butterfly question......

[n8ureman]

I know that butterfly fish ( Genus Chaetodon) are a BIG no-no in reeftanks but I`m curious if anyone has tried a pearlscale butterfly in thier reef. The only reason i`m even asking is because I was reading in A guide to angelfishes and butterflyfishes that the two most "common"species available ( C. xanthurus and C. mertensii) both feed on "small benthic invertebrates and algae". And not coral polyps like most butterflys. If anyone has an experience with ethier of these fish in a reef situation I would like to read what they were like in your tank.

 

[mogley1]

I'm actually in the middle of a little experiment with a C. xanthurus as we speak. He is in a 80g mixed reef with mostly soft and lps but have some monti caps and one pocillopora. The tank had quite a few aiptasia which he wiped out in a matter of days. Once the aiptasia was gone he did start to pick at some corals, button polyps first, zoanthids and my trachy geofry. At first he would not touch any food that I fed so I put some freshwater clams in which he attacked readily. Next I tried to ween him off of the clams, mixed success here. Slowly but surely he's eating out of the water column. I hoping once he feeds on a regular basis out of the h2o column he will stop picking at the corals. But I believe the only way to do this is to feed several times a day. I'll keep you posted.

 

[thor32766]

sounds interesting.

 

[n8ureman]

Thanks for the info mogley1. Hopefully if my LFS has one this weekend I will pick him up. I will keep you posted as well as to my progress. I will be putting him in the 100 gallon LPS/softie tank. (fingers crossed that he dosent go too crazy on the corals!)

 

[JamesJR]

Hey I have kept both the mertensii and the xanthurus. The Xanthurus nipped to no end. The mertensii was in a FOWLR tank so no real knowledge there but I bet you he would. they are almost the same fish.

 

[mogley1]

n8ureman, if I were you I would hold off awhile, give me another month or so and I can give you more information.