Butterfly fishes

[cutebarra77]

Hi all,

I am thinking of setting up a butterfly fishes dominant tank after I cleared all my grown up angels and tangs.

Hence would like to seek some advices:

1) Any conflicting species? i.e. any butterfly type would fight with another type of butterfly?

2) Are these butterflies commonly available here in SG and any indicative price range:

a) Sunset butterfly

Saddleback butterfly

c) Sunburst butterfly

d) Golden butterfly

Many thanks!!!

[Tony LCW]

Sorry, I have no advise on Butterfly, but I am keen on Angels. If you are releasing, do consider...thks

[flo_reeftank]

hi bro,

the best is too put them together in one time or using a acclimatization box to let them get use to it for few days and then release at night,so you will have less chance of fighting, but chasing still , or put the small one first then the biggest in last

cheers

[flo_reeftank]

golden butterlfly from red sea start from 65-70$ to100$ for S/M ( only from red sea shipment )

sunburst more rare from australia from 35-50$ S/M ( hard to keep ) ( more rare unless got australia shipment )

Saddleback very common get from 20-25$ S/M ( very common can find easily )

Sunset i am not too sure..

cheers

[cutebarra77]

thanks for the info flo! helpful!

[cutebarra77]

Sorry, I have no advise on Butterfly, but I am keen on Angels. If you are releasing, do consider...thks

I have sold all the fishes which are to be released. But I'm keeping my dwarf angels.

[flo_reeftank]

welcome

cheers

[qianjun]

How's ur butterfly setup? Thinking of setting up 1 too.

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[cutebarra77]

I have just rescaped. Waiting for the fishes to settle down with the new rock work before dwelling into getting the butterflies. My shortlist includes copperband, golden, raccoon and sunburst/sunset.

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[flo_reeftank]

Waiting for your further update Cheers

[Snoopyhamburger]

Golden Semilavartus Butterflies are expensive,and I've never seen one in LFS.

So yeah.

[thomas_lim]

For Golden butterfly - Chaetodon semilarvatus, they do come regularly with Redsea shipment.

But is seasonal. Do watch out for them as they are limited.

You can consider this local version of Golden butterfly chaetodon semeion which is quite nice once stable.

Sunburst as in Chaetodon kleini or Chaetodon aureofasciatus? The first one is easy. The 2nd one is for expert level and only come from Australia shipment.

Another species which you can consider is Pakistani Buttefly (Chaetodon collare). IMO, this is a very nice fish.

They come from 2 areas. Maldives and Indo shipment. The Indo one are half the price but the Maldives one had better coloration if you compare them side by side.

Else hard to differentiate.

The saddleback (Chaetodon ephippium) is a very nice fish. But it take time to get it to feed on pellet.

Will you be considering Chaetodon ulietensis (double saddle) or Chaetodon Falcula.

As you go along, you can try out the more expensive one like Declives, Tinkeri and so on.

Welcome to the endless WORLD of butterflies!!!!

[cutebarra77]

For Golden butterfly - Chaetodon semilarvatus, they do come regularly with Redsea shipment.

But is seasonal. Do watch out for them as they are limited.

You can consider this local version of Golden butterfly chaetodon semeion which is quite nice once stable.

Sunburst as in Chaetodon kleini or Chaetodon aureofasciatus? The first one is easy. The 2nd one is for expert level and only come from Australia shipment.

Another species which you can consider is Pakistani Buttefly (Chaetodon collare). IMO, this is a very nice fish.

They come from 2 areas. Maldives and Indo shipment. The Indo one are half the price but the Maldives one had better coloration if you compare them side by side.

Else hard to differentiate.

The saddleback (Chaetodon ephippium) is a very nice fish. But it take time to get it to feed on pellet.

Will you be considering Chaetodon ulietensis (double saddle) or Chaetodon Falcula.

As you go along, you can try out the more expensive one like Declives, Tinkeri and so on.

Welcome to the endless WORLD of butterflies!!!!

Thanks Thomas. Gee...there are so many similarities and look-alike...

IMO,

1) I prefer the 2nd type of Golden you said. More all round yellow with blue cheeks!

2) For Sunburst, I prefer the 2nd type with greater color variation. Why is it for Expert level only? Difficult to feed?

3) I have one Pakistani B. right now. Its the cheaper type.

4) Saddleback is nice. Shd be getting one too.

I just hope to have a tank of butterflies with color diversity. Since most butterflies are dominantly yellow, I have to be choosy here.

[cutebarra77]

Rainfordi Butterflyfish (Chaetodon rainfordi)

This is very nice!

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+25+302&pcatid=302

[thomas_lim]

Rainfordi is predominantly a coral eater which is why it is classified as hard.

Likewise ornate, bennetti, dusky, speculum.

Unless you are ready to regularly buy corals to keep them alive.

[Tony LCW]

Understand they go after brain Corals.

[thomas_lim]

Understand they go after brain Corals.

Depending on which species, some feed on specifically on sps only.

[Digiman]

Hi Cutebarra77,

Pls get ready a bottle of cupramine. U are keeping FOWLR, so when the ich or velvet outbreak comes, you can just dose cupramine straightaway to prevent a massive wipeout.

Sadly butterfly is the most difficult genus. They are ich and velvet magnets, even worse than tangs.

I love butterfly but i stay away from them because they are just too difficult if i dont choose to use copper.

[Digiman]

More advice, pick the smallest butterfly you can! Smaller ones are slightly easier to maintain and keep alive.

Low temperature like 24 to 25 deg will also help a lot for certain challenging species.

Don't waste your time and money on chaetodon flavirostris, chaetodon aureofasciatus, chaetodon rainfordi. They will only demoralise you! Dont try!

Chaetodon semilarvatus is one of the easiest and nicest butterfly around. I highly recommend it but still you need to get a smaller one. When redsea season comes, it is very common and can be found in most LFS.

[cutebarra77]

Hi Cutebarra77,

Pls get ready a bottle of cupramine. U are keeping FOWLR, so when the ich or velvet outbreak comes, you can just dose cupramine straightaway to prevent a massive wipeout.

Sadly butterfly is the most difficult genus. They are ich and velvet magnets, even worse than tangs.

I love butterfly but i stay away from them because they are just too difficult if i dont choose to use copper.

thanks, bro.

the day when I have AT, copper medicine is a 'must-have' in my fishy first aid kit.

[cutebarra77]

More advice, pick the smallest butterfly you can! Smaller ones are slightly easier to maintain and keep alive.

Low temperature like 24 to 25 deg will also help a lot for certain challenging species.

Don't waste your time and money on chaetodon flavirostris, chaetodon aureofasciatus, chaetodon rainfordi. They will only demoralise you! Dont try!

Chaetodon semilarvatus is one of the easiest and nicest butterfly around. I highly recommend it but still you need to get a smaller one. When redsea season comes, it is very common and can be found in most LFS.

Bro Digiman,

my tank is a humble 3ft one. no choice but to buy small butterflies.

I will take your advice not to try the difficult ones and start with the easier butterflies.

As of now, I have a Pakistani, Copperband, Black Back and Spotband. Pretty happy with them now.

I may want to get one more if I can find a small saddleback or raccoon.

[Tony Gill]

I find it interesting that C. flavirostris is considered a difficult species. I've kept it frequently in the past (I think it may have been the first butterfly species I ever kept), and found it relatively undemanding. However, I have always started with small (0.5-1.5 inch) individuals that I collected locally. Larger fish can be more difficult to get eating. Unfortunately small ones don't transport well ... which obviously hasn't been a problem for me.

Tony

[Digiman]

All the flavirostris i have seen in sg were all 5 inches plate-sized fish. They dont feed well and will break down overtime.

I am surprised you are telling me tiny ones like 1" are easy and available!! I wonder why the collectors do not catch small ones and always send us plate-sized fish.

May i know at what depth did you collect your tiny flavirostris? Are they locally abundant?

[Tony Gill]

All the flavirostris i have seen in sg were all 5 inches plate-sized fish. They dont feed well and will break down overtime.

I am surprised you are telling me tiny ones like 1" are easy and available!! I wonder why the collectors do not catch small ones and always send us plate-sized fish.

May i know at what depth did you collect your tiny flavirostris? Are they locally abundant?

I think the reason small ones aren't exported is that they don't travel well. The main problem is that they need frequent feeding, which isn't possible during transport. Chaetodon flavirostris is one of the commonest "tropical vistors" along the central coast of NSW. (The other common species are C. auriga, C. vagabundus, C. guentheri, C. klenii, C. citrinellus and C. lunula - though there are other less common Chaetodon species as well.) These species turn up each year around late January with the East Australian Current. Most die off in winter (around June) as the sea temperatues get lower, but C. guentheri is a resident species, and C. flavirostris may survive a winter to reach near adult size on the central coast (area immediately north of Sydney). A little farther north (Port Stephens and farther north), C. flavirostris is a resident species. Juvenile flavirostris can be found in just a few feet of water, usually in the lower reaches of estuaries or in sheltered coastal bays. There were several in a large "rockpool" (actually just section of scattered boulders and reef alongside a rock platform that gets almost closed off to the sea at low tide) on the coast not far from my house this season (along with several C. auriga, two C. lunula and a C. vagabundus). When I last saw them a few weeks ago they were around 30 mm in length.

[dragon1188]

Hi bro. I am also interested in keeping butterflies. Currently am keeping a Horseshoe butterflyfish (Chaetodon pictus),a falcula and a banner (Heniochus acuminata). Been keeping them for a year. It's important that there are no bullies in the tank so that they fed well and not stressed. This will keep their immune high to resist diseases. Its really difficult to keep ich at bay. Every new intro of new fish is very high chance of having another bout of ich infection. Copperband are cheap n easy to start but its difficult to find species that are not captured using cyanide..They will feed well for 2 to 3 months n stop eating then goes downhill very fast. To start new butterflies feeding, try chopped squid meal. They just love it. Hope this helps. My other fishes are tangs (11-13yrs old!), damsel and clowns. The damsel is 14yrs old.

I have just rescaped. Waiting for the fishes to settle down with the new rock work before dwelling into getting the butterflies. My shortlist includes copperband, golden, raccoon and sunburst/sunset. Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk