butterflies in reefs

[LemonLemon]

reefjunkie,

that guy from singapore reef forums was me. and i have since started this thread here to continue the discussion.

i did have a pair of paucifasciatus in my reef where they posed no problems to my LPS and SPS. they did however very quickly decimate any coral that was unhealthy or injured. that included my milliepora and lobophyllia.

i've kept a few species of butterflies in my reef. some with problems and some without. the semeion was a problem but it died mysteriously after months of keeping.

anyway just updating here that i've just decomissioned my tank, but i'm very happy that this thread has grown to a chunky 31 pages and i hope you guys still carry on sharing.

butterflies do make good reef companions. not all, but some. and i've been reading here often and its nice that many people are experimenting on safer species such as longnose and cbbs as well as marginalis. that's great!

 

[aquaph8]

Lemon, sorry to hear you took your tank down, it was one of my favorites. I hope to see you with another setup sometime in the future. Happy reefing!!!

 

[auem]

why lemon!???
planning upgrades..?

 

[SDguy]

Oh man, so sorry to hear you are tankless, lemon

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Sorry to hear your tank is down now. I recall you traveled a lot. Perhaps your travel schedule made a tank impractical or you moved?? Will it be up again in the future?

 

[reeferstace]

^^^this

 

[Amoore311]

Does anybody have experience with the declivis butterfly in a reef? I think they are one of the best looking butterfly's. If anybody keeps them, what is your experience with them?

I've got a Declivis in my 100 Gallon Rimless Reef. The tank doesn't have to many corals in it right now, but what is in there consists of:

Green Hairy Mushrooms that host my clowns.

Aussie Orange Lobos

Various SPS


He doesn't touch any of it at all. He does in fact wreak havoc on aiptasia though.

 

[reefjunkie42]

awe gee lemon that stinks about the tank..thank you for your reply and yes it was you who i remeber reading this from. I am not interested in a lot of butterflies. But I do find the look of chaetodon paucifasciatus very interesting. almost worth risking SPS to keep one. IM on the fence but it doesnt take much to push me off. how are they with other reef inhabitants?

 

[Fin Mike]

Guys, This is a great thread. I've just gone through all 31 pages of it to find out some info on Heniochus chrysostomus. I haven't really found much. I'm hoping you guys can chime in on this fish.

I saw two at my LFS last night. I love this fish and would like to put two in my 120. Its a mixed reef so there are plenty of feeding opportunities for these fish if they decide to eat my corals.

Here are my ?'s: How likely are these guys to eat my corals? Should I put two together? Will they eventually get two big for my tank?

If you all could give me your .02, I would appreciate it.

BTW, SDGuy. Thanks for the advice concerning the flatworms on the hammer. They certainly didn't like being in that dip. It didn't get them all, but I added a melanarus wrasse last night to finish the job. :beer:

 

[mhowe9]

Lemon sorry to hear that you have taken your tank down. Even though I haven't posted here, this thread has provided me much of the inspiration/information for my current butterfly dominated reef display attempt. I will share at some point depending on how its goes.

 

[aquaph8]

Anybody have any info on Blackburni, worth a shot in a reef?

 

[Daniel Reef]

Oh no, Lemon, why? I equated this thread with you all the time. Post some pics for old time's sake.

 

[yaron]

Hi,
I have a 400gal mixed reef with sps,soft corals and lots of lps...
After going over this and other threads i decided and got a Tinkerii & Burgessi..
Now they are having a good time in the QT tank.
What are my chances with the two beauties if i have all the meaty LPS like:
Acanthastrea, Acanthophyllia, Elegance, Candy
cane, Cynarina, Goniopora, Lobophyllia, Bubble coral, Scolymia, Trachyphyllia, Symphyllia......??
Am i crazy throwing them in ?

THANKS !!!

 

[SDguy]

I say go for it. In that size tank, and nipping will get spread around pretty well, so hopefully it won't be an issue. But like I always say, have a fish trap handy, and know how to use it, just in case

 

[aquaph8]

With that line up of LPS, they're gonna nip some stuff. You just have to decide what's more important to you. I would go for it too, those are two of my favorites and it's worth some nipping IMO.

 

[Triple One]

With that line up of LPS, they're gonna nip some stuff. You just have to decide what's more important to you. I would go for it too, those are two of my favorites and it's worth some nipping IMO.

hey brett,

do you still have the muelleri? i am trying to find one and i saw your search from 2009 bore you a pretty fish... how is it behaving?

just wondering what your thoughts are... or any of you for that matter.

i have a few small aiptasia (ion content is low enough that they don't seem to be growing) left over from my first trio of peppermints. no peppermints since have touched them, and two CBBs have come and gone without showing any interest. i know i don't have enough aiptasia to justify berghia and for the price i'd rather have a fish anyway. plus, i have a few little hydroid joshua trees under one rock and there's at least a chance a butterfly would dig those...

i really like the sound of the muelleri from what i've read, but i also really like my lobo, acans, fungia, war coral, tridacna clams, etc... and i have a few promising little acropora frags that i'd hate to see get eaten, though if it only nipped them a little they would grow better anyway... but like the story goes, nothing seems to take care of my aiptasia all the way. i've heard fairy tales of muelleri butterflies living for decades. what's your story?

i can't trust a filefish... and i wonder if a kleinii would be better than a muelleri? i think the muelleri is much prettier but i'm willing to sacrifice form for function. i'm unsure what my next pick should be...

oh you who are the vast universe of butterfly keepers, i beseech you, help a lowly amateur benefit from your wisdom and risk...

 

[Daniel Reef]

Live Aquaria's Divers Den has a Muelleri for $180.

 

[Squidmotron]

Would an 80 degree tank be a problem for a Muelleri? I noticed that LiveAquaria lowered it's usual temperature recommendation for that fish (but only slightly).

 

[aquaph8]

hey brett,

do you still have the muelleri? i am trying to find one and i saw your search from 2009 bore you a pretty fish... how is it behaving?

just wondering what your thoughts are... or any of you for that matter.

i have a few small aiptasia (ion content is low enough that they don't seem to be growing) left over from my first trio of peppermints. no peppermints since have touched them, and two CBBs have come and gone without showing any interest. i know i don't have enough aiptasia to justify berghia and for the price i'd rather have a fish anyway. plus, i have a few little hydroid joshua trees under one rock and there's at least a chance a butterfly would dig those...

i really like the sound of the muelleri from what i've read, but i also really like my lobo, acans, fungia, war coral, tridacna clams, etc... and i have a few promising little acropora frags that i'd hate to see get eaten, though if it only nipped them a little they would grow better anyway... but like the story goes, nothing seems to take care of my aiptasia all the way. i've heard fairy tales of muelleri butterflies living for decades. what's your story?

i can't trust a filefish... and i wonder if a kleinii would be better than a muelleri? i think the muelleri is much prettier but i'm willing to sacrifice form for function. i'm unsure what my next pick should be...

oh you who are the vast universe of butterfly keepers, i beseech you, help a lowly amateur benefit from your wisdom and risk...

Mine is my favorite fish I've ever owned. I don't have any aptasia anymore so I can't really comment on that. I keep almost all SPS, and the only coral he had touched is my Stylo but nothing too bad. The only place I've seen them for sale lately has been LADD, Id jump on it cause they seem to disappear and not resurface from time to time. As far as being reef safe I would call them one of the safest. HTH

 

[Njoy]

Wow, cant beleive I just read 32 pages haha
good job guys!

So my CBB died last night; got stuck into my mp60. he was my 3rd one and all died because of my mp60

i have a 220g (6 feet long).

I wanan try another butterfly that is a better swimmer and would eat apstasia if one dares to come out. (apstasia is the only thing i hate about this hobby) haha

I have a mixed reef, no zoa, mush can get eaten and i can remove my anemones as well

what would you guys suggest?