Just Butterflies

Absint Reefer · #1 12/20/2007, 09:45 PM

Anyone have a tank with or every toyed with the idea of having a tank with 5 or 6 different types of hardy butterfly fish?

equinecpa · #2 12/20/2007, 11:16 PM

I'm sort of going that way with my 90. I have a saddleback, and am planning on an Auriga and copperband. I so love the butterflies but this is a reef tank so I'm very careful with my choices. So far all my LPS except a candy cane and torch have had to be removed from the reef but so far so good with SPS, leathers and zoas.

WuHT · #3 12/21/2007, 03:54 AM

butterflyfish tanks actually sound like a good idea, there was a thread earlier (named fowlr or something) that had 4-6 butterflies in it at one point ..... read the thread to find out what happened to it.

DamnPepShrimp · #4 12/21/2007, 08:55 AM

Yeah, that was a cool tank, until everything started dying. I think a butterfly tank would be cool, but with so many other options, I'd rather have a good mix of fish including butterflies amoung many other fish. Unless you have one of your 26 tanks that needs filling lol.

Absint Reefer · #5 12/21/2007, 11:34 AM

I have a 55gl with just a small tusk in it might just have to do it
what do you think of
3 pyramid butterflies
1 small tusk
1 facula
1 raccoon
3 heniochus
obviously I'm not adding them at the same time probably over a year or two and the tank is already 2 years old with protein skimmer and fluval 405. This tank is right at the foot of my bed so I wanted some active fish that are unique. What do you think?

DamnPepShrimp · #6 12/21/2007, 01:06 PM

In a 55g? I think that would be too much fish! 10 decent sized fish in a 55 is overstock IMO.

Absint Reefer · #7 12/21/2007, 01:12 PM

10 fish would be pushing it maybe no on the heniochus
can anyone else think of any hardy butterflies besides copperband or longnose

ejrabekoff · #8 12/21/2007, 02:49 PM

Auriga are good. Pakistani are hardy.

WuHT · #9 12/21/2007, 06:25 PM

Auriga's and racoons are supposed to be A-list in terms of being consistantly durable/hardy. Heniochus are also in this A-list..but the majority of them in my LFS all have some ich spots on them.

I've kept a blackback and a punctacto..and both were hardy as heck and first to eat.

Heard that kleins are hardy (but ugly) and the indian vagabond is supposedly hardy too.

So thats 6 Butters for u to choose from.

julianp · #10 12/21/2007, 07:21 PM

I saw a tank like this at my LFS last week. It was a custom sized very long, narrow, short tank filled with butterflies and looked amazing. I'd guess dimensions were maybe 72" long, 14" wide and 18" tall. It had only a small amount of tonga branch rock and some plants. Looked pretty cool.

DamnPepShrimp · #11 12/21/2007, 08:30 PM

Threadfin butterflies are supposed to be very hardy as well. Raccoon, golden masked (semilarvatus) and saddle-back are some other hardy butterflies, but most get too big for a 55g.

axia55 · #12 12/21/2007, 10:27 PM

I have a Kleins in my tank and it is far from ugly! On top of that, it gets along with everything and ate like a pig from day one. Highly recommended!

On other note, I really want to get a Pakistani for a 90g that I am setting up. I hear conflicting reports on their hardiness. Has anyone kept them?

WuHT · #13 12/22/2007, 03:53 AM

hehe to each their own i suppose.

Klein's not ugly...i mean to say "drab" in a sense

Got to admit they're tough fish, one of the best bf

Absint Reefer · #14 12/22/2007, 10:02 AM

now that their are so many to choose from I think I need a bigger tank. The golden masked are beautiful but I've never actually seen one in a hobbyist tank so I just assumed they were delicate. thanks for all the suggestions!

ejrabekoff · #15 12/22/2007, 04:00 PM

The following species of butterflies are hardy, and would make a good choice

Atlantic long nosed
Black and white
Threadfin
Doubleband
Burgess's
Collare
Wrougth iron
Indian OCean vagabond
Saddled
ScytheSickle
Red Sea Racoon
Racoon
Black band
Marten's
White faced
Lemon
Red back
Dot dash
Latticed
Reef
Masked
Tinker's
Pacific double saddled
Teardrop
Pearlscale
Big long nosed
Yellow long nosed
Bannerfish
El barbero
Eye spot.

This could be an interesting tank.

Fischer's Angel · #16 01/04/2008, 10:51 PM

I once had a setup with 8 different species in it. It takes a little experience to figure out which ones to add in what order as there definitely are differences in their level of aggression,but if you have enough room and a lot of rockwork which you are willing to rearrange each time you add a new one, you can keep quite a few different without fights breaking out.
The following species were kept together for over three years without incident in a 120 gallon tank:
1) Heniochus Diphreutes
2) Chaetadon Miliaris
3) Forcipiger Flavissimus
4) Chaetadon Lunula
5) Chaetadon Unimaculatus
6) Chaetadon Fremblii
7) Chaetadon Kleinii
8) Chaetadon Auriga
All the butterflies were caught by me here in Hawaii and were hand selected for similarity in size to avoid bullying. They were quarantined for 2 weeks prior to introduction to insure good health,and to allow each one to learn to take "aquarium foods" as some are slow to learn,especially the Unimaculatus.
Once each specimen has learned to eat CONFIDENTLY, it is added to the population at night after rockwork has been rearranged to give each newbie a good chance to be accepted.
All 8 butterflies lived for three years at which time I felt they were getting too big for the tank and were released back into the ocean,except for the Fremblii which died when it got sucked into my overflow and wasn't found until too late,and the Heniochus which was such a mellow fish that I kept him - He eventually became my longest lived fish at over 7 years,and only died when I had a power outage.

justinpsmith · #17 01/05/2008, 01:34 AM

Not that it matters but its Chaet O don not Chaet A don...

Plus, releasing them back to the wild was quite a bad idea...Especially after training them as you mentioned.

Fischer's Angel · #18 01/05/2008, 02:09 AM

Have you nothing better to do than criticize? This is Absint Reefer's thread,not mine and your spell checking and opinion of my releasing fish back to where I got them do nothing to help answer Absint Reefer's question.
Please be a POSITIVE and helpful person,this is supposed to be a FUN hobby!

justinpsmith · #19 01/05/2008, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fischer's Angel
Have you nothing better to do than criticize? This is Absint Reefer's thread,not mine and your spell checking and opinion of my releasing fish back to where I got them do nothing to help answer Absint Reefer's question.
Please be a POSITIVE and helpful person,this is supposed to be a FUN hobby!

Hey if your going to use scientific names, spell them right. I think your a little sensitive...I said it really was not a big deal. Maybe the common names would be easier to spell?

As for releasing fish back to the wild, no its not part of the original thread but since its been brought up and is a very bad idea, why can I not mention it??? You can't post in a public forum and then tell people how YOU want them to reply. Besides, there was nothing NEGATIVE about the post and it is very helpful. It will remind anyone who is thinking of releasing captive fish back into the wild that they should not...For very obvious reasons.

rafael13 · #20 01/05/2008, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by justinpsmith
[It will remind anyone who is thinking of releasing captive fish back into the wild that they should not...For very obvious reasons. [/B]

not only that, but it is ilegal to release fish back into the wild

justinpsmith · #21 01/05/2008, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rafael13
not only that, but it is ilegal to release fish back into the wild

Yup, that was one of the many reasons

I think the most obvious though is that training a fish to eat prepared foods does not help them hunt for food in the ocean. Disease becomes an issue. Lowered aggression or maybe I should say instincts. It goes on...

Anyways, the point in all this was, that someone did not realize it was a bad practice and I pointed it out. I hope now they realize and understand that it not only is illegal but cruel. We all have lots to learn in this hobby and it is fun but you HAVE to be willing to take a little advice which is all I was trying to give.

WuHT · #22 01/05/2008, 09:17 PM

i'm pretty sure he didtn' intend for the fish to suffer as he released them, just that he didn't know.

BTW : Aside from butterflyfish hardiness, i'm more interested in BF aggression. I've RARELY seen any aggression from butterflies to another, though i think that they can't do much damage to each other so that the bullied target should be fine.

Correct me if i'm wrong

TitoTee · #23 01/05/2008, 10:34 PM

Has anyone gone diving and followed a captive fish that was released in to the wild? Any documentation? Did they see it die of starvation? So it learned how to eat in captivity but it can not learn how to eat in the wild?

With all due respect - the statement is humorous.

Absint Reefer · #24 01/06/2008, 12:02 AM

I decided to start off with a single heniochus . here is the eventual butterfly tank not much to look at now but should look pretty sweet in a few months

justinpsmith · #25 01/06/2008, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TitoTee
Has anyone gone diving and followed a captive fish that was released in to the wild? Any documentation? Did they see it die of starvation? So it learned how to eat in captivity but it can not learn how to eat in the wild?

With all due respect - the statement is humorous.

Im guessing your being sarcastic...This was not really suppose to turn into a big deal. Im sure you can also understand the huge disadvantage captive fish released into the ocean have when competing with "wild" fish. While it does sound humorous actually, it is true. Im not going to go looking for documentation but I will ask my brother if he has any (he is a Marine Biologist). What I can say though is that I have a puffer who refuses to eat live foods. He has been fed off a stick for a few years now and expects his food that way. I have a shrimp and many crabs in his tank and he never eats them. This fish is not at all acting the same as a puffer in the ocean who would have eaten the shrimp first chance it had. Thats one of the many issues.

Anyways, to comment on the actual thread...Like any fish of the same species it can be hit or miss, especially as they grow. I had big problems with a Copperband and Long Nose in my old 220G. They would fight like crazy and even my long nose hawk would get in there and fight. So be careful and watch aggression. Maybe the other thing people do not always realize is how big the Copperbands do get. I saw a bunch while diving in Australia last year and they were HUGE. Bigger than I thought. Heres a pic of mine. Hes one of my favorite fish!