Butterflyfishes for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Butterfly stocking question Adding To A LARGE Crowd? (Stocking Question) -- 09/12/08 How will a Saddleback butterfly, Chaetodon ephippium, do with my current stocking list? 3" Purple tang 3" Emperor angel 4" Blue throat triggers, male/female "pair" 4" Desjardini tang 5" Blonde Naso tang 2 x 3" Golden Butterfly 3" Checkerboard wrasse 3" Yellow goatfish I'm trying to add a little bit of color to the aquarium, right now most everything I have is blue purple or yellow, looking for a splash of something different. <Well, that is quite a list. In terms of compatibility, this fish could hold its own in this mix, in a suitably large aquarium (HUNDREDS of gallons or more). On the other hand, UNLESS your aquarium IS several hundred gallons (and I'm thinking 750 plus), I would not add ANY more fishes. You have a great selection of fishes, many of which can get HUGE (the Desjardini Tang, Naso Tang, and Emperor Angel), and this can be problematic in the long term. Unless your system is in the aforementioned size range, I'd avoid adding any more fishes. In fact, I'd be inclined to reduce the population as it stands, taking into account the long-term needs of some of these fishes. Sorry to be overly cautious, but you simply need a huge aquarium to keep these large fishes, IMO. Hope this helps. Regards, Scott F.>

Semilarvatus butterfly Hi...I have a quick question for you...I have a 75 gal fish only salt water tank...it is a community tank and I am getting a semilarvatus butterfly....the person I am getting it from has 2 and he wants to sell me both of them....my question is can 2 of these butterflies be kept together in this size tank? <This is one of my favorite species of fishes period... very hardy, especially as Butterflyfishes go... Does better not kept solitarily... but does get quite large... if these are only 3-4 inches in length, they can be kept (if the system is otherwise uncrowded) in a seventy five gallon system for a period of time... but will need/deserve larger quarters within the next year> the retailer tells me they swim together and wont be a problem...I am just looking for another opinion....I appreciate your feedback...thank you... <Thank you for writing. Please use the search feature on WetWebMedia.com for more input, reports on the husbandry of this species. Bob Fenner>

Raccoon butterfly <Hello, Steven Pro "speaking". Anthony Calfo and I are helping Bob answer some of his daily questions.> I just added a palm size raccoon butterfly to my 54gal all glass bowed front corner aquarium. His current tankmates are 1 purple tang medium size, 1 Luna wrasse approx. 4 inches long, 1 saddleback clown about 2" long and 1 humbug damsel real small. Tank is reef ready with overflow in corner filled with bio-balls and 1 unit of dick Boyd Chemipure. filter system is life-gard mechanical, then chemical, then heater module with final pass thru 25watt star-tronics U.V unit, water is turned over approx 10 times per hour, lighting is 175 watt 55k metal halide pendant by Hamilton with 24" blue actinic in fluorescent hood. Is this the max load this tank can handle <I would probably not add any more fish as most that you have will grow fairly large.> and are there any special things I have to do to keep butterfly in good shape. I have heard they are hard to keep and especially hard to keep eating. <You can/should read up more on the care of Butterflyfish here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/raccoon.htm> thanks in advance for the help tom Gillis <Best of luck,> <Steven Pro>

Re: establishing a pair of Addis butterflies? (Red Sea Fishes) Back to butterflies.... Been reading also about the Falcula butterfly (true, C. Falcula). Was considering maybe a trio of those, and a single Addis specimen, <hmmm... some concern if there is enough room for four adult butterflies in the long term even if the two species are compatible. I'd strongly advise against mixing Chaetodon species... why tempt fate/aggression when there are so many other beautiful fishes in the sea?> and then a red sea goby and a the red sea (4-line) wrasse. Good or bad idea in my tank, do you think, or is my tank just a bit too small - my feeling on this one is that it might be a bit small, but my butterfly experience is zero ! <you are correct my friend. Add much live rock and a well varied diet too with hope of supporting their strict nutritive demands> Thanks, Regards, Matthew <best regards, Anthony>
Re: establishing a pair of Addis butterflies? Jason, <<Howdy.>> Thanks for the reply. I am very possibly gonna give it a skip. <<Fair enough.>> First things first.... the wrasse I am on about is the one that Bob recommends ... i.e.. red sea cleaner wrasse = 4 line wrasse. <<Ahh, those damn common names always vary from place to place. Not sure that the four-line wrasse is really known for cleaning.>> I cannot find the Latin name, but it is not of the Labrid family. <<Nope, it's not... it's Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia if we are in fact talking about the same fish - more on these wrasses here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pseudocheilinus.htm >><Is yet another species... RMF> I have had him for a year or two now, and he's thriving :-) .....a red sea endemic I think. Back to butterflies.... Been reading also about the Falcula butterfly (true, C. falcula). Was considering maybe a trio of those, and a single Addis specimen, and then a red sea goby and a the red sea (4-line) wrasse. Good or bad idea in my tank, do you think, or is my tank just a bit too small - my feeling on this one is that it might be a bit small, but my butterfly experience is zero ! <<I'd agree that the tank is a bit small for this grouping. How about just the one Addis Butterfly... this would be fine.>> Thanks, Regards, Matthew <<Cheers, J -- >>

Tinker's Butterflyfish Thanks so much for your help. <<No problem.>> The tank I plan to put him in (after quarantining) is a 120 gallon. It has two black perculas, a purple tang, a scooter blenny, and a pygmy angel. Other than that it has a lot of live rock a few corals and lots of invertebrates. Fire shrimp, cleaners, peppermints, etc. I know they are from deep water so If you don't mind me asking. . .I was planning on changing over to metal halides but now I'm worried that they might be too much light for this fish. <<Two things come to mind there... one, this will be too bright, and two, this Butterfly will likely make mince-meat out of your corals, which means you don't really need that much light.>> My quarantine tank is a 20 plus gallon tank, green on three sides and stays dark so the initial quarantine I think he'll be fine in. But do you think the metal halides will be too much light for him when he's in the tank? <<I think you can probably acclimate the Tinker to this lighting, but it will take a while... and again, will probably be overkill.>> The lights are 175 each and the plan was to hang two of them as pendants above the tank. The tank is fed by a refugium so I think there's plenty of planktonic foods from that source. <<Make 100% sure - this fish will require regular feedings, and perhaps as much as two-three times a day in the beginning, perhaps later, but do make sure this fish is getting enough to eat.>> Its really funny I never thought I'd be able to find a Tinker's butterfly that I could afford so its always been my "dream" fish and now that the dream is becoming a reality I'm worried that I'm going to give him the proper care. <<Is wise to be concerned about this.>> For instance, I'm worried that my tank might have too much current or perhaps not enough current. <<Which one is it? In a practical sense, it's very hard to have too much current.>> Its powered by a Mag 1200. The refugium is powered by a Fluval 404 canister. The tank tests out great in everything I test for. <<What don't you test for?>> I just started adding Kalkwasser. I don't mind loosing the corals to keep this wonderful fish alive if that's what it takes. Ideally I'd love to have them all alive and well. <<Well, you'd better consult with the Tinker first.>> Do you think it would be better to get a pair of Tinkers if I can? <<Better? I'm not sure... I would probably avoid it.>> On a side note, Jason I wish you'd come back to the forum. Your input was well thought out and well respected by all of us. <<While I appreciate the invite, I've just been incredibly busy as of late trying to get Conscientious Aquarist published and that absorbs much of my free time these days. Let's see what happens after I get the first copy out the door.>> Thanks again Mac <<Cheers, J -- >>

Chaetodon pelewensis and Prayer - Why do People Insist on Impulse-buying Animals??? 10/25/05 First of all OH MY JESUS I LOVE THIS SITE, <Yeeikes!> second of all I went and bought a Chaetodon pelewensis, although it was sold it under the name "sunset Butterflyfish".  Now I didn't know it was on your hate list but I bought it because it looked stunning, in fact seeing as it's a Butterflyfish I cleared out my whole tank for it so that it's the only fish in the tank. I have no idea what the gallon conversion system is in America (so sorry I live in England by the way, and I'm a deliciously ignorant 15 year old) <<Apparently it isn't just Americans who suffer poor punctuation, grammar, etc.  Can't accuse you of being a non-native English-speaker, can we?  MH>> <You'll be just as delicious, but far more satisfied with more knowledge... there's a bit less than four liters/litres per U.S. gallon...> but my tank's dimensions in inches are 30 x 12 x 15 so if you could be kind enough as to tell me what its capacity is, I'd be very grateful. <... there are about 231 cubic inches in a U.S. gallon... multiply those three numbers together, divide by 231...> <<As well as MANY conversion programs/sites available online!  We Yanks can even convert to liters using them.  MH>> Anyway my main concern now is that I've got it, so I need to know how do I care for it, feed it etc. <...> Also the concept of live rock isn't huge here in England due to the related problems of disease. Anyway please help me, also is my tank too small? <Yes> I really don't want to get rid of it as I love it and it cost me £120 which I think is nearly $300 and so you can imagine my father was mortified and there is no refund policy.  <<Well, how did you get the money/credit card?>> Also if my tank isn't too small do you think I could add any other fishes, if so which ones? <I would beg the stockist to allow you to exchange this fish for more suitable life... Please start reading here: http://wetwebmedia.com/smmarsysstkgfaqs.htm and the linked files above... Bob Fenner> 

Chaetodon punctatofasciatus. Poor choice, impulse purchase,  what to do?   12/17/06 Hi Crew, <John> I have a problem and am wondering if I am in a jam or not. I recently was in one of the local chain pet stores and made an impulse purchase.  The fish in question was sold to me as a dot-dash butterfly. He is currently about 3.5 inches and in perfect condition. I researched and found that I have a Chaetodon punctatofasciatus. <A moderately "good" aquarium species: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Goodchaetodon.htm> I bought it on an impulse because the store was running a special and the price was awesome. I have been looking for a fish to add to my FOWLR because since last month, when  I upgraded my tank from a 29 gallon to a 37 gallon. Here is the problem: My current tank is a FOWLR, 37gallon show tank (30Lx22H). The "expert" at the pet shop, who seemed to know what he was talking about, said that this fish should be fine in my tank. Anyway, I have the Butterfly in quarantine now and was hoping to add him to the main tank in around 2 weeks. Now that I have researched, I see that this fish is better in a larger tank (50 gal). <Or larger...> The pet store said they will NOT take a SW fish back. (First and last time I buy there). Can this fish be kept in the tank I have? <Mmm, not likely well or for long... Is it intimidated... by appearances, behavior... by its tankmates? Plans for getting a larger system? Perhaps a trade-in elsewhere... or a local marine aquarium club...> Thanks for everything you guys (and gals) do, it has helped a lot. John
<Bob Fenner>

Butterflyfishes for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner