chaetodon larvatus progress

[Big E]

Peter,

You'll find this a good read from Sustainable Aquatics, who raised 10mm sized C. plebius that I believe Kevin sold when they got bigger.

It explains a lot about their practices in raising larval corallivores. They might be the best bet for hobbyists to have healthy specimens already eating prepared food. Of course thay aren't going to tell anyone what they were feeding the fish other than a blend of their own foods.

It's been a couple of years since I have heard any advancements from them.

http://www.sustainableaquatics.com/products/sustainable-islands-facilities/butterflies/

 

[SDguy]

Peter,

You'll find this a good read from Sustainable Aquatics, who raised 10mm sized C. plebius that I believe Kevin sold when they got bigger.

It explains a lot about their practices in raising larval corallivores. They might be the best bet for hobbyists to have healthy specimens already eating prepared food. Of course thay aren't going to tell anyone what they were feeding the fish other than a blend of their own foods.

It's been a couple of years since I have heard any advancements from them.

http://www.sustainableaquatics.com/products/sustainable-islands-facilities/butterflies/

We actually had Kevin Gaines come talk to our local club about this exact topic. It was very interesting.

 

[shay]

Damselfish groups on Diver's Den

Damselfish groups on Diver's Den

May be off topic, but I have an issue with DD selling damsels in small groups. I believe it is irresponsible practice and a cynical marketing ploy. It really bothers me to see this being done since in nearly one hundred percent of cases the Damsels will kill each other off until one remains.

 

[MrTuskfish]

May be off topic, but I have an issue with DD selling damsels in small groups. I believe it is irresponsible practice and a cynical marketing ploy. It really bothers me to see this being done since in nearly one hundred percent of cases the Damsels will kill each other off until one remains.

IMO & IME, very cynical reasoning. I don't think I've ever seen any language even close to " cynical marketing ploy" when talking about DD, or any of the F&S companies. I don't know of any more responsible group of companies in the hobby. Many/most people buy damsels in groups and not all species are killers.

All the listings on DD are WYSIWYG, one of a kind. If you add the cost of getting these fish from California to Rhinelander, Wis, plus the special treatment for DD fish, the guarantee costs, and the relatively low cost of damsels; I doubt DD makes a nickle on listings like this. Hardly the place for a "cynical marketing ploy".

 

[shay]

You make some good points but the fact is that if DD sells these fish in groups they can charge more for them than if they sold them individually. Even if they did not make more profit selling them this way then they can entice aquarists to buy these fish thinking that these Damsels are going to coexist peacefully in their tanks when most probably these fish won't. The stellar reputation of DD keeps some of us from pointing out what are possible questionable practices (as rare as they are) on their part.

 

[skraj011]

i've always been very satisfied with all DD and F&S purchases. their customer service is beyond reproach.

I think it is the customer's responsibility to research the animals before he/she purchases them. I bought the larvatus with eyes wide open.

 

[Fishfirst]

shay which species of damsel are you refering to? In a larger system there is no reason a group of them cannot setup areas to defend all around the tank. Also pairs of damsels are often formed by getting a larger group and letting things "work themselves out"

 

[skraj011]

My larvartus is still looking good. I continue to feed ova & brine. He is still not eating vigorously at all, but he hasn't lost any appreciable weight.

I really do think one of the keys with this fish is to house them with passive tank mates.

 

[SDguy]

How often are you feeding?

 

[skraj011]

How often are you feeding?

Once a day currently

 

[SDguy]

IMO that's not going to cut it, especially seeing as you already mention that he's not eating with gusto.

 

[jjk_reef00]

IMO that's not going to cut it, especially seeing as you already mention that he's not eating with gusto.

+1 you should try to up it to at least 2-3 times a day

 

[SDguy]

I was feeding mine every 30-60 minutes starting at around 3:30pm til lights out around 9:00pm. Still not enough.

 

[Big E]

I believe you can be fine with 3-4 times a day, especially if you can get some clam or meaty stuff in him. It's gonna starve once a day on that current diet.

Sustainable aquatics was growing small Chaetodon plebeius larvae at 4 times a day. I don't know what kind of food they were using.

 

[SDguy]

I'm not sure why you'd disregard my experience and Kevin's specific direction regarding frequency of feeding, Ed. But ok...

 

[skraj011]

my larvatus has become much more comfortable over the last week. He's eating ova with more vigor now, but still not eating much else (that I can see).

 

[jjk_reef00]

That is good to hear, how are you feeding it, do you stick it onto a rock and let him graze?

 

[Big E]

I'm not sure why you'd disregard my experience and Kevin's specific direction regarding frequency of feeding, Ed. But ok...

Sorry Peter..........didn't mean to come off as disregarding your experience..........I was just adding input from SA & my opinion on the subject.

No offense what so ever to you or Kevin. I just believe a healthy BF that is eating should be able to take more food in at each feeding & not require to be fed hourly. Especially if they are in a dedicated tank & there aren't other greedy tankmates gobbling up the food before it gets a chance to eat it.

If I'm going to keep a BF that's a deliberate eater & picks uneaten food off the bottom, I'm only going to house it with smaller tankmates that eat only in the water column & not off the bottom or rocks.

I'm definately not disagreeing..........if you can set up an hourly type feeder than can dispense their food automatically I'm all for it.

Video from this thread.......
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2064257&highlight=happy+birthday
You can see them greedily ripping up the clam but the small mouths can't take in the big chunks. They need time to go back & pick those bit up off the bottom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsS4TWPfe9c

You can see how slow & deliberate this guy is...................he needs time to gobble the food up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8uwmx_p910

 

[heckel90]

Over the last few months LADD has sold a handful of orange-faced butterfly fish (C. larvatus).

I think it would be interesting to hear about how they are doing.

I received mine 3 weeks ago and put him in my 90 gallon fowlr. It has about 40 pounds of live rock with sand, sump but no skimmer, no fuge yet. It has been up and running for ~2 years. the preexisting inhabitants were: a golden pygmy angel, a hologymnosus wrasse, 3 smallish carberryi anthias, and a diamond goby.

First off he is quite skittish. He didn't eat anything offered for the first 2-3 days, i tried frozen hikari spirulina brine, frozen ocean nutrition mysis (both of which he was apparently eating at LADD), a variety of flakes,and NLS pellets.

then I tried nutramar ova which he will eat, but not super aggressively. he will occassionally sample a brine shrimp, but invariably spits it out. He constantly scans the rock and picks at it.

Luckily, there has been 0 aggression between any of the inhabitants, as I don't think he could survive if he was getting bullied. He doesn't seem to have lost any weight and isn't showing any obvious signs of stress or disease.

Hi skraj, I think you should have investigated a little more about this fish before buying it. a few years ago the regal angelfish was almost impossible to maintain but now, many reefers do it with sucess. the obligate coral eater butterflies are not in the same list as the regal angel. they are more than dificult to care. in general the butterflyfish on sale are omnivorous.

I think these butterfly fish could "do it well" in huge sps reef tanks (more than 260 gallons) with live rock, low bioload of fish, and sunlight.

I have only seen a obligate coral eater butterfly in reeftanks in these pictures...Chaetodon plebeius and trifasciatus.
but I dont know if they are well.

this is my 50 cents: obligate coral eater butterflyfish:

Chaetodon trifascialis
Chaetodon trifasciatus
Chaetodon meyeri
Chaetodon ornatissimus
Chaetodon baronessa
Chaetodon larvatus
Chaetodon austriacus
Chaetodon melapterus
Chaetodon benetti
Chaetodon plebeius
Chaetodon reticulatus

may be in a few years we could care well this kind of butterflies...

 

[skraj011]

the larvatus is getting more and more bold. He's pretty much out in the open all the time now. He's more aggressively picking at the rock and substrate. He's also eating the ova out of the water column much more effectively.

I've had him for 7 weeks now. His color and thickness haven't changed since he arrived. While he has gotten more bold, there is still no aggression in the system.

Happily, my C. aurantia is doing great and has become much more comfortable over the last 6 months as well. Their coloration complement each other well.