Chaetodon ornatissimus

[caribfan]

So you think that brown mess is shrimp paste? Where do you get/ how do you make shrimp paste.

I like the feeding box idea that the one guy who kept a larvatus did . You could definitely implement that in a DT with the right amount of time and training. Most people don't want to do that though.

Where did you get your larvatus from? I generally have a lot of free time around Christmas. I was considering asking Kevin to get one conditioned for me to have available then.

 

[SDguy]

I like the feeding box idea that the one guy who kept a larvatus did . You could definitely implement that in a DT with the right amount of time and training. Most people don't want to do that though.

Where did you get your larvatus from? I generally have a lot of free time around Christmas. I was considering asking Kevin to get one conditioned for me to have available then.

So you can't keep any other butterflies of that same size though, right? They'll just go into the box too...

I got mine from LADD. Came in great shape, but definitely didn't swallow anything but clam, of everything it pecked at.

 

[caribfan]

That's probably true, although larvatus seem more slender than the other butterflies. Maybe not if they are well fed though.

 

[pktech]

Peter - Would you say you had to sort of "babysit" the lavartus or monitor it more often than your other specimens? How was it's behavior - interacting with with the others, hanging in a corner, coming out when the lights went dim? Sorry for the questions & apologize if you've answered these questions elsewhere - the coffee hasn't kicked in yet ..

 

[SDguy]

Peter - Would you say you had to sort of "babysit" the lavartus or monitor it more often than your other specimens? How was it's behavior - interacting with with the others, hanging in a corner, coming out when the lights went dim? Sorry for the questions & apologize if you've answered these questions elsewhere - the coffee hasn't kicked in yet ..

I'd say it acted like any other healthy butterfly fish, except it wouldn't eat much. Try as it may, it just wouldn't swallow food easily. There were certain parts of the clam it even preferred . But every swallow was a struggle, with the classic swimming backward, while moving the head side to side, motions. I see this behavior with newly imported butterflies at first. Usually goes away after a few days.

It was alone in the 15g QT. No strange behavior of note.

 

[caribfan]

I noticed that head shaking behavior on my smallest Venustus when it tried to eat mysis. Cyclopeeze seemed to be the answer for it. I wonder if you could train one to eat frozen cyclopeeze out of a clam shell, and then eventually from the water column.

 

[Dmorty217]

I'd call him out on this without seeing an actual video. Trust me, if they were eating he'd have a video up and they'd sell all those coralivores in a few seconds.

Really easy these days...just pull out the phone and take a video.

He has one ornate and one Arabian. He wouldn't of randomly emailed me and told me that for no reason, oh and the fish would have starved to death by now since he has had them for 2 weeks and they came from a supplier who I'm sure didn't attempt to feed them so we will call it a month now. Notice the Meyers aren't on his list anymore... That's because he wasn't able to get them to eat and they did die.

 

[Big E]

He has one ornate and one Arabian. He wouldn't of randomly emailed me and told me that for no reason, oh and the fish would have starved to death by now since he has had them for 2 weeks and they came from a supplier who I'm sure didn't attempt to feed them so we will call it a month now. Notice the Meyers aren't on his list anymore... That's because he wasn't able to get them to eat and they did die.

That's all good & fine, but I'm talking from experience in getting Bf's to feed and what it takes to keep them long term. There are certain signs you can see when they're on video trying to eat and whether they are surviving or thriving.

A healthy BF can live a good 4-6 weeks without food and that's counting from the day it hits your tank.

Just trying to spare you some frustration/disappointment.

LIke Peter mentioned about the swimming backwards and shimmying. That's a classic sign of a BF that wants to eat but the food isn't quite the right texture, smell, taste, ect.

 

[caribfan]

Question for anyone here - Minced clam, shrimp paste, etc ... whenever I've tried some of these methods - the food floats away not only creating a huge mess, but everyone else eats what's intended for the BF - packing it into a clam shell, smearing it on a coral skeleton - even freezing it doesn't help much for me.

On another note ...

I had a plan to go to NYA earlier this week, but "work" happened & I couldn't. If I go soon, I could let interested parties know what I see & report back to you with first hand accounts. PM me. I asked Michael about a Lavartus & it looks like he's got them.

Are you still planning to go? I'd be curious to know how the Arabian is doing.

 

[Dmorty217]

That's all good & fine, but I'm talking from experience in getting Bf's to feed and what it takes to keep them long term. There are certain signs you can see when they're on video trying to eat and whether they are surviving or thriving.

A healthy BF can live a good 4-6 weeks without food and that's counting from the day it hits your tank.

Just trying to spare you some frustration/disappointment.

LIke Peter mentioned about the swimming backwards and shimmying. That's a classic sign of a BF that wants to eat but the food isn't quite the right texture, smell, taste, ect.

I'm not going to attempt either one of them, don't have the time to dedicate to them right now. I do however agree with what you are saying

 

[SDguy]

Not to be a huge stalker, but I actually found a thread where he supposedly shared his secret with Rare Angels. I don't know him, but I know he's active on this site. I've thought about sending him a PM, but don't want to sound like a nutjob.

Rare angels has just posted recently on the personatus thread and Humaguy's thread under aggressive fish. I would reach out to him you have nothing to lose and he has nothing to gain from keeping it a secret if you will

Anyone ever find anything out about this?

 

[Dmorty217]

I haven't but I would love to know the secret

 

[SDguy]

Haven't you seen Kung Fu Panda? There is no secret ingredient!

 

[pktech]

I haven't but I would love to know the secret

LOVE! & when that fails, lot's & lot's of corals ... :lol2:

 

[SDguy]

LOVE!

:lol:

 

[pktech]

:lol:

I couldn't find the sarcastic icon hehehe ...

 

[Dmorty217]

NYAquatics has them again right now and I already have a Declivis on the way next week along with a Mitratus hopefully (should know Monday) so what's adding another fish you know??

 

[caribfan]

I'll send them a pm later.

 

[caribfan]

PM sent, we'll see if there is some super secret knowledge out there..

One can only hope.

 

[Dmorty217]

PM sent, we'll see if there is some super secret knowledge out there..

One can only hope.

Yes and not involving SPS corals