Poll: How many reefers have successfully kept a butterfly?

[DarthSimon]

I have never been able to keep a CBB for long term for some strange reason. On the other hand I tried the long nose and he seems to be doing great. He eats almost anything I put in tank accept pellets.... Also he has wiped out my Apstasia population. Which is a huge bonus.

 

[Kent67]

When I was keeping corals I purchased a CBB for aiptasia control that did very well on live worms and frozen foods after a while. I had him for quite a while until a tank crash. I almost quit altogether but decided to do my first FOWLR after....maybe 16 years of reefing. I always wanted a blueface angel and butterflies.

I now have that blueface (a big juvie I'd like to see start changing more), a raccoon butterfly I've had for maybe 3 months, and an auriga I just added last week. I love the butterfly personality like others have said. Fearless and inquisitive. I've tried to stroke the raccoon before because he gets so close to my hand and yeah, he lets me touch his side.

This thread title scared me a little at first! I feel so inexperienced with BFs and large angels but, with a varied diet, these butterflies should be possible to keep long-term, right??

 

[XwaveW]

Pyramid butterfly and copperband butterfly. I had cbp for almost 2 year he ate everything, unfortunately he died on some kind of disease [emoji24] I have Pyramid butterfly now and I am happy he clean my tank of Xenia and glass anemones I thinking of buying another one they prefer be in pairs.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[DraggingTail]

Lol

 

[mfinn]

My CBB has been with me for 4+ years.

 

[Aquanino]

I have a Copperband for about 5 months now, I keep fish in a 15gal nano when I buy them and treat with prazipro and feed them frozen mysis/brine mixed with flakes and soaked in vitachem or similar vitamin. I also soak this mixture in the fridge overnight. This mixture eventually gets them eating both frozen and flakes. I very rarely stress about getting a fish to eat. Also have a regal angel eating everything including all my zoas

 

[mwilk19]

I LOVE butterflies. My most successful trial was when I had a permanent QT, and I treated everything with Choloroquine Phospate before going into the tank. Lots of fish did not make it out of QT, but many did. I kept only soft corals that grew fast, and none of the butterflies touched them. Here I have a pearlscale, a yellow head, a pyramid, and a Pakistani. I also had a Regal angel and a Rock Beauty. It was a great tank, but then I had to move for work and the fish got sold. I went in a different direction here. I'll attach some of my old photos 951899[/ATTACH]

I love Pakistani Butterflies but I'm afraid to try one in my reef tank. How is yours behaving?

 

[ReefTeacher]

I love Pakistani Butterflies but I'm afraid to try one in my reef tank. How is yours behaving?

Unfortunately, I had to sell that livestock when I moved. I would never trust Pakistani's with LPS or Zoos, but with the softies I had he was fine. The Pakistani is a little aggressive toward other butterflies so be careful. Still they are very beautiful!

 

[Steve Fast]

Your experience with the Pakistani is much different than mine. Mine was on the larger side when added to my, dare I say, shoal, of butterflies. It has never taken a taste of any coral and peacefully coexisted with both the larger and smaller members of the shoal. In fact no aggression even when the clams are added. When I first started trying butterflies and corals, I only chose those species which were reported to be "reef safe." Then I got some online and the species that arrived were not what I ordered and they too left the corals alone. So I branched out and tried some that stay small. Nonetheless I typically stick to species that are not expensive and do not have a reputation to be difficult. Maybe tomorrow we can film feeding time...

 

[DraggingTail]

Your experience with the Pakistani is much different than mine. Mine was on the larger side when added to my, dare I say, shoal, of butterflies. It has never taken a taste of any coral and peacefully coexisted with both the larger and smaller members of the shoal. In fact no aggression even when the clams are added. When I first started trying butterflies and corals, I only chose those species which were reported to be "reef safe." Then I got some online and the species that arrived were not what I ordered and they too left the corals alone. So I branched out and tried some that stay small. Nonetheless I typically stick to species that are not expensive and do not have a reputation to be difficult. Maybe tomorrow we can film feeding time...

That would be awesome [emoji4]

 

[MrsBugmaster]

My Pakistan Butterfly has never been aggressive to any of my other butterflies. This is my second time having one and the previous one was peaceful as well.

 

[Fishfinder]

My long nose came in. Any special feeding suggestions?

 

[Steve Fast]

That would be awesome [emoji4]

Feeding frenzy... Chopped scallops and shrimp soaked in selcon and Vita chem

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KWoTADvWicdhxUcy7

 

[DraggingTail]

Feeding frenzy... Chopped scallops and shrimp soaked in selcon and Vita chem

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KWoTADvWicdhxUcy7

Very cool. They don't eat any of your coral ?

 

[DraggingTail]

Feeding frenzy... Chopped scallops and shrimp soaked in selcon and Vita chem

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KWoTADvWicdhxUcy7

How big is that tank?

 

[Steve Fast]

Very cool. They don't eat any of your coral ?

Only acans and frogspawn... Though not all of them. As you can see Duncan's are left alone as well as the SPS, hairy mushrooms, and softies

 

[Steve Fast]

How big is that tank?

520 gallon 10 x 3 x 2.5 ft

 

[Steve Fast]

Only acans and frogspawn... Though not all of them. As you can see Duncan's are left alone as well as the SPS, hairy mushrooms, and softies

Should also say that only the double saddle has gone after those corals. The others ignored them. About 15 minutes after this feeding the consumed 6 small clams too. They eat like a teenager

 

[Paul B]

This guy is about 10 years old. I got him as a baby. I can usually keep them about 12 years but I am not sure what their life span is.