Longnose butterfly in a reef?

[jaa1456]

I had a Copperband Butterfly in my reef for over 4 years. It survived superstore Sandy and I lost it during a tank upgrade when the heater in the holding tank decided to malfunction. This was in December 2012, I was now looking at the Longnose for my reef and curious if others have had them with success as in not nipping or eating corals. If so what what corals did they go for and do they go after aptasia or manjos as well? I don't see either in my tank but that's what the CBB went into my tank originally for and it took care of the problem. I know it's impossible for any fish to cover every nook and crany in the tank though, so I assume they are there somewhere. Thanks, also I know certain filefish eat them but I'm not interested in any of those. Even if the longnose doesn't eat the pests it would still be a nice addition to the tank, IMO.

 

[Ambition]

Butterflyfish in a reef tank can be perfect citizens one day and become terrors the next. A local reefer had a pair of CBBs that behaved well with corals for a year then all of the sudden took out a good chunk of his LPS collection. My advice for any species that has questionable reef safety is to think about the risk. Are you okay removing corals based on what the fish likes? Do you care more about the fish or the coral?

 

[SDguy]

I had yellow longnoses in my reef. They learned to stick their noses into LPS and eat any food inside, eventually to the detriment of the corals. One of them also enjoyed nipping at the insides of my squamosa clam.

 

[jaa1456]

Like I said I had a CBB for four years. It never touched anything, I don't spot feed my corals either. It's not just butterfly's that will eat the food from the corals but pretty much any fish I have ever had will do that. So that's not really a concern. My question is about longnose butterfly's in particular and I would like to hear from people that have actually had them in a reef. Not from members who have general knowledge of butterfly's, I have that same general knowledge as well.

 

[SDguy]

eventually to the detriment of the corals. One of them also enjoyed nipping at the insides of my squamosa clam.

Meaning they eventually simply started eating the corals (no food present). Obviously there was no food inside the clam from the get go.

 

[FloatingFish]

The Longnose Butterfly I had started to eat my brains and clams shortly after introduction into my tank. The CBB ive had never bothered any corals in my tank.