The Butterfly Lover's Thread

[Tcook]

This is waiting for me at the lfs

 

[kboogie]

A couple of pictures of my Semilarvatus. FYI, the white spots in the image are sand kicked up by my Green Brid Wrasse, who loves kicking up sand all day.

 

[Louis Z]

Are these obligate corallivores ? They are gorgeous . Mixed reef or FOWLR

 

[JumboShrimp]

Just chillin' with the Butterfly Boys on a Sunday night...

 

[Louis Z]

Just chillin' with the Butterfly Boys on a Sunday night

So what is your feeding regimen . Can’t remember if you had posted that ?

 

[LaloJ]

Just chillin' with the Butterfly Boys on a Sunday night...

Very nice, do you have any picture of the sump?

 

[kboogie]

Are these obligate corallivores ? They are gorgeous . Mixed reef or FOWLR

While the Semilarvatus does eat acropora in the wild, they are not Obligate Coralivores. They are from the subgenus Rabdophorus which are known to do well in captivity. The only other better subgenus for butterflyfish is Roaops (I also have a Mitratus). My Semi eats chopped up shrimp, scallops, squid, loves clams.

 

[JumboShrimp]

@LaloJ , the sump is very 'unusual', but very basic at the same time. It is the "Seamless Sump" system, by Custom Aquariums. (There are a dozen or more configurations possible.) Right now it has the recirculating skimmer, and minimal filter floss and some ceramic media. As a FOWLER I keep the lighting to a low intensity, and algae growth is not really a problem.

 

[kboogie]

Just chillin' with the Butterfly Boys on a Sunday night...

I really need to get a Saddleback.

 

[Louis Z]

I am drooling . So many butterfly’s that I have stayed away from all these years because I thought of how they would fare in captivity . Thinking that most would die if they didn’t have acros to munch on. My target right now is to acquire a group of white collar collare and add them to an established one in a 125 . . I fear I may have an issue with aggression amongst them . And have to separate . But I fell in love with the subtlety of their pattern , My blackbacked squabble at times but do swim together .it went from three to two in a QT tank while on vacation for a week . I never got to see how a trio would fare. And I dare not add a third .

 

[Louis Z]

So I have been feeding to all my others a chopped mix of cod, squid , salmon , shrimp , and blue crab . With occasional frozen clam on the half shell . Since I added the butterfly’s , I add bloodworms , mysis and the pacific plankton krill. They also get algae based pellets and also squish up nori in small bits after the emperor has had his fill .

 

[LaloJ]

@LaloJ , the sump is very 'unusual', but very basic at the same time. It is the "Seamless Sump" system, by Custom Aquariums. (There are a dozen or more configurations possible.) Right now it has the recirculating skimmer, and minimal filter floss and some ceramic media. As a FOWLER I keep the lighting to a low intensity, and algae growth is not really a problem.

Excellent setup, Do you use anything to prevent disease in butterflyfish? Perhaps UV light or something similar?

 

[Daniel Doherty]

My one and only

Update 2/11/25. I was successful pairing her.

Fantastic looking. I really need to get mine a male.

 

[kboogie]

I am drooling . So many butterfly’s that I have stayed away from all these years because I thought of how they would fare in captivity . Thinking that most would die if they didn’t have acros to munch on. My target right now is to acquire a group of white collar collare and add them to an established one in a 125 . . I fear I may have an issue with aggression amongst them . And have to separate . But I fell in love with the subtlety of their pattern , My blackbacked squabble at times but do swim together .it went from three to two in a QT tank while on vacation for a week . I never got to see how a trio would fare. And I dare not add a third .

I also highly recommend using the Chaetodon Wikipedia page as a reference. A simple rule of thumb is to avoid butterflies in the Megaprotodon group. Focus on fish in the Rabdophorus group.

Chaetodon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JumboShrimp]

@LaloJ, my tanks started fallow (following "The Great Heater Disaster of 2025"), so pretty much a clean start; then from there I just made sure to QT each fish prior to introducing it. So here's hoping! (I do have a 40W Pentair UV for each tank, but I don't think I'm going to bother putting them back online this time around.)

 

[Louis Z]

I also highly recommend using the Chaetodon Wikipedia page as a reference.

Didn’t know there was one . I always tend not to go to wiki cause a lot of it is by anyone who wants to post it . But if someone with knowledge wrote it then I will trust it . I will take your recommendation

 

[kboogie]

Didn’t know there was one . I always tend not to go to wiki cause a lot of it is by anyone who wants to post it . But if someone with knowledge wrote it then I will trust it . I will take your recommendation

Scientific info on Wikipedia is very accurate and well-maintained. I was surprised at first, then I read the book Drive by Daniel Pink and it all made sense.

 

[Funkateer_1]

I didn't even know this thread was here. Happy Monday fellow Butterflyfish enthusiasts! Also sorry about my kids screaming in the background

 

[LaloJ]

Chaetodon rafflesi in QT, She hasn't eaten any of the food offered and seems quite scared so far.

 

[JumboShrimp]

How long have you had him? Frozen blood worms? Frozen fish eggs? Clams? (PS, that hiding-pipe looks a little small/tight, unless it's just the optics. Because white PVC pipes aren't too natural, unlike rocks, I've found they need to be about 2x the fish's size to be used.) Best wishes!