Heniochus acuminatus

[GrendelPrime76]

i've been following the butterflys in reefs thread and was wondering if anybody has a Heniochus acuminatus in a mixed reef and what was the outcome as far as nipping, a lfs has 1 in stock for a few weeks and looks great and eating a variety of foods, tank is a 90g with 30 gal sump and only other fish in my tank is a marine betta

 

[AfricaOffroad]

Not a reef safe butterfly

 

[GrendelPrime76]

ok ty for the reply Africaoffroad, looks like my tank is to small to house 1 for long anyways

 

[Curious George]

Just wanted to mention that LA recommends a 50 gallon minimum. While I think that is a little on the low end of a fish that can attain 10 inches, I feel 6inches would be more of a realistic max size in the home aquarium. The are really a great fish and very hardy. Not reef safe though, so I guess that shoots it down for you. I had one and am thinking of another. They are a lot of fun to watch.

 

[GrendelPrime76]

yeah i think there a great looking fish but after doing more research it looks like its almost a sure thing for him to eat my lps

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Mine would only eat my zoas in my mixed reef,it was a great fish until it jumped one night.

 

[GrendelPrime76]

dont have many zoas, mostly have softies and lps with a smattering of shrooms and clove polyps

 

[MCCOOL]

You'd be much safer trying a heniochus diphreutes, they are much more reef safe compared to H. acuminatus.

Like you already seem to have realized, a 90g tank isn't really large enough for these fish, as they can grow quickly. I'm a big fan of liveaquaria and purchase from them pretty regularly, but a 50g minimum recommendation for this fish is ridiculous, more like 150g.