# Keeping butterfly fishes



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

so I'm looking into keeping butterfly fishes in a fowlr. I do see a lot of butterflies in local stores all the time, and had shied away from them in the past. who's having success with these finicky and coral eaters? how are you introducing them into your tanks? what do you feed them when you first get them and how did you introduce fishfood to them? Have you kept corals (SPS, LPS, polyps) in the tanks with them and what's your experience with that? 


thanks

have read up stuff on RC. just wondering what the locals' experiences are, and where you're getting your fish and fishfood from. currently I'm thinking I might be going to chinatown a lot more to get live seafood for them.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

I kept a copper banded butterfly for 6 months that looked healthy from the day we got him to the day he died. He ate flake, pellet, mysis, aptasia, little things crawling on rock, swam with the big boys and generally had a grand time. Never touched any coral.

The only thing that changed the day he died was that I was in scraping algae and was in the rank alot. I swear that he died of fright. He wedged himself in a rock, didn't come out. We had to remove the rock to get body out. Pissed me off royally.


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## TankCla (Dec 31, 2010)

I also have a bad experience with CB. I had one for 3 months. Looking good, starting to eat mysis and bloodworms and every spaghetti worm in my tank. Suddenly, one day when I got home from work, he was on one side at the bottom an died later that night. Very beautiful fish with a lot of personality, but also very sensitive.

But thanks to him I don't have spaghetti worms anymore.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Damn sorry to hear about your experiences. They are plentiful in the ocean and easily available and that's why we see them in stores all the time. but yeah they are supposed to be pretty tough to keep. so who's been buying the butterflies. or they just end up fast and dead? Even in RC we don't see a lot of people keeping butterflies or butterfly tanks. so it makes me suspicious as to why they are always in stores. 

so did you guys start with frozen food and pellets? or gave it whole or chopped up clam or shrimp in QT? or was it eating pellets and frozen food when you got it.


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## TankCla (Dec 31, 2010)

When I got mine, he wasn't eating anything. In about 2 weeks started to eat bloodworms. By the time he died, was eating frozen mysis and bloodorms, but never clam.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Got mine already eating frozen and flake from the store. He never skipped a beat and ate right from day one at home, too.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

That is a good way to ensure survivability - get the ones that are already eating! It's something I ALWAYS forget with marine fish purchases. I see something I like and grab it, not asking to see if they're eating prepared foods. I guess that rules out sourcing from SUM. I shall be disciplined.


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

I actually got a Aussie CBB from SUM. It was eating mysis and was in one of his coral tanks.


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## loonie (Mar 29, 2008)

This is a nice butterfly fish found in south east Asian waters. I pay only a few dollars for them in Singapore but how reef safe is debateable.


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