poor man's morish idol....

[jubjub]

after reading this thread i have been stoked to find out that the bannerfish are reef safe after all!!!! i just need to make sure its not a longfin one, but a Heniochus diphreutes or schooling banner fish is what im looking for....
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/654.htm



i hate to have you guys be my eyes, but has anyone seen any of these at exotic or any of the other LFS's in sac? and any idea how much they were?

also anyone in the area got experience, thoughts, oppinions?

 

[gem]

Aqualife gets Heniochus in now and then.

 

[jackfishy]

I saw a school of them at exotic over the weekend, you might give them a call to check they have any left.



Jack

 

[FishGuy5]

I know Jason at Paradise Aquarium gets them........good price too! His shipment comes in on Friday.

 

[tcoral]

Can someone put up pics of the safe one and the not safe one side-by-side so we can see the differences? I'm bound to bring the wrong one home by mistake!

 

[jubjub]

if i've done my homework right

reef safe

REEF SAFE:

NOT reef safe

ALSO NOT! reef safe

 

[bladeruner143]

<<<Confused!!! I tried IDing them from what the threads say, but its pretty tricky

 

[jubjub]

>>


trying to tell me something

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Those pictures sure don't seem to make it very clear to me. They look like they could be brothers, but I'm pretty colorblind. Anyone want to take a shot at a written description of which are safe and which are not?

 

[bladeruner143]

LOL, what I meant to say was that after reading all of the link and posts, I'm still confused! I didn't see any really clear distinctions between them. The only one I kinda get is the fin length but I'm not sure how accurate that is. What I'm trying to say is HELP!!!

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Could it just be that the sites are defining reef safe differently?

 

[gem]

I see mild but distinct differences between all four. Look at the head shape on the two non reef safe. And each has a very minute difference in fins as well. Not to say I know which is which, but just that there are differences.

 

[jubjub]

well what i can tell is the top fin is alottt longer on the non reefsafe one (but anyone who's been to a lfs can say they get beat up alot) also the black is supposedly down to the middle of the tail fin on non reef safe one. also the pectoral fins seem to be sharper on the reef safe one.... also the head seems to be a lil curvier on the non reef safe one....

i know just easts me up inside that fish is so cool looking, yet such a close brother could be so bad. like the twin brother who's a serial killer and the other one is a PhD at yale... lol

 

[gem]

^ :lol:

 

[RasBobre]

Re: poor man's morish idol....

I certainly would not classify a fish that has horrible captivity success to a monetary value. The Morish Idol should simply not be kept.

I spent a good time in Leng Sy's office several years ago shooting the stuff and we discussed the desire and ethics in keeping difficult fish such as the Morish and it was agreed upon that the 99% of hobbyists shouldn't attempt it. And I have seen an individual that will not give up keeping this specie and the results have been the same.

so....

I keep the Black and White Heniochus in many clients aquariums and have not had too many issues with them.

For those of you that know Rian & Arlan, those are two of their captive bred Bangaii's at the top of this photo. I still have a good eight or ten still thriving.

The biggest issue I have had with them is with xenia and zoanthids. In a well fed aquarium, I am able to keep LPS, SPS, clams and all inverts with the Heni's.

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/butterflyfish/blackandwhiteheniochus/

In a different tank, I added a Kleini Butterfly for aiptasia control and the two species did not get along.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13289174#post13289174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jubjubrsx
if i've done my homework right

ALSO NOT! reef safe

This one is H. diphreutes, the "Reef Safe" one, not H. acuminatus.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

IME both of them are questionable with corals. No guarantees with either one.

H. acuminatus is not found in HI. So, if you were looking for a guaranteed H. diphreutes and had the right connections, you could simply get them from there and be assured you were getting the "correct" species.

Also, strictly my opinion but the Pyramid B'flyfish is a much nicer looking and safer bet with corals anyhow, and their is no agonizing over which species you have. They are not quite as hardy as the Heniochus but still a pretty easy to keep fish.

Hemitaurichthys polylepis

 

[jubjub]

RasBobre i think you missed the joke, i dont want a moorish but i do like the coloring of them and would like to add that to my tank. most of us know they are hard to keep that is why we look for alternatives....


on a side note i have never seen a butterfly like those matt, interesting to say the least but not really my style.