Suggest me a butterfly for my 180g

[hotelbravo]

Hey all i have been thinking about changing my stock list in my 180.

what will for sure be going in the 180 is:
large zebra eel x1
clownfish x2
flame angel x1
coral beauty x1
powder brown x1
BTAs x3
Magnifica x1


im wanting to add a butterfly or two in there. i really like the pearlscale, raccoon, and heniochus bannerfish.

i heard the raccoons eat anemones but not sure if thats just the majano/aptasia.

i would be open to all other butterfly suggestions


EDIT: i should add that i will of course only have mushrooms, leathers, and GSP. and i wont be upset if these get eaten.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I had a Racoon that ate my coral and aptasia. I have a Singapore butterfly fish that I really like.It tends to territorial and has the most issues with my CBB.The Singapore is generally peaceful,however.I know they are hit and miss when it comes to eating coral.Mine does not.
The CBB and my Sea Grass filefish both do a nice job eating aptasia.Neither has picked on my corals to date.

 

[Dmorty217]

A Racoon won't be safe with any anemone more than likely. I would look into Declivis,Mitratus, Tinkeri or other Roa butterfly if reefsafe is something your looking for

 

[Jonvo324]

I really like the yellow longnose butterflyfish. They're not that hard to get eating frozen and they are mostly reef safe IME. I've also had a copperband but they are tough to get feeding sometimes.
If you're not upset with losing some corals, I had an Auriga butterfly and it ate green star polyps. It was really stunning to look at, but I removed it since it ate corals.

These are the butterfly that I've had any experience with so far.

 

[jraker]

What about a pyramid butterfly?

 

[PatW]

The schooling banner fish is supposed to be reef safe.

 

[hotelbravo]

okay so raccoon off the list. i do like some of the options that are being thrown out there. i just need to make sure the shy and hard to feed butterflies stay off the list.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I have number of butterflies, but not in a reef.
Take a look at the Pakistani, Pearlscale and Declivis for personality and good eating habits.
The Spotband, Vagabond and Yellowhead are nice too.

 

[fishfreak2009]

I love my spotband, he should be OK with your softies and anemones (mine only picks at the acro frags I throw in as treats once in a blue moon). I also really like the pearlscale and threadfin (for the same reason as above). Yellow longnose are pretty reef safe and would do well as well

 

[hotelbravo]

im leaning heavily on the pearlscale and maybe a yellow one. im not to crazy on the body style of the long nose butterfly but its not a deal breaker since my wife seems to love that one.. apparently there is a longnose butterfly on Finding Nemo??

 

[acer]

Copperbanded... reasonable reef safe, hardest thing is to get them to eat at first.

 

[RDtrack]

2nd to a pyramid butterfly. I have a trio and love them. They are also suppose to be a tad more reef friendly.

Love them they eat everything and have been hardy.

 

[ThRoewer]

I would go with a pair of copperbands. Getting them to eat is not that hard if you get healthy and not too skinny specimen. The ideal foods to get them going are worms (California blackworms seem to be a good choice). Clams in the shell are a good starter food too (slightly opened so that only the copperbands can get to the meat)
The ones I had in the past were eating Mysis after a while.

 

[hotelbravo]

i talked to my lfs owner today who is usually spot on when it comes to information. i asked him to order me a pearlscale butterfly and asked for a suggestion on another butterfly "he replied with i wouldnt do any. butterflies have short lifes in our reef tanks and he couldnt think of a single person he sold a butterfly to that still has them alive"

 

[suta4242]

Sounds like he is genuinely encouraging people to choose fish that are likely to be successful in the long run. That's great. But what he said isn't as true as it was, say 20 years ago.

My own view is that most butterflies aren't for beginners and when someone says that's a hardy butterfly, the comment is within the context of the genus (not other marine fish we usually keep). You need to maintain high water quality for most, and be very observant.

Looking at locally collected butterflies that arrive in good nick from Cairns, the biggest short term killers are:

- poor choice in existing tank mates / inappropriate choice in a butterfly
- not enough food of the right kind
- poor disease management.

If you think you can provide the above, I'd try one of the hardier butterflies in your tank. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :thumbsup: