African Butterfly Fish

[stanleo]

I am going to have a tank of rainbowfish. The smallest species in the pseudomugil or blue-eye rainbow. Can or will an African butterflyfish eat these guys? I'm trying to find a really interesting looking fish that I can put in my 55gl with rainbows that I can put in singly. A "centerpiece" fish.

 

[malfunction]

Do you mean Pseudomugil gertrudae? If so, I think it would be risky to house them with an African butterfly fish. I've never kept African butterfly fish, but my understanding is that they're adept predators, so will probably snack on your rainbowfish. It might be difficult to find a decent sized centrepiece fish for a 55g that wouldn't eat them. It might be easier if you considered a larger rainbow species.

 

[wrightt3]

It might work...
African butterfly fish are primarily insectivores and in nature would rarely prey on a fish. They spend the majority of their time at the surface of the water because of this and therefore often ignore fish in the middle and lower levels of the tank. If you keep it well fed then it could work although there will always be a risk that your rainbow fish will become lunch. Larger rainbows would be an option but IMO a 55g is a bit too small for those given how active they are.
 
An alternative centrepiece would be either a pair of dwarf cichlids or gourami under 4".

 

[Ninjouzata]

I am fairly certain spotted blue-eyes would get eaten eventually. They're certainly small enough to fit in it's mouth and you know what that usually means

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Some ABF particularly the older and bigger individuals become defensive once established. Bottom dwellers or mid-bottom strata swimmers would be your best bet. Gouramis breathe air on the surface periodically and might get stressed if they are constantly chased away.

 

[stanleo]

Yeah thank you guys. That's all pretty much what I thought but I was hoping I was wrong.

What about an angelfish? Would they compatible with rainbows? Are they ok singly or do they need pairs or groups?

 

[wrightt3]

Angelfish grow even bigger than African butterflyfish so the risk of them getting eaten is even higher. Saying that though, I've heard that if you introduce the angelfish when it is small and let it grow up with the fish then it is less likely to see them as food when fully grown.
 
They do fine singly but they exhibit their most interesting behaviour in groups.

 

[malfunction]

Stanleo, are you definitely set on getting pseudomugil or are you considering other rainbows as well? And does you centrepiece fish have to be a single specimen? I think if you have some leeway on these two issues, it'll give you more options. For example, if you're willing to keep a pair or small group as your centrepieces, you'd be able to go with wrightt3's suggestion of combining them with dwarf cichlids.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Are you aware that some rainbows including Pseudomugil gertrudae are not "tropical" fish? During the year, their natural waters are recorded to change from 12-34C.
 
http/rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Gertrud.htm (site is great reference for rainbows)
 
Such fish can be kept in a tank without a heater that changes temp through the seasons, so all other fish with them need to be "temperate" species as well.
 
African Butterfly Fish and Angelfish are more than capable of eating fish the size of adult Neon Tetras, I never trusted my ABF with anything <2cm deep body!