bannerfish in reef tank

[janakaybravo]

What about a banner fish in a reef tank? I read that one species is reef safe and one is not. Anyone have any experience?

[sloop707]

Check out Steve Weast's tank at www.oregonreef.com, he has a squadron of them.

[Reefvet]

Originally posted by janakaybravo
What about a banner fish in a reef tank? I read that one species is reef safe and one is not. Anyone have any experience?

The problem with common names is they're not accurate. There are 7 different fish that fall under the Banner fish name and often also misidentified as Moorish Idols.

So are you asking about Heniochus acuminatus, Heniochus intermedius, Heniochus varius, Heniochus pleurotaenia, Heniochus singularis, Heniochus or Heniochus diphreutes ?

The subtlety of the physical differences between some of these fish makes it very hard to correctly identify them. There are some good photos of a few of them here.

I have a small pair of Heniochus diphreutes in my reef. They're wonderful fish and fairly easy to keep.

[Reefvet]

Originally posted by sloop707
Check out Steve Weast's tank at www.oregonreef.com, he has a squadron of them.

Or you could try it here. Without the comma the URL works.

[janakaybravo]

How about h. monoceros? I have my eye on one that I just love. Just want to make sure he won't nip at corals or anemones. Thanks for your input. Jana

[Reefvet]

Originally posted by janakaybravo
How about h. monoceros? I have my eye on one that I just love. Just want to make sure he won't nip at corals or anemones. Thanks for your input. Jana

Well I have to say that all of the Heniochus I've kept have had an endearing nature to them, so I can understand your interest in the little guy.

H. monoceros is commonly referred to as the 'Masked Bannerfish' and not a common find. I've never kept one so I have no first hand experience to speak from, but they are not known to be coral feeders. In the wild they are reef grazers, feeding on tiny invertebrates.



The question is, what will they eat when they don't find that population of creatures in your reef tank ? That's the question with any butterfly or angel.

[Reefvet]

I took a quick snapshot of one of my Heniochus diphreutes today. These guys are great, never touch a coral.

[janakaybravo]

Well, I got the little guy. He's so cute. He is the masked one that you pictured above. He's a lot more interested in my rocks than any food I put in the tank. I hope he will start eating what I'm feeding, which is mysis shrimp, formula one, cyclopeze. The tank is only 4 months old. I'm not sure if there's enough stuff in the rocks for him. He's the only fish in the tank interested in the rocks. I'll give it some time. Thanks for your input.

Jana

[Reefvet]

You might try some live bloodworms after about a week. He/she will be pretty hungry by then and something that moves might be the key. There is always live brine to try and get a fish to start eating, but is has no significant nutritional value.

Cool fish, I hope it acclimates for you.

[janakaybravo]

Well, he turned down my formula one, but when he saw the mysis shrimp he made a pig of himself. I guess I found what he likes for now.
Thanks for writing me and sending the pics. He's a cool little fish.

[Reefvet]

Awesome!

If he's going for Mysis you're going to have success provided he wasn't collected with cyanide.

Formula One heavily pollutes a tank and throws off your skimmer, save it until it's being consumed quickly.

Enough said, best of luck.

[fishfanv]

Originally posted by Reefvet

Formula One heavily pollutes a tank and throws off your skimmer, save it until it's being consumed quickly.

i've never heard this before. have others had this experience?

[Reefvet]

Originally posted by fishfanv
i've never heard this before. have others had this experience?

Do some searches and read the threads about the gel binders in Formula foods. It's pretty potent stuff, the ingredients are ground up very fine and the cubes hold their form even when thawed.

[jbanks]

My skimmer goes nuts when I feed Formula 1 frozen food. I am inclined to agree with Reefvet. I think it's getting tossed. I will still use the flake though.

[janakaybravo]

Wow. Never heard that before. Guess I'll stick to flake and mysis and clopeze. My skimmer doesn't seem to act up though, but I don't think the fish are getting it all. Jana

[BuzzMarr]

Newbie here and I would really like to know how to tell the difference between the "relatively" reef safe and the nonsafe bannerfish. I have read the descriptions but when I look at the pics provided at various places on the web, the 2 look the same. I just want to be comfortable that I am buying the correct type if/when I pull the trigger. Any side by side pics that demonstrate the differences would help very much

thanks
Buzz

[janakaybravo]

H. moniceros and h. depheutres pictured above are reef safe. I have a h. moniceros and he is reef safe. The one with the long fin at the top is the one that I don't think is reef safe according to a book I have, Reef Secrets.

[MIKE NY]

I had a black humphead heni (Heniochus varius) for a few months eating mysis and small meaty foods ..... then it turned into a Monti polyp eater.

[BuzzMarr]

well, so far, everything is doing well except the brain coral...gone the first night. My fish ate my brain! (smiles) These are H depheutres... I guess the brain looked too much like a clam

[marc price]

Originally posted by janakaybravo
H. moniceros and h. depheutres pictured above are reef safe. I have a h. moniceros and he is reef safe. The one with the long fin at the top is the one that I don't think is reef safe according to a book I have, Reef Secrets.

do you still have the h. monoceros and has it remained reef safe?

anybody out there actually try h. pleurotaenia?

[Reefvet]

Originally posted by Reefvet
I took a quick snapshot of one of my Heniochus diphreutes today. These guys are great, never touch a coral.

This fella grew too large after a year so I traded him at a shop. I didn't have any problems with him munching corals in the 15 months I had him.

[Wrench]

H. acuminatus and H. diphreutes are the two that are most commonly confuses, with acuminatus being NOT reef-safe. Heniouchus diphreutes can be identified by a more rounded breast, shorter nose and the second black band ending AT the tip of the anal fin as opposed to the band ending BEHIND the tip of the anal fin on H. acuminatus.

I recently bought what I believe to be a H. diphreutes. Once it acclimated and my powder blue tang quit beating it up, it readily accepts frozen mysis. I'm worried about it's reef compatability though, as it is eating aptasia already.

[marc price]

Originally posted by janakaybravo
H. moniceros and h. depheutres pictured above are reef safe. I have a h. moniceros and he is reef safe. The one with the long fin at the top is the one that I don't think is reef safe according to a book I have, Reef Secrets.

do you still have the h. monoceros?

has your or anyone's h. monoceros remained reef safe?

anybody out there actually try h. pleurotaenia in a reef?

[janakaybravo]

My h. monoceros remained reef safe, but he grew large. He died unfortunately, but never bothered anything in my reef, including sps, lps, clams, anemones.