African Butterfly Fish

[fish_newbie]

hey, im planning on getting an african butterfly fish for my 10g and i was wondering what else i could keep with it, maybe some cool bottom or mid dwelling fish. any suggestions?

thanks!

 

[Fruitbat]

Here's a link to an article that I wrote on the African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi. You might find some of the information useful.

African Butterfly Fish

-Joe

 

[Johnny V]

you could keep yours with a fiddler crab (they crack me up) or a few albino cory cats

 

[fish_newbie]

great article joe, you think i could keep just 2 congo tetras with it? fiddler crabs would be cool, but dont they have to climb up to get air? while they're up there im afraid that the fish would hurt himself trying to make a quick snack out of them.

thanks for the quick responses

 

[Teelie]

Congos are like pretty much every other tetra, a schooling fish so you'd need 5 minimum and they might get eaten by a African Butterfly. I think Butterflies need a 30g minimum tank as well.

 

[fish_newbie]

i found this on the top of the forums in "fish index"

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34968

says that ONE specimen can be kept in a 10-15 gallon tank, but i guess i wont be going for the congos then, maybe the fiddlers would be good. we'll just have to see what happens. thanks.

 

[Teelie]

Depends on who you ask about tank size. 15 long should be sufficient I think. They prefer wide, long open areas as opposed to depth. The Congos might be able to live with one but I don't know too much about their habits and if they would be too close to the mouth of a Butterfly.

 

[wwestar2000]

Omg! Off topic but i love your avatar or what ever you call it. Napoleon Dynomite!

 

[fish_newbie]

haha, thanks wwestar2000. Congos get pretty big-well for tetras anyway-so i don't know if a butterfly will be able to eat one plus they're mid dwelling fish. ehhh, i dont know ..i guess i'll have to do more reading.

 

[Fruitbat]

Congo Tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus) will be fine with African Butterfly Fish but, as I'm sure you're aware, both types of fish will outgrow your 10 gallon tank. Perhaps you could get a 20 gallon long tank...which would supply extra swimming room for the Congo Tetras and provide plenty of surface area for the African Butterfly Fish. Toss a small Synodontis species of catfish in there and you'd have a nice little African tank with activity at all levels.

Personally I'd avoid any kind of crab/lobster/crayfish/prawn. If you really want an invertebrate then the Wood Shrimp (Atyopsis species) would be your best bet. They're filter feeders so they're no danger to your fish and they get large enough that fish like Congo Tetras and Butterfly Fish will leave them alone.

-Joe

 

[Dwarfs]

I agree ^^^


African butterflies won't bother with any fish below them IMO, they ignore them, but anything that an ABF thinks is edible at the surface will be eaten, and tetras rarely go to the surface, unless they get floating foods

 

[Fishy411]

yeah guys anything even an inch below the surface should be ignored by an ABF