Ornate butterflyfish

[Fish_LOVEr]

Visited my LFS to day, saw a beautiful pair of Ornate butteflyfish . I know that they are finicky eater and feeding exclusively on coral polyps but there are some success about these fish by feeding them opened clams . Give me some advice please : buy them or left them in the LFS .:fun2:

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Some fish are better off left in the ocean and I believe this to be one of them. Butterfly fish are my favorite of all marine fish. Do you really want to provide clams everyday for the life of these fish if they won't start eating anything else? Might do a search to see what others that have owned them have to say. Might be cheaper and easier to feed them corals than clams.

 

[snorvich]

For reference, see this. If you wish to feed them SPS polyps for the remainder of their life, go for it. Otherwise, pass. I question the judgement of any LFS that would bring them in and try to sell them.

 

[Fish_LOVEr]

OK , took 5 orderings to get 1 alive. Maybe i should wait until there are some thing that could make this fish eat and remained healthy. Thanks for your advice . And how about the spotted sweetlips ? i know that there are few successful story in keeping them but in Vietnam i can have some hand caught fish so maybe it will be more luck than fish caught by cyanide

 

[snorvich]

OK , took 5 orderings to get 1 alive. Maybe i should wait until there are some thing that could make this fish eat and remained healthy. Thanks for your advice . And how about the spotted sweetlips ? i know that there are few successful story in keeping them but in Vietnam i can have some hand caught fish so maybe it will be more luck than fish caught by cyanide

A spotted sweetlips will not be "pretty" after its juvenile phase and will require a tank much larger than you are providing.

 

[snorvich]

This this.

 

[suta4242]

OK , took 5 orderings to get 1 alive. Maybe i should wait until there are some thing that could make this fish eat and remained healthy...

It's a tough one.
Locally we regularly see very healthy fat ornate butterflys hand caught in QLD. But unfortunately the outcome is the same: offer them acro or monti cap they can browse at all day long and they will live...

OTOH Heard many stories about clams etc...still haven't seen any long term success with one. The time their needs are met with artificial or non coralline foods I look forward to keeping them together with Meyers. Until then I will most likely wait, or if I can't help myself offer the butterfly an ongoing supply of live coral.

:wave:

 

[Plasticgoat]

I second that. My ornate feeds on nls Tera A pellets, together with my racoon and true fulcula butterfly. Other tankmates includes the clown surgeon majestic angel etc

 

[Dmorty217]

I second that. My ornate feeds on nls Tera A pellets, together with my racoon and true fulcula butterfly. Other tankmates includes the clown surgeon majestic angel etc

Do you have a video of this? You must be the only person on earth who has one that eats pellets. Those I know who have purchased one that was eating and put them in a DT the fish quickly reverted back to eating coral

 

[Plasticgoat]

Mine is a fowlr tank. I can take a video for you later it's close to 1am here. I feed my fishes exclusively nls range of pellets. Everyone of em enjoy e pellets including the Harlequin tusk. In Singapore we can acquire fishes at a rather cheap price. I got the ornate for $12usd and it's considered expensive for a butterfly. Fishes from the Philippines, indon red sea region are available ubiquitously. You can get a 7" emperor angel for about $40usd.

 

[suta4242]

I look forward to the video of a fat ornate eating pellets :dance:

Thanks for your time,
Angie

 

[Dmorty217]

How did you get the ornate to eat pellets at all? How many did it take to get this one?

 

[suta4242]

:wave: hi plasticgoat

Just wondering whether you've had a chance to put together that video?

Thanks for your time,
Angie.

 

[hogfanreefer]

It would be so awesome to be able to keep one of these beatuies. I'll be content with looking at my pictures and remembering seeing them in their natural environment.

 

[Dmorty217]

I know of two different people who bought eating Ornates and put them in a SPS tang and that was all she wrote... No more prepared foods

 

[suta4242]

You mean they reverted to their natural diet?
If so, that's no surprise.To me, what would be surprising is to find anyone who has successfully kept one fat and healthy, on a non SPS diet. Not here to start a fight, but the video would clarify plasticgoat's position.

I'm more than happy to be proven wrong, but I don't think getting them to eat non coral foods in small amounts is such a big deal. If the butterflies are freshly caught and in a tank with several other chaetodons they will peck at the odd frozen mysis etc that the facultative corallivores are eating. I have seen this at my LFS.

But getting them to enthusiastically eat enough of this kind of food to maintain them in the long run... Well, I dunno....

 

[Dmorty217]

You mean they reverted to their natural diet?
If so, that's no surprise.To me, what would be surprising is to find anyone who has successfully kept one fat and healthy, on a non SPS diet. Not here to start a fight, but the video would clarify plasticgoat's position.

I'm more than happy to be proven wrong, but I don't think getting them to eat non coral foods in small amounts is such a big deal. If the butterflies are freshly caught and in a tank with several other chaetodons they will peck at the odd frozen mysis etc that the facultative corallivores are eating. I have seen this at my LFS.

But getting them to enthusiastically eat enough of this kind of food to maintain them in the long run... Well, I dunno....

Without force feeding for several weeks or maybe months... Not a chance. I have everything I need to force feed so that's the first problem taken care of. The next is getting a freshly collected corallivore that hasn't starved for weeks. Oh yeah and the whole time involved thing