Pairing butterfly fish
- Thread starter SDguy
- Start date
LukFox
Active member
Something is wrong with my bigger one's beak. It didn't eat today either.
Here's a picture, and notice the raised scales or perhaps even ripped area below the sore looking thing.
Does this look more like some sort of injury (possibly from the smaller butterfly- the dorsal fins are sharp!) or a bacterial infection, if anyone can help on that?
The smaller butterfly continues to do well. The larger one is acting normal aside from not eating. The redness goes to the other side of the beak as well, though it is very dull and barely visible on that side. The side shown in the picture is the worse side. I haven't noticed an increase in aggression between them, but I don't doubt that there is still a little fin flicking when I'm not around and they're getting hungry.
If this is hijacking the thread just let me know. :worried: I thought it would be related in case it is an attack from the other butterfly.
Here's a picture, and notice the raised scales or perhaps even ripped area below the sore looking thing.
Does this look more like some sort of injury (possibly from the smaller butterfly- the dorsal fins are sharp!) or a bacterial infection, if anyone can help on that?
The smaller butterfly continues to do well. The larger one is acting normal aside from not eating. The redness goes to the other side of the beak as well, though it is very dull and barely visible on that side. The side shown in the picture is the worse side. I haven't noticed an increase in aggression between them, but I don't doubt that there is still a little fin flicking when I'm not around and they're getting hungry.
If this is hijacking the thread just let me know. :worried: I thought it would be related in case it is an attack from the other butterfly.
LukFox
Active member
Yeah I read that, but I wasn't sure if it was the same sort of thing. So it looked like this?
[EDIT] I'm not sure if it looks better today (it is very small in person), but both of them ate just now. I think it is even more faded on the opposite side, but I don't know if that's just my wishful eyes. Maybe it really is an injury... Did yours eat while it had something wrong with its beak?
[EDIT] I'm not sure if it looks better today (it is very small in person), but both of them ate just now. I think it is even more faded on the opposite side, but I don't know if that's just my wishful eyes. Maybe it really is an injury... Did yours eat while it had something wrong with its beak?
Last edited:
No, mine did not eat. In fact, it went almost a week before it started eating again. I thought I would lose it for sure.
Keep water quality up, and hopefully it continues to heal on its own. But it doesn't hurt to have a broad spectrum med available, just in case.
Keep water quality up, and hopefully it continues to heal on its own. But it doesn't hurt to have a broad spectrum med available, just in case.
LukFox
Active member
Good news, the mouth healed and has been fine for a couple days. He never stopped eating, so I assume it was an injury. They're getting more aggressive when they see me get near the tank (expecting food) as I've cut back feedings to once a day. I was feeding more than the QT could handle, so cutting back has raised some aggression in them. Hopefully it subsides once they make it to the display. They're both eating a wide range of foods now.
IFbettas
New member
There is some good information in this thread!
Here's my experience with keeping a pair of yellow pyramid butterflies (hemitaurichthys polylepis).
Although they are normally found in groups in the wild I only had room for a couple more fish in my reef, so I bought only two yellow pyramid butterflies. I quarantined them together with a powder blue tang in a 55 gallon tank. At first they got along great, but by day 5 the bigger of the two (only bigger by 1/2 inch) started picking on the smaller one. It never got bad enough that I had to separate them so I just let them work it out.
After about 6 weeks in quarantine I moved them over to my 180 gallon reef. Once they had more space they completely ignored each other for the next several months. As of today, they still mainly keep to themselves, but they occasionally engage in aggressive behaviors. They both raise their dorsal spines and then charge at each other. They try to poke each other with their spines and then they dart away in opposite directions.
I was hoping that because they are social in the wild they would act similarly in aquaria, but so far that hasn't happened. In my next display I am going to be getting a group of ~6 and see how they interact with each other when there are more fish present.
Here's my experience with keeping a pair of yellow pyramid butterflies (hemitaurichthys polylepis).
Although they are normally found in groups in the wild I only had room for a couple more fish in my reef, so I bought only two yellow pyramid butterflies. I quarantined them together with a powder blue tang in a 55 gallon tank. At first they got along great, but by day 5 the bigger of the two (only bigger by 1/2 inch) started picking on the smaller one. It never got bad enough that I had to separate them so I just let them work it out.
After about 6 weeks in quarantine I moved them over to my 180 gallon reef. Once they had more space they completely ignored each other for the next several months. As of today, they still mainly keep to themselves, but they occasionally engage in aggressive behaviors. They both raise their dorsal spines and then charge at each other. They try to poke each other with their spines and then they dart away in opposite directions.
I was hoping that because they are social in the wild they would act similarly in aquaria, but so far that hasn't happened. In my next display I am going to be getting a group of ~6 and see how they interact with each other when there are more fish present.
Classic butterfly fighting.
LukFox
Active member
I don't have a compatible pair.
They've been doing a weird twitch for the last week, so I changed the water out for RO water (I normally use conditioned tap) so I could treat with cupramine and prazi together. Since I had to do a 100% change of water, I had them in a 5 gallon bucket with a quick eggcrate divider just in case.
Well they got around my lame divider and tore each other up pretty gosh darn good. Their fins look like crap. I don't think I took more than an hour to get the water changed out and to the right temperature, but they did a good job on each other. I found them with their dorsals locked together. They were doing well together for 3 weeks with only some minor flaring during feeding, but the bucket brought out their mean sides.
The divider is back in the QT, antibiotics are on hand in case the fins get infected, and I'll decide which one I'll keep when treatment is finished.
They've been doing a weird twitch for the last week, so I changed the water out for RO water (I normally use conditioned tap) so I could treat with cupramine and prazi together. Since I had to do a 100% change of water, I had them in a 5 gallon bucket with a quick eggcrate divider just in case.
Well they got around my lame divider and tore each other up pretty gosh darn good. Their fins look like crap. I don't think I took more than an hour to get the water changed out and to the right temperature, but they did a good job on each other. I found them with their dorsals locked together. They were doing well together for 3 weeks with only some minor flaring during feeding, but the bucket brought out their mean sides.
The divider is back in the QT, antibiotics are on hand in case the fins get infected, and I'll decide which one I'll keep when treatment is finished.
Last edited:
Sorry to hear it. Mine still get a bit rough with each other during feeding time. Again, I'm thinking this may simply be a function of them being so hungry all the time (they still won't eat flake or pellet). But I have yet to delare them a "pair" with any certainty 
LukFox
Active member
Yeah I didn't even risk saying I don't have a mated pair heh. A compatible pair would be enough for me. While they might be fine together in the display, it looks like there would still be some stress on them if I kept them together. It might not escalate into an all out battle like it did in the bucket, but it is still stress they don't need.
Maybe try crushing up the pellets really small? But if they don't show interest at all that might not work. Or try soaking them in garlic, or sticking some in an open clam.
Maybe try crushing up the pellets really small? But if they don't show interest at all that might not work. Or try soaking them in garlic, or sticking some in an open clam.
Here they are in their home 
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C1tqj1a4F1I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C1tqj1a4F1I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C1tqj1a4F1I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C1tqj1a4F1I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
ShrimpChipGal
New member
Looking awesome!
ShrimpChipGal
New member
I LOVE the heni's look... but he's growing so fast. I think he's going to have to go into a friend's 300g reef
I wonder if heni likes sps.
