butterfly fish???

[guppygirl]

Hey you all,
I don't come here very often, but now I will.
Do any of you have.. or know how to care for and feed butterfly fish?(the freshwater kind)
I love these fish and would love to have them in a community tank.
Can I do this?
Thanks,
Robin

 

[CFC]

I have kept them and one thing i can say is they are not a normal community fish.
They have deceptivly large mouths and will hunt and eat any fish under 2 1/2 inches, they can also be difficult to feed as they are reluctant to take non live foods and often will only feed from the surface, bugs such as crickets flies and spiders make the best foods.
They are also fairly delicate and need perfect water quality at all times and must not be kept with nippy fish such as barbs rasboros or danios which would make short work of the butterflies long trailing finnage.

 

[guppygirl]

oh.
then can I keep them in a solitary tank? maybe in a pair? or alone. Man that would be lonely. Maybe I could keep it with like I peacful gourami? or a large but docile fish and some cories?
Robin

 

[CFC]

The two i had shared a tank with corys, clown loaches and angelfish plus a few botom dwelling oddballs and seemed to be ok, that is until they managed to find the tiny one inch gap in the tank hood and escape We found them dried up on the floor in the morning.

 

[juanveldez]

you know I am beginging to think that something in your tanks takes the leap of faith every week CFC!!!!!

 

[CFC]

Not quite but i have lost a few over the years when they have got out of the tank some way or another. These days i have learnt the wonders of sticky tape and any gap no matter how small is sealed up to prevent would be escape artists from becoming dried up husks on the floor.

 

[Curtiss]

I've found my African Butterfly to be an interesting addition to my community tank. He stays near the surface, doesn't bother my other fish (when well fed) and is quite active at feeding times.

I feed mine a combination of meal worms and crickets. For the most part its meal worms that I carefully float on the surface (if they sink he won't touch them) and occassional crickets as a treat. He'll also munch on the occasional flake before I put his live food in the tank.

He's pretty passive unless another fish takes a nip at him or tries to snatch his food.

My tank has (and had when I purchased the African Butterfly) excellent water quality so I'm not experienced with how durable this fish is. I know he's had no problem in my tank which has a ph of 7.2 and a temp of 80F (with 0 ppm ammonia and nitrites).

-Curtiss

 

[guppygirl]

Ok! That sounds cool. I just discovered Tetra nature's delica. I think I'll just feed my fish all the stuff I have been and that too. They LOVE it! Thing is, I have no luck with live food. I can buy it at one fish store, but we never go there. I tried hatching my own brine shrimp, but that was a disaster. I can't find any worms anywhere. jus ain't werkin.
SO.
What fish should I put in with him(if I get one)?

 

[CFC]

Its entirely up to you but if you are unsure then why not write down a few you like and then post on here to see if they would be suitable, personally i would try to go with a kind of african theme tank using maybe kribensis, small synodontis catfishes and prehaps a school of congo tetras.

 

[guppygirl]

Sounds great, CFC!
I'll see if I can set up an "african theme" tank sometime. Is it ok if I put some live plants in there too? I'll put some coconut shells for the Kribs in there too. I've always loved kribs.
Robin