Easy to keep, reef safe Butterflyfish?

[Zionas]

Hi guys, I just checked the images of my LFS’s Heniochus Bannerfish, and unfortunately it turns out they’re all the H. Acuminatus variety. H. Diphreutes is almost impossible to find in China. As an alternative, I would like to know if there is a reef safe Butterflyfish alternative that fits the bill when it comes to:

1. Can be kept by a beginner, hardy and disease resistant enough.

2. Smaller, no larger than 8”.

3. Can be introduced early / into a fairly new tank as I know they’re peaceful fish.

4. Can be kept as a pair or small group in a 6 foot 180

5. Not a rare and expensive fish.


Thanks.

 

[pcon]

Planktivores like the pyramid (Hemitaurichthys polylepis) and zoster (H. zoster) would be the closest option to your list.

the other options for somewhat reef safe butterflyfish all fail at least one item on your list or more.
Chemon, and Forcipiger are relatively difficult and need established populations of microfauna so a mature tank. they also tend to get larger or at least 8 inches. they are also very difficult to pair.
Roaops are pretty good but still want a established microfauna population, and are somewhat expensive to very expensive. Pairs can be obtained but are not easy to pair.
Prognathodes and true Roa, are rare, expensive, difficult, and pretty much impossible to pair, at least prognathodes idk about pairs of true roas
some of the more unusual options for "reef safe" chaetodons would be like C. guntheri and C. assarius which are quite rare. C. sedentarius which probably is quite difficult to obtain in china being a caribbean fish, and I am not totally sure how reef safe it is, but could be reef safe.

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[Qasimja]

i have 2 pyramid butterflys in QT right now they are hardy and easy to get eating i had 2 last year but in november my tank got marine velvet and killed all my fish

 

[Zionas]

Sorry to hear that. What brought in the velvet?

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for all the awesome info. Would a pair or a trio be more appropriate for a 6’ tank?

Are they uncommon, hard to find fish? One of the articles describes these as the Genicanthus among butterflies, unfortunately Genicanthus are not commonly imported where I live.

 

[Qasimja]

Sorry to hear that. What brought in the velvet?

i got inverts from online 2 cleaner shrimp and some snails then 2 days later my fish started to show signs of disease 2 days after that all my fish started to die

 

[Zionas]

Ouch. Didn’t know inverts could be so deadly.


I was originally really keen on getting Heniochus Bannerfish and I still love their looks but then I realized the ones for sale at my LFS are the Acuninatus variety (non reef safe) and plus I thought I’d want something smaller so common sense prevailed in the end.

If I’m not wrong, are the Yellow Pyramids part of a genus closely related to Heniochus?

 

[Zionas]

This is honestly a bit confusing to me, because the author is implying that these Butterflyfish should go into the tank before any more aggressive fish, yet my Clowns, Hawkfish, maybe even the Royal Gramma etc. might all be more aggressive than these butterflyfish, not to mention the Yellow Tang yet the Clowns, Hawks, Basslet etc. are often described as “early tank” fish.




The book is by Scott W. Michael by the way.

 

[pcon]

Are they uncommon, hard to find fish? One of the articles describes these as the Genicanthus among butterflies, unfortunately Genicanthus are not commonly imported where I live.

The pyramid and zoster butterflies are not uncommon, shallow water widely distributed in the indopacific, though I am not familiar with the intricacies of your local supply.

If I’m not wrong, are the Yellow Pyramids part of a genus closely related to Heniochus?

They are somewhat closely related. Hemitaurichthys are also bannerfish, though my lay understanding of the phylogeny is, they are not the most closely related genera.

This is honestly a bit confusing to me, because the author is implying that these Butterflyfish should go into the tank before any more aggressive fish, yet my Clowns, Hawkfish, maybe even the Royal Gramma etc. might all be more aggressive than these butterflyfish, not to mention the Yellow Tang yet the Clowns, Hawks, Basslet etc. are often described as “early tank” fish.





The book is by Scott W. Michael by the way.

The the distinction there is fish that are liable to be aggressive toward or harass a butterflyfish. Small territorial rock dwelling fish like basslets, hawks and similarly the more peaceful clownfish, are unlikely to harass a butterflyfish unless the butterfly is near their territory. In an appropriately sized tank this is not an issue as the butterfly will just exit that territory. With a pelagic feeder, which will spend more time in the water column than picking the rocks, this is even less of an issue. In general, a fish like a yellow tang should not be introduced before a butterflyfish, as they are likely to see the butterfly as a threat. Sometimes when you want difficult groups of fish like angels and butterflies this means forgoing a densely stocked tank, and or certain families of fish, until the tank is mature enough to handle the sensitive fish you wish to add. Patience is an essential virtue in reefkeeping. There are also social acclimation techniques which can be used to mitigate potential damage when adding fish to more aggressive tank mates. these techniques include introducing multiple new fish at once, adding fish at night, rearranging the rock work when adding new fish, and using social acclimation boxes just to name a few.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for the info. It really helps. Since I guess we can consider the Pyramid Butterflies as the butterfly equivalent of Genicanthus angels, which fish would you say are more difficult? Comparing the Yellow Pyramid to the Lamarck / Spotbreast / Watanabei / Bellus.