Reef safe butterfly fish?

[fishguy2501]

Hey everyone! So in the final planning stages for my tank i am working on my livestock choices and i came across a few butterfly fish that i really like. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them in a reef tank, the corals i plan to keep are: Zoanthids, euphyllia, acans, clams, leathers, mushrooms, and maybe some SPS down the road as well as some LPS

And the butteflies i like are as follows

Mitratus Butterflyfish (Chaetodon mitratus)
Zoster Butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys zoster)
Yellow Pyramid Butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis)
Raccoon Fasciatus Butterflyfish (Chaetodon fasciatus)
Heniochus Brown Butterflyfish (Heniochus varius)
Pakistan Butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare)
Saddleback Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ephippium)
Chaetodon ornatissimus, Ornate butterflyfish
Chaetodon melapterus, Arabian butterflyfish

Of course i know i am not able to keep all of them, but these are the ones that caught my eye. Please post your experiences!

 

[VoiceInTheDeser]

Chaetodon butterflys should generally be avoided. They eat coral as part of their natural diet in the wild and run a pretty good risk of doing so in an aquarium. Hemitaurichthys are pelagic feeders and "should" be safe, but it's never a guarantee. A lot of the "pointy nose" Butterflys (Copperbands being the most common) are the safest ones as their mouths aren't much good for picking on corals. That said, they would pose a threat to some CuC, notably any feather dusters.

 

[fishguy2501]

Chaetodon butterflys should generally be avoided. They eat coral as part of their natural diet in the wild and run a pretty good risk of doing so in an aquarium. Hemitaurichthys are pelagic feeders and "should" be safe, but it's never a guarantee. A lot of the "pointy nose" Butterflys (Copperbands being the most common) are the safest ones as their mouths aren't much good for picking on corals. That said, they would pose a threat to some CuC, notably any feather dusters.

For the kinds of corals i plan to keep mainly euphyllia and zoanthids and acans would they be ok? I heard that they mostly eat sps?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive had good luck with a copperband. Just keep it fed

 

[hogfanreefer]

My pyramids were completely reef safe. The C. ornatisimus is very beautiful but is an obligate corallivore and has a very poor survival rate in captivity. Some of the Chaetodon are relatively safe with SPS but not the corals you keep.

 

[fishguy2501]

My pyramids were completely reef safe. The C. ornatisimus is very beautiful but is an obligate corallivore and has a very poor survival rate in captivity. Some of the Chaetodon are relatively safe with SPS but not the corals you keep.

Euphyllia is a must for me, will they pick at those?

 

[Dmorty217]

The first three butterflies you have listed are considered safe with corals, the others are not. I wouldn't trust any butterfly with shrimp

 

[scooter31707]

IME, Raccoons, Pakistan, and Saddleback ate all coral, especially the soft stuff like softies and LPS. I did not hesitate to rehome them. Even the Raccoons went after my CUC, time after time, even being well-fed.

 

[GimpyFin]

The first three butterflies you have listed are considered safe with corals, the others are not. I wouldn't trust any butterfly with shrimp

I agree with this^^. Yellow and black pyramids are probably the safest. I have a Mitratus in my reef and he occasionally nips at the green button polyps I have but doesn't really touch anything else outside of just casual nipping at rocks, etc. I might have steered away from him if I had a lot of softer corals instead of sps, but overall he's a great fish.

 

[ncaldwell]

I had 2 reef safe heniochus from Hawaii my lfs said. They bother nothing. They act more like my copperband in regards to feeding only eating mysis. They have a different look to them, only their tale is yellow. Only problem is they are harder to come by and more expensive

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[snorvich]

Ive had good luck with a copperband. Just keep it fed

Roll of dice

 

[snorvich]

My pyramids were completely reef safe. .

Same here

 

[randomfishguy85]

. I wouldn't trust any butterfly with shrimp

i never knew butterflys ate shrimp. Has this been everyones experience?

 

[snorvich]

i never knew butterflys ate shrimp. Has this been everyones experience?

Yes

 

[fishguy2501]

I guess I have this wrong then, I always hear of butteflies eating sps and how that is their natural diet? So that is what I thought that that is what they eat but now some of you are saying they nip at softies? Will they be a threat to euphyllia or other sps like acans and elegance corals as well as clams? I am fine with not putting any zoas in the tank just trying to get an idea of what these guys usually nip at. The Arabian and saddle back are my 2 favorites so I want to figure out a way to keep them. I also didn't know they ate shrimp so I can plan to keep shrimp out of my tank.

 

[Tripod1404]

I guess I have this wrong then, I always hear of butteflies eating sps and how that is their natural diet? So that is what I thought that that is what they eat but now some of you are saying they nip at softies? Will they be a threat to euphyllia or other sps like acans and elegance corals as well as clams? I am fine with not putting any zoas in the tank just trying to get an idea of what these guys usually nip at. The Arabian and saddle back are my 2 favorites so I want to figure out a way to keep them. I also didn't know they ate shrimp so I can plan to keep shrimp out of my tank.

They might, every fish is different(not even species but individuals). Some might ignore corals, others might destroy all your corals in a 12 hour open buffet. Remember, to kill a coral they do not actually need to eat it, persistent nipping over a certain period can stress a coral and kill. Same is also true for clams, any grazing fish can potentially stress a clam if they get interested in clam mucus and start to constant nip it.

As a rule of thumb, most fish tolerate inverts (and fish for this matter) that are introduced before them. Anything you introduce to a tank after the fish is established has the potential to be recognized as food.

 

[Dmorty217]

I guess I have this wrong then, I always hear of butteflies eating sps and how that is their natural diet? So that is what I thought that that is what they eat but now some of you are saying they nip at softies? Will they be a threat to euphyllia or other sps like acans and elegance corals as well as clams? I am fine with not putting any zoas in the tank just trying to get an idea of what these guys usually nip at. The Arabian and saddle back are my 2 favorites so I want to figure out a way to keep them. I also didn't know they ate shrimp so I can plan to keep shrimp out of my tank.

Corallivore butterflies diets consist entirely of SPS. (Lavartus, Ornate,Meyers, Arabian, ect) They rarely make it a week after they are sold. On the off chance you can get one from Divers Den that has been in the care of Kevin Kohen for months, you will have a hard time replicating his office tanks that get huge water changes weekly and have been established for many years. Your two favorite butterflies will decimate any and all coral and clams. I would suggest keeping a tank up and running for 10 years before trying something like a Arabian. The last Arabian that DD got made it 9 months in Kevins NFS office tank. It was then removed to be put in the DD holding tanks and sold. It never ate again and perished before it could be offered. Moral of the story is you're underestimating how difficult a Corallivore butterfly is to care for.

 

[ali1]

My copperband nipped at my zoas to the point where they closed most of the time and ended up dying. Same is true for my clams. Needless to say, he is an interesting fish so I rehomed him to fowlr.

 

[suta4242]

I guess I have this wrong then, I always hear of butteflies eating sps and how that is their natural diet? .....

I think you need to research individual species, as they all have different diets in the wild, and sometimes according to the area collected.

About corallivores: some are facultative (will eat coral if available but can live on other foods) and the tricky ones are obligate corallivores (Arabian,Meyers etc...). These typically specialise in acro or pocci, often to the exclusion of all but their favourite species. They are extremely difficult long term and I wouldn't recommend it. Did you know that the digestive tract of these guys is longer than that of a tang? That tells you a lot about this fish versus say a saddleback who is a generalist.

A generalist may have favourite foods, but if they're not available he makes do with what is: from tubeworms and non motile inverts, to various corals. Generalists are the hardiest Chaetodons in captivity.

Finally, some specialise in soft corals and anemones. These guys are also well suited to captivity. So yeah, you need to research the actual species to see what it's likely to do in your tank...

HTH and good luck!
:wave:

 

[smokinreefer]

I've had a copperband in a mixed reef that was fine with the exception of mini feather dusters, mini brittles, but also took care of aiptasia.

Pakistanis?!? Forget about it. I used to bring over chunks of my sps and softy overgrowth from my 180 to this dudes tank which was butterfly only 90. It was all you can eat buffet time.

If I recall the only thing that survived in There was some large ricordia yumas.

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