Do Butterflies Eat After Lights Out?

[Beverly]

I notice that our latticed butterfly cruising the tank (in the living room) after lights out, while the other fish have gone to sleep. He's kind of small compared to the other fish and is being slightlly bullied by our new dwarf angel.

For awhile, each morning, I cut a scallop cut in half, scored it, wrapped an onion bag tighly around the scallop pieces so scallop pieces proturded from the onion bag, then secured each piece with an elastic onto separate rocks. Each rock was placed on opposite sides of the tank out of sight from the other. Scallops were removed a couple of hours before lights out so they wouldn't foul the tank.

At first only the dwarf angel ate the scallops, but soon the butterfly joined in. The angel quickly went into territioriality mode and chased the butterfly away from BOTH pieces of scallop, though the stealthy butterfly would eat the scallops when the angel wasn't looking

I have since stopped giving them the scallop pieces because they just seemed to be causing trouble between the angel and butterfly, and the angel has settled down a bit with his territorial issues.

However, I think the small butterfly could use the extra nourishment. Do you think if I put a piece of scallop in after lights out (and removed it before we go to bed) that the butterfly would eat it after lights out?

Thanks for your learned opinions

 

[Rondelet]

Beverly,

Our Lattice appears very active long after "lights out" as well. In fact, my wife asked the other day if it ever slept! They seem to be incredibly active fish. My guess is that they are very visual in their foraging and eating habits. However, I've never fed them after lights out as they eat so much during the day. The Lattice in particular is a glutton. I think the best way to answer your question would be to simply try it one or two nights and observe what happens. Another suggestion would be to cut the scallops in smaller pieces (which Butterflies handle very well) and put the food in at opposite ends of the tank to separate the fish. I do this as the larger fish in my tank tend to out compete the smaller firefish (which are skittish and always keep their distance).

 

[Beverly]

Rondelet,

I have tried putting two rocks with scallop on each of them at opposite sides of the tank and out of sight of the other, as mentioned in my post. The problem becomes that the larger, more aggressive dwarf angel lords over the whole tank with that configuration of food. Even with one rock with scallop attached, the angel is aggressive.

BTW, our butterfly is only 2.5" long, so he/she's probably the smallest fish in the tank. And because of it's small mouth, it tries to eat like a demon at feeding times, while the larger mouthed fish casually eat what takes the little guy much longer to eat.

Was hoping others had experience with their butterflies eating stationary food at night so I wouldn't be wasting my time putting food in that wouldn't be eaten. However, I can certainly follow your suggestion of putting some scallop for a few nights and observing the outcome. Will report what I observe.

Here's a video featuring the xenia in the butterfly's tank which also shows lots of fish interaction....

120g Xenia and Fish
(320 x 240 pixels, 21.3 MB, 4:34 minutes)

 

[Rondelet]

Beverly,

Nice video - your Xenia look great. I don't know, but I may be feeding my fish too much as the minute I walk up to the tank they all rush to the front/top water layer waiting for food. They've become very Pavlovian! Where the Lattice is concerned, and mine is about 3.5 inches, I find it struggles with larger pieces and has to carry them around and break them up due to the small size of his mouth. My Regal Angel, if he is hungry (and often is), will rip these right out of his mouth if he takes too long (the Regal is a little pugnacious). So I find if I cut some pieces very small the Lattice will eat a lot very quickly. The Regal (the biggest in the tank) and other fish (smaller than the Lattice - except for one) go for the bigger chunks. Thus, my suggestion to consider cutting up the scallops into very small bits. However, if you fish aren't coming up to eat, then this may not work.

Food for thought (har har).

 

[Beverly]

Rondelet,

The butterfly won't go near small pieces of PE mysis. Only goes after the bigger stuff. But he/she's quick and does manage to get quite a bit of food, considering the small mouth.

And our fish are ready to eat at any time, like I haven't fed them for a week or something Actually feed twice a day. Instead of putting all the food in at once, I break it into 4-5 mini feedings, twice a day, giving the butterfly a better chance at getting his/her fill.

Am getting ready to put the prepared scallop in the tank tonight. Will let you know how it turns out

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

My Raccoon would probably eat 24/7 if I would let him! I place algae strips in the tank before lights on and if there is any left, he'll eat after lights off.....sometime in the wee hours of the morning he goes in his cave, but as soon as he sees me he's pacing the front glass

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

BTW, Great video...your Wrasse is quite a ham!!

 

[Beverly]

Kim,

When I first started the video, it was supposed to be about our new solarensis wrasse. But he/she did not cooperate by being in focus very often. Then I thought the xenia would make a better video because it would remain in focus. Took tons of footage and edited it all down so there were fish in each segment. And, of course, still wanting the wrasse in lots of the video, I chose to edit him/her in where ever I could

Anyway, tried the scallop attached to a rock last night. It was a total failure Stupid agressive dwarf angel could smell the food. Not that he/she was eating any of it, though, but he/she wouldn't let the butterfly near it. After an hour of feeling the butterfly's angst, we pulled the scallop.

Today, though, I put in two rocks with scallop on them in opposite sides of the tank. The dwarf angel is still very territorial over the food, but the butterfly is getting some great feeding opportunities when he/she knows the angel isn't looking. So, I guess I'm going to go back to the daytime scallop in the tank for awhile to see how the territorial dynamics play out.

As a side note, the wrasse is pretty interested in the scallop too and has been observed grabbing a bite or two from time to time. That'll probably tick of the angel even more, but what are ya gonna do

 

[Rondelet]

Actually, if the wrasse takes an interest in the scallop this may be a good thing. It will disperse the Angel's aggression redirecting it away from your Butterfly. Sounds like you're making progressââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

 

[Beverly]

Have been watching the tank off and on for most of the day. The angel pigged out so much, he/she can barely swim this afternoon The butterfly and wrasse look like they've had their fill, as well.

When I set up the scallop on two rocks previously, they both stank badly when I took them out after 9-10 hours in the tank. Am kind of thinking it might be a good idea to remove the scallop much earlier so they aren't eating possibly fouled food.

Yes, having the wrasse eating the scallop might help diffuse the whole aggression thing with the angel. It's too early too tell, but will continue offering scallop for the next week or two at least. I'd like the scallop to be part of their normal diets, especially for the butterfly, who I think isn't being fed enough despite my best efforts.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

My Raccoon is 'queen of the tank'. Total opposite of yours..But my Raccoon is the biggest. She chases both Argi Angels away from HER algae strips , as a matter of fact, chases all fish off except my Iridis Wrasse
I had a Solar Wrasse in the same tank but the Raccoon harrassed the poor thing nonstop, all day! My Wrasse is very skittish, even the ocellaris Clowns scare him I moved him to my 90
What kind of Dwarf Angel do you have?

 

[Beverly]

Kim,

I have a rusty dwarf angel and it is still eating a lot today. Am only going to restrict the length of time the scallop is in the tank. Once the scallop is no longer present, the territorial issues subside quite a bit.

The solar wrasse isn't being harrassed at all by the angel, but the butterfly will chase it off from the scallop that the angel pretty much leaves alone. Even though the angel is leaving it alone, though, he/she still considers that scallop part of its territory. Still, the wrasse is getting some good eats and is fattening up before my eyes. And the butterfly is eating well off of it when it's not playing spy vs. spy with the angel :rollface:

Funny, funny fish :lol: