Mixing Butterflies with Angels
- Thread starter Greg129
- Start date
I have no fish, corals, or even a cleanup crew yet. The tank has been setup for almost two months now with liverock from my first failed attempt at saltwater. I'll probably pick up a cleanup crew this weekend and maybe a fish. Orginally the tank was going to be a soft coral reef, but I don't feel my 192 watt PC lighting is strong enough considering the tank is 2 feet deep. This way I can get some cool non reef-safe fish like a butterfly and a dwarf angel AND have some lighting that will really bring out their colors.
I used to keep things like colt coral, shrooms, polyps in a tank that tall with only standard NO bulbs, so you should be OK with PC for some corals like that if you want. Plus, IME, noxious corals like colt are generally left alone by butterflies and angels.
Billybeau1
Premium Member
I have a racoon butterfly and a flame angel. They get along fine.
Rondelet
New member
I have a Coral Beauty and Lattice Butterfly and they get along fine. However, depending on the dwarf angel you get, you should make sure your tank has been going for a while to give it something to craze on (my CB is non-stop in this respect). Dwarf angels do much better in a well established tank. IME, the butterfly, at least the LB I have, is a different case. First, it is not reef safe at all and ate my zoos and picked at my shrooms within hours of being introduced. Luckily it eats everything I put in the tank like a champ. I think butterflies are great - you just have to decide between them and corals. However, once you've made the choice it will open up a few doors with respect to getting some additional types [of butterflies] (assuming you have the room).
