Yellow Pyramid Butterfly question

Chad Vossen

Chad Vossen

New member
thinking of adding 3 Yellow Pyramid Butterflys to a 180 gal reef. no big deal, I know that'll be fine.

the 180 reef has many small shrimp. lots of sexy shrimp, some anemone shrimp. would the butterfly fish be able to eat a sexy shrimp? I noticed that the fish have relatively small mouths, which is why I considered this.

only other fish is 2 watchman gobys, 1 firefish, and a school of clownfish (6).


any thoughts please :)
 
Not to hijack this thread but I just picked up 3 pyramid butterfly fish on Friday April 1st and currently have them housed in a 30 gal QT, (no other fish in the QT). Their home will eventually be my 215 gal tank. Problem is they have not eaten anything since I picked them up. I have tried: mysis, brine, bloodworms, cyclopeeze and dry flake, (Hikari frozen food). I tried soaking the shrimp in garlic to entice but still no feeding has taken place. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Sallys Angel and Butterfly frozen cubes. You can also try and of the other "Angel and Butterfly" preparations available as well....
 
These fish are still swimming in the QT but are quite shy....1 has a developed a case of pop-eye, (both eyes), and another 1 does not look good...(areas of the head seeming to appear emaciated). I don't know how long they can go on without eating. I will try some of the Sally's as you suggest.
 
i had the same problem with mine they were not eating i treated them with prazi-pro 2 days later were eating it's possible that yours might have flukes or internal parasites it wouldn't hurt to treat with prazi
 
Gogandantess said:
I don't see what's the deal with them. Not very pretty with the black faces. I'd rather get one declivis.
Click to expand...

Not saying I'm a fan of the way Pyramids look, but there isn't even a comparison to be made. They're not even the same genus. Looking past that, by most accounts Pyramids are totally reef safe, Declivis are not. Also Pyramids are something like 5-8x less money so you could buy a half dozen to stock your tank with for the cost of a single Declivis.
 
Editour2 said:
Tried last night....no luck. The pryamid with pop-eye was dead when I got home last night. Remaining 2 still not eating.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying this will work, but...

when fish get sick they lose the ability to osmoregulate. Their internal salinity is actually closer to 1.010. They get dehydrated and die if not from the infection then from above.

if lost one already, i'd maybe try dropping salinity to 1.015 and treat them with some antibiotics for the pop eye.

I recall an article that actually show that fish gain weight faster in lower salinity.

Of course, there are some that don't tolerate hyposalinity and the ammonia that quickly develops in qt. I've lost and anthias and a chromis. But my bellus angel and other 3 anthias are looking very healthy and happy.
 
Are you treating them with anything?

Were they feeding when you purchased them?

An excellent initial food source is any fresh bivalve on the half shell... clams work great and are irresistible to many butterflies, and will carry them over until they accept prepared foods. The issue with them not feeding may not be the food your providing though... many times a fish not feeding is a result of another underlying issue rather than them "not liking" the food source you're providing...

... and pyramids are great! Here's my quartet...

180_pyramid_butterflies1.jpg


Copps
 
I was told that they were eating mysis prior to my purchase...the seller (fishstore) claims that 2 others that came in with this group are still eating. When I picked them up they threw some flake in the tank to see if they would eat that but they weren't interested. In retrospect I should have witnessed them eating the mysis instead of taking their word for it. (There is a 14 day guarantee on these fish but it's no fun watching them starve to death). I am currently NOT treating them with anything since the only 1 exhibiting any signs of disease/distress (popeye) perished last night. I have tried over 6 types of food. I'm not familiar with "Fresh Bi-valve on the half shell"....are these regular clams from a fish store?

Beautiful picture....how big is that tank?
 
Thanks... that tank is a 180...

A bivalve is anything like a clam or mussel... go to your supermarket and get any small clams and give those a try... they are often irresistible... I always rinse mine out under cold running tap water a bit before adding to the QT...

John
 
Thanks John I'll try that tonight.
That pic looks like a bigger tank than 180. How many fish do you have in there? Is that a black Hawian tang?
Frank
 
I thought the tank looked familiar....I read that TOTM...gorgeous tank and system. I'll pick up some clams tonight....I hope that works....it has been 6 days since the Pyramids have eaten.
 
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