African Butterfly Fish

[ES1988]

I am interested in getting one of these; African Butterfly Fish. Is it true they 'need' a 'very' calm surface to dwell under? I have a power canister filter but there's still about 30% of the surface of my tank which has a calm surface. Is that ok? Would adjusting the output downward in the tank help? I have 4 silver dollars and a standard pleco, will that disrupt their living habits considering the current now being put into their level of dwelling?? Thanks for your help!! ~eric

 

[nmonks]

Yes, they need calm water. Not zero current, but certainly not a turbulent flow. The "still" area of your tank MUST have lots of plants, because their instinct is to hide close to the floating plant leaves at the top.

Maintenance of these fish isn't especially hard. The main problems are feeding and avoiding fin-nipping. Both these issues have been covered in detail in other threads in this forum. So do a search for "Pantodon buchholzi" and see what you turn up. Most failures with these fish come from either starvation of the fish jumping out the tank.

Cheers, Neale

I am interested in getting one of these; African Butterfly Fish. Is it true they 'need' a 'very' calm surface to dwell under? I have a power canister filter but there's still about 30% of the surface of my tank which has a calm surface. Is that ok? Would adjusting the output downward in the tank help? I have 4 silver dollars and a standard pleco, will that disrupt their living habits considering the current now being put into their level of dwelling?? Thanks for your help!! ~eric