Ill African Butterfly Fish

[brynneth]

Hi, I recently got an African Butterfly Fish and he's barely eaten anything since I got him last week. I'm worried that my filter is disturbing the surface too much for him to sense his food. I have Anacaris that float on the top to give him some cover but I'm also worried that might not be enough. Also one of his "wings" is broken and the other fins are becoming ragged. It really doesn't look like ich or velvet, as he doesn't have any sores but I'm worried. What could be wrong?

 

[nmonks]

The ragged wings may simply be damage from transit. Also, if the fish are scared, they may buffet themselves against the aquarium hood or lights as they try to jump to safety.

Feeding butterflyfish is extremely easy, once you understand the rule: they are attracted by movement in a very small area around the head. Nothing below them or above them, has to be eye level. Live foods wiggle, so work best, but eventually floating food will be taken, too. To try and have him take flake straight away is probably unwise, though some people manage. Instead, try and get some insects from the garden and dump them on the water.

Butterflies don't like strong water currents. A bit of water movement is fine, but if there are waves and masses of bubbles, they won't be happy.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Creature Seeker]

I bought four of these fellers recently and were worried that they wouldn't make it as they weren't eating also (my nitrates were a bit high and my apollo sharked attacked them too). Now after moving the appollo shark and geting nitrates down I fed them floating pellets and they gobbled them up. They now take flake (a bit) but only if it's near. If they are nowhere near the food they won't bother moving for it. They seem to have settled in nicely but don't move a great deal during the day. They mostly move around at night.

...

 

[nmonks]

Butterflyfish detect movements in the water close to their head. That's why they don't go towards food. Anything out within an inch or so of their head is possible food; beyond that, it's just scenery as far as the fish is concerned. So dropping small pellets near the head will make them behave as if the pellets were insects that fell on the water's surface.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[2polypterus]

I took care of some african butterflys at the lfs i used to work in. The only foods they would take initialy were live insects, such as crickets, grasshoppers, etc... After a few weeks I could get them to eat FD krill that was thrown at the surface right above them. What kind of fish do you have in the tank with it?