Butterflies with SPS

[SDguy]

Theory is great!

But there is probably a reason you don't see some of the most beautiful, commonly available fish in the hobby littering SPS tanks worldwide. But hey, since I'm definitely not going to do it, I encourage you to try it (especially before recommending it to someone else), and report back your results

 

[LemonLemon]

will try it in my new tank definitely. have tried it in my old tank too, but only for a few months so it's too short too take into consideration perhaps?

actually most people may be hesitant to try maybe because of the misconception that they are really destructive in the reefs. that's what most of the people think in my local forum anyway.

to be honest, most of them are. actively picking at the SPS may cause stress even though the polyps are not harmed.

but the ones listed above are very safe. the copperbands, longnose, prognathodes, pyramids are some of the best. they really don't and can't do much damage to SPS at all with those mouths. tubeworms are a feast for them though! except maybe the pyramid.

LPS however, there might be some debate on that. because as far as i know, there have been some cases, although rare, of copperbands/longnose etc picking on LPS.

for the tinkeri complex, these are definitely a hit or miss and tendency to nip LPS is very high, although probably not much to cause damage.

They are very greedy, active in reality and are always picking on stuff. so picking on SPS is a definite. but they don't actually eat the polyps, but can stress the SPS if the picking is relentless.