Butterfly tank

[OneArmedBandit]

First off, I know this may belong in the FOWLR forum but it seems that all of the Butterfly talk is in the "Reef Fish" forum for some reason...

I decided a while ago that I wanted to house mainly Butterflyfish in my tank so I went the FOWLR route. My setup consists of a 145 gal. display (72” L x 26” H x 18” D) and a 75 gal. sump (about 50 gal. actual water volume). I have well over 300 lbs. of live rock between the display and the sump. I’ve done quite a bit of my own research on these fish and have chosen fish with distinctly different body shapes to combat aggression to this point.

Here is my current stock list:

Lemon Butterfly
Burgess’ Butterfly
Copperband Butterfly

Pair of Purple Firefish
Occy Clown
Golden Midas Blenny

The Butterflies currently in the tank seem to get along famously even as far as hanging out together. Every time I look at the tank I’m reminded of Allan’s song in The Hangover: “We’re the three best friends that anybody could have and we will never ever ever ever ever leave each other”. Unfortunately, I fear that adding one more Butterfly may upset this comradery.

I’d like to add a Pearlscale Butterfly, based on what I’ve read they tend to share space well with other Butterflies. I’d love to add a Blackback Butterfly but read that they should be the only Butterfly in the tank. A Pakistan, Semilivartus and Saddleback are on my short list too but with the exception of the Semi, I somewhat worry about compatibility/ aggressiveness.

What are your experiences mixing Butterflies? I appreciate any info you can provide. –Steve

 

[AuroraDrvr]

The Semi & Saddleback are the more aggressive out of the three you've listed, with the Saddleback being the most aggressive by far.

From your listed I'd add:

Pearlscale
Pakistani x2 (Do a pair!)
Semilavartus

You could add another Semilavartus if you wanted to pair it up, also. Another underrated butterfly is the Tahitian Butterfly, which is peaceful. You could also pair up your Burgess pretty easily.


From my list I'd add:

Tahitian (or Kleini) Butterflies x2
Pakastani Butterflies x2
Burgess Butterfly (to pair with current)

 

[OneArmedBandit]

Thought about the Tahitian but lean towards the Pakistan because it has some red in it. I'm also contemplating a Foureye (Chaetodon capistratus), an Indian Vagabond (Chaetodon decussatus), a Bluestripe (Chaetodon fremblii) or a latticed Butterfly. Not all of them, just 1 or 2... -Steve

 

[SDguy]

I can share my experiences...

In my first FO I had one auriga, one ulietensis, and one ephippium. All great fish, very hardy. The auriga and ulietensis ended up fighting more and more, until finally I had to remove one. I am assuming it was the similar color that was the issue, since the saddleback was never a problem.

In my current FO I have a melannotus, a ephippium, a pair of yellow longnoses, and a H. diphreutes. The blackback is the most aggressive of the bunch. I think I would have a problem if I wanted to add another yellow/white butterfly of the same shape. These fish are all relatively new, so who knows what time will show...