What’s so hard about Chaetodon aureofasciatus?

[i cant think]

As the title says, what’s so hard about the “Golden-barred butterflyfish” (Chaetodon aureofasciatus)? Is it the fact they’re corallivores like most other butterflies or something else? I just saw a photo of this fish after looking through LA’s butterflyfish (I’ve been planning a dream 6’ or so tank recently). Is their care the same as any other “Expert Only” level fish?
Here’s a photo of this beauty I’m on about;

I’d love to hear some alternatives to this fish (I’ve also looked at several other butterflies that caught my eye - C. larvatus is one of those many butterflies).
Here’s a list of the other butterflies that have caught my eye. If any would be better and look similar to these fish, I would love to know!!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

As the title says, what’s so hard about the “Golden-barred butterflyfish” (Chaetodon aureofasciatus)? Is it the fact they’re corallivores like most other butterflies or something else? I just saw a photo of this fish after looking through LA’s butterflyfish (I’ve been planning a dream 6’ or so tank recently). Is their care the same as any other “Expert Only” level fish?
Here’s a photo of this beauty I’m on about;

I’d love to hear some alternatives to this fish (I’ve also looked at several other butterflies that caught my eye - C. larvatus is one of those many butterflies).
Here’s a list of the other butterflies that have caught my eye. If any would be better and look similar to these fish, I would love to know!!

I've only tried one of these, and it was many years ago. I got it to start to feed, but it never ate well and gradually wasted away. Obviously, with just a sample of one, I can't make any broad recommendations! However, you'll find that overall, Chaetodon collare and the Prognathodes butterflyfish are going to be very hardy. Some prefer cooler water (75 F.) and all need to be treated for Neobenedenia flukes.

Jay

 

[LaloJ]

As the title says, what’s so hard about the “Golden-barred butterflyfish” (Chaetodon aureofasciatus)? Is it the fact they’re corallivores like most other butterflies or something else? I just saw a photo of this fish after looking through LA’s butterflyfish (I’ve been planning a dream 6’ or so tank recently). Is their care the same as any other “Expert Only” level fish?
Here’s a photo of this beauty I’m on about;

I’d love to hear some alternatives to this fish (I’ve also looked at several other butterflies that caught my eye - C. larvatus is one of those many butterflies).
Here’s a list of the other butterflies that have caught my eye. If any would be better and look similar to these fish, I would love to know!!

Well, you are the first person I see who talks about butterflyfishes in this forum, at least since I have been here. Let's start, this is an interesting topic, coral butterflies are very difficult to maintain due to their eating habits, and on your list you have some of them, starting with C. aureofasciatus, but I know of some people who have kept these fish with success in the medium or long term, however feeding is key here, you should know that even if they eat mysis, brine, clams or similar things, these fish really need coral in their diet, as it is known that they obtain little benefits from these food. There is a chat with Matt Pedersen where he talks about these fish, although I'm not sure if the link can be shared here.
As Jay mentioned, Prognathodes require lower temperatures, they are subtropical fish from what I understand, I don't know how easy it is for you to get Prognathodes falcifer, but it will certainly be difficult to get, it's a deep sea beauty that is rarely seen in the aquarium trade, either way your project sounds pretty good, just imagine a 6' tank with all those butterflies, I can provide you with a couple of links to butterfly tank build threads if you wish.

 

[i cant think]

Well, you are the first person I see who talks about butterflyfishes in this forum, at least since I have been here. Let's start, this is an interesting topic, coral butterflies are very difficult to maintain due to their eating habits, and on your list you have some of them, starting with C. aureofasciatus, but I know of some people who have kept these fish with success in the medium or long term, however feeding is key here, you should know that even if they eat mysis, brine, clams or similar things, these fish really need coral in their diet, as it is known that they obtain little benefits from these food. There is a chat with Matt Pedersen where he talks about these fish, although I'm not sure if the link can be shared here.
As Jay mentioned, Prognathodes require lower temperatures, they are subtropical fish from what I understand, I don't know how easy it is for you to get Prognathodes falcifer, but it will certainly be difficult to get, it's a deep sea beauty that is rarely seen in the aquarium trade, either way your project sounds pretty good, just imagine a 6' tank with all those butterflies, I can provide you with a couple of links to butterfly tank build threads if you wish.

I’d love that!! I lowered it to 2 in the long run but after looking through photos of some of the others… really does make me want to add to the amount of butterflies in my dream tank haha! Prognathodes we’re one genus I’ve been looking at for a while, I prefer the look of P. aculeatus more than falcifer if I’m honest. I have a passion for many of the fish I find to be one’s almost nobody mentions (Tilefish, Butterflies, Rabbitfish and that’s just the start haha). I think in my dream tank I’d probably try get Atleast 4 butterflies and if they need coral, softies are relatively cheap (My LFS has a bunch of Zoas and other softies they have that get VERY chaotic in growth). My personal favourites from this family are certainly between the Chelmon butterflies and Chaetodon butterflies, I wish I could get a 6-7’ tank sooner to try and get more information out there but unfortunately it’ll be another few years before I move again.

 

[i cant think]

I’d love that!! I lowered it to 2 in the long run but after looking through photos of some of the others… really does make me want to add to the amount of butterflies in my dream tank haha! Prognathodes we’re one genus I’ve been looking at for a while, I prefer the look of P. aculeatus more than falcifer if I’m honest. I have a passion for many of the fish I find to be one’s almost nobody mentions (Tilefish, Butterflies, Rabbitfish and that’s just the start haha). I think in my dream tank I’d probably try get Atleast 4 butterflies and if they need coral, softies are relatively cheap (My LFS has a bunch of Zoas and other softies they have that get VERY chaotic in growth). My personal favourites from this family are certainly between the Chelmon butterflies and Chaetodon butterflies, I wish I could get a 6-7’ tank sooner to try and get more information out there but unfortunately it’ll be another few years before I move again.

I went through the list and lowered the number to 4 butterflies, I wound up with these guys, all of them are certainly nice but I just wonder if 40 or so fish (Including these) us too much even if the rest stay to around 4 inch.

 

[LaloJ]

It has always seemed correct to me to respect the natural needs of the animals that we have in captivity, if you have butterflies that require coral then you have to put coral on the menu, in many occasions these fish even if they eat they simply fade and die, in what regarding the four species that you placed, I think that C. aureofasciatus and C. marginalis are large fish, I have no idea about C. xanthocephalus I practically don't know anything about that species, C. larvatus is one of the most beautiful fish without a doubt, and it is obliged coralivore, you can see that Tanne Hoff keeps one on his reef without problems, it's a healthy and fat fish, I don't remember if he also kept C. baronessa.

 

[i cant think]

It has always seemed correct to me to respect the natural needs of the animals that we have in captivity, if you have butterflies that require coral then you have to put coral on the menu, in many occasions these fish even if they eat they simply fade and die, in what regarding the four species that you placed, I think that C. aureofasciatus and C. marginalis are large fish, I have no idea about C. xanthocephalus I practically don't know anything about that species, C. larvatus is one of the most beautiful fish without a doubt, and it is obliged coralivore, you can see that Tanne Hoff keeps one on his reef without problems, it's a healthy and fat fish, I don't remember if he also kept C. baronessa.

I completely agree with you, we can’t bring these fish into captivity and just not give them their wild diet that’s just cruelty in my eyes. C. marginalis is definitely not a small butterflyfish. I ended up with a C. rostratum but I wish I went for C. marginalis instead, they do the same job except they’re not quite the same as a CBB.
After doing more research on the four, I’ve found their wild max sizes to be:
- C. aureofasciatus > 5.5”
- C. larvatus > 5”
- C. xanthocephalus > 8”
- C. marginalis > 7”
Chelmon butterflies are VERY slow growers from what I’ve seen with CBBs and the Marginalis butterflies I’ve seen in person.

 

[LaloJ]

In a 6' tank they would have no problem, you can choose all the butterflies of the Chelmon genus if you wish, they are a beauty and the selection of fish is enviable. I did not know that these butterflies were slow growing, I also plan a butterflyfish tank in the future, I hope it's close, but there is no way I could find such a variety of butterflies to choose from, outside of CBB I have not seen any other of which we have mentioned here, only C. baronessa and by the way I have a little history with this fish, since I managed to make it eat mysis in QT, but one day it just woke up dead lying on the bottom glass, I noticed some redness in the tail fin and on the body, it was not very marked but it was enough to see with the naked eye, now I know that nitrofurazone powder can correct that, I'm not very sure how deadly this pathology is, and I have not investigated much about it, maybe Jay know a lot more about it.

 

[i cant think]

In a 6' tank they would have no problem, you can choose all the butterflies of the Chelmon genus if you wish, they are a beauty and the selection of fish is enviable. I did not know that these butterflies were slow growing, I also plan a butterflyfish tank in the future, I hope it's close, but there is no way I could find such a variety of butterflies to choose from, outside of CBB I have not seen any other of which we have mentioned here, only C. baronessa and by the way I have a little history with this fish, since I managed to make it eat mysis in QT, but one day it just woke up dead lying on the bottom glass, I noticed some redness in the tail fin and on the body, it was not very marked but it was enough to see with the naked eye, now I know that nitrofurazone powder can correct that, I'm not very sure how deadly this pathology is, and I have not investigated much about it, maybe Jay know a lot more about it.

Yeah, we get a wider range of butterflies but we mainly get the more common butterflies, Chelmon rostratum, Chelmon marginalis - albeit this is more uncommon - Chaetodon lunula, Chaetodon unimaculatus ect… I think if I asked for my LFS to get them in then I could probably get most if not all of the butterflies I’ve listed. one thing that used to throw me off the butterflyfish idea was the Expert Only tag, with the CBBs and more common corallivorous butterflies I’ve cared for in the past it’s really brought me to see these fish aren’t hard to keep alive, they’re just hard to feed because most coral is rather more expensive (My plan for this tank is get a few Softies that these butterflies eat growing in a sump and as they get bigger and spread feed the small “off-spring” to the butterflies.
This whole time I’ve been thinking on planning my dream tank I’ve been adding more to a piece of paper with the care of each fish I’d want that aren’t really spoken about as often. That includes tilefish, corallivorous butterflies ect.. in hopes that when I get this tank I can try and give people more advice to each fish and try get more information out there.

 

[Zionas]

Many of the butterflies you have chosen consume coral exclusively or as a large part of their diet. Butterflies as a whole are like 80% off limits except for the most hardcore of hobbyists, and even then it requires lots of luck for the more advanced AKA corallivore species to thrive. Many of the species on your list consume SPS polyps too, so if I were you I’d probably not even think of attempting one unless I had a giant SPS tank that’s been doing well for 5+ years before I’d even attempt one. Maybe there is a missing component in the diets of certain butterflies that we currently cannot provide for in captivity, much like the elusive Moorish Idol.

However, to give you a hint as to why it’s not a good idea to do anything other than playing it safe when it comes to this group of fish, the corallivore / exclusively coral eating butterflies here in Asia often sell for fairly cheap prices. They aren’t exactly rare, but they’re sold in numbers to hobbyists who don’t do their research and only go “pretty fish”, and they fail over and over again but keep trying. Easy profit for the sellers. And considering that the bulk of these species are also caught in the Philippines and Indonesia, I wouldn’t be surprised if cyanide collection’s still common in a number of locations.

So I know that when a fish looks extremely exotic (or very attractive) but is sold at a low price, and sometimes appears on wholesaler’s lists in good quantities, I instinctively avoid it until doing further research, and usually it turns out to be a species that can cause a headache one way or another.

Of course if you are really determined and aren’t faint of heart, please feel free to give them a try. It all contributes to our knowledge of how to better get these fish to thrive. Good luck either way.

It’s unfortunate because I like butterflies along with angels, but while angelfish have a few notorious species that are more touchy than average, butterflyfish as a generalization are one notch up the difficulty scale.

Where I live we don’t get a good selection of butterflies, unfortunately most of the ones that get imported tend to be species that typically don’t thrive.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yeah, we get a wider range of butterflies but we mainly get the more common butterflies, Chelmon rostratum, Chelmon marginalis - albeit this is more uncommon - Chaetodon lunula, Chaetodon unimaculatus ect… I think if I asked for my LFS to get them in then I could probably get most if not all of the butterflies I’ve listed. one thing that used to throw me off the butterflyfish idea was the Expert Only tag, with the CBBs and more common corallivorous butterflies I’ve cared for in the past it’s really brought me to see these fish aren’t hard to keep alive, they’re just hard to feed because most coral is rather more expensive (My plan for this tank is get a few Softies that these butterflies eat growing in a sump and as they get bigger and spread feed the small “off-spring” to the butterflies.
This whole time I’ve been thinking on planning my dream tank I’ve been adding more to a piece of paper with the care of each fish I’d want that aren’t really spoken about as often. That includes tilefish, corallivorous butterflies ect.. in hopes that when I get this tank I can try and give people more advice to each fish and try get more information out there.

I would skip the C. lavartus. You might be able to get some short supply chain ones in the EU, but I don't think that applies to England. They are a difficult species at best, and what happens is this: large ones don't adapt over to aquarium food at all. Small ones sometimes do, but during long supply chains, they go without food so long that they are essentially goners by the time you get them, even if you do manage to get them feeding again.

Jay

 

[i cant think]

I would skip the C. lavartus. You might be able to get some short supply chain ones in the EU, but I don't think that applies to England. They are a difficult species at best, and what happens is this: large ones don't adapt over to aquarium food at all. Small ones sometimes do, but during long supply chains, they go without food so long that they are essentially goners by the time you get them, even if you do manage to get them feeding again.

Jay

Yeah, I’ll probably skip that one unless I find one that’s healthy (Chances are very slim though). This really does get you thinking of butterflies are the best fish to own or not - Many say they aren’t, I can agree as to why but if we can get something that supplies their natural diet and ween them onto a captive diet that may just be the trick. I’m hoping I can get several species of corallivore butterflies to do well in my dream tank but may have to resume use which ones as I don’t really want a truly impossible fish to start out with.

 

[LaloJ]

In my opinion, if you first have the knowledge, skills and resources to try to make these fish thrive then go for it. As Zionas mentioned, beginners turn to these fish a lot, both to angelfish for their beauty, which is an advantage for sellers and as long as there is someone who buys then they will continue to collect, in that case, I do not see with bad eyes that A person with enough experience in the hobby can try it, the difficulty does not change but the chances of success increase considerably.

 

[awwinterfall]

I had one with a group of rainsford butterflyfish and they lived d many years eating new life spectrum pellets, along with tangs and angels until a disease from new fish killed them.

With these butterflyfish it's 50/50 chance of eating. If they are eating, you are set. In my opinion frozen food is not enough. They must be weaned onto pellets to keep weight.

 

[awwinterfall]

As the title says, what’s so hard about the “Golden-barred butterflyfish” (Chaetodon aureofasciatus)? Is it the fact they’re corallivores like most other butterflies or something else? I just saw a photo of this fish after looking through LA’s butterflyfish (I’ve been planning a dream 6’ or so tank recently). Is their care the same as any other “Expert Only” level fish?
Here’s a photo of this beauty I’m on about;

I’d love to hear some alternatives to this fish (I’ve also looked at several other butterflies that caught my eye - C. larvatus is one of those many butterflies).
Here’s a list of the other butterflies that have caught my eye. If any would be better and look similar to these fish, I would love to know!!

Where did you see them for sale? I'm looking for rainfordi, and they come from the same region

 

[i cant think]

Where did you see them for sale? I'm looking for rainfordi, and they come from the same region

I don’t have one but I think if you ask an LFS they will most likely be able to get one in or Atleast try.

 

[LaloJ]

I had one with a group of rainsford butterflyfish and they lived d many years eating new life spectrum pellets, along with tangs and angels until a disease from new fish killed them.

With these butterflyfish it's 50/50 chance of eating. If they are eating, you are set. In my opinion frozen food is not enough. They must be weaned onto pellets to keep weight.

Man that is a beautiful fish, I have never used NLS pellets with butterflies, but now you are one of several people that I have known have had success with this food, so for some reason they seem to accept it, there must be many exceptions of course, aspects are generalized, fish have individual character and temperament.