll try a few different things.
 
Did someone score these??

lg-1012111-297p.jpg
 
Does any know about the Tinkers Butterfly (Chaetodon Tinkeri ) ? I like this fish a lot . I know it's expensive , but heard it was hardy . Can you keep this with corals , clams , and anemones as long as you feed well ? Any info on this fish would be greatly appreciated ! :)
 
drew,

a tinker's butterfly behaves exactly like declivis, burgess and mitratus butterfly. reefsafe wise that is. they all are extremely hardy and will feed with no problem.

as for reefsafeness, they are a hit or miss thing, like dwarf angels, but i have tons of success with my very own mitratus and declivis.
 
here's my very own mitratus butterfly.

exactly 9 months ago, january 13th, it was only the size of a triple A battery.





here you can see she's exactly the size of that battery.

and notice how tiny she is in her QT tank! that wire is the knob of a temperature probe!
 
9 months later, today, october 13th,

she has grown almost 2 times the size and is on her way to adult hood. look how much she has intensified in the yellow coloration! notice also that the black spot on her soft dorsal fin is gone. those only appear on juveniles.



she's not an adult yet but is well on her way. the size of the cleaner shrimp next to her is for comparison. the shrimp is a fully grown big adult lazy greedy shrimp! :)
 
and here's my declivis.

i regretted not taking a photo when i got it. but it was already a big adult and now maybe just added on an extra 0.5 inches?



both the declivis and mitratus have been model citizens in my reef tank.
 
and my fremblii butterfly.

this guy is less reefsafe than the others.

it has a soft spot for my litophyton soft corals. but it does very minimal nipping and the coral is unfazed by it.

BUT IT IS AN ABSOLUTE SNAIL KILLER. LIKE HERE!

 
drew,

a tinker's butterfly behaves exactly like declivis, burgess and mitratus butterfly. reefsafe wise that is. they all are extremely hardy and will feed with no problem.

as for reefsafeness, they are a hit or miss thing, like dwarf angels, but i have tons of success with my very own mitratus and declivis.

Thanks ! I wanna try it , but if I do , would it be better to get s smaller one ? Are the chances of them being reef safe more likely if you get them real small ? Also I've been skimming over your thread for awhile , but how do your butterflies react to anemones and clams ? ( if you have any ) I have a maxima and I was wanting a red bubble tip .
 
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