Any butterfly pair keepers here ?

[Steve Fast]

how are the miliaris with corals?

Never witnessed either of them paying any attention to coral. I've never witnessed any of these species go after coral and there is no evidence of any damage to the corals. That said, the

Chaetodon ulietensis

tore up the frogspawn... my previous one didn't. I feed PE mysis, chopped scallops and chopped shrimp with the occasional cherrystone clam.

Hope this helps.

 

[mattzang]

Never witnessed either of them paying any attention to coral. I've never witnessed any of these species go after coral and there is no evidence of any damage to the corals. That said, the

Chaetodon ulietensis

tore up the frogspawn... my previous one didn't. I feed PE mysis, chopped scallops and chopped shrimp with the occasional cherrystone clam.

Hope this helps.

indeed it does. i had one of the biota milletseeds for a bit, but lost it to disease. i was gonna put it in a reef, but wasn't supppppper confident it'd be good to go lol

 

[Zionas]

Sorry about your loss. What disease did you lose it to and what was the cause of the outbreak? Do you find all butterflies to be fragile?



About the whole float versus drip acclimation thing, everyone. Which butterflies / fish in general need drip acclimation? Would the hardy butterflies like Roaps and Heniochus need drip acclimation?

I would love a general hardiness rating of butterflies based on genus and species. I know Chaetodon, the big genus, is a mixed bag.

Would any of you say Heniochus> every other genus?

 

[mattzang]

Sorry about your loss. What disease did you lose it to and what was the cause of the outbreak? Do you find all butterflies to be fragile?



About the whole float versus drip acclimation thing, everyone. Which butterflies / fish in general need drip acclimation? Would the hardy butterflies like Roaps and Heniochus need drip acclimation?

guessing velvet since it basically killed overnight. cause? no idea I QTed all fish immediately afterwards. i have a theory it was that fish as the source via DD, but i don't know for sure

don't know, it's the only butterfly i've ever kept. that one ate pellets day one, but it was captive bred. awesome fish, most personable fish i've ever kept

drip acclimating isn't fish dependent, it's situation dependent. i don't acclimate other than floating the bag for temp anymore because i QT so i just match tanks to that salinity and drop them in

 

[Zionas]

Think I should be okay with a float acclimation for 40 minutes, do you pour water from the tank into the bag, half cups with 5-minute intervals, or do you simply float?

Sorry about your loss. I hope you can find another one and have it live a very long life.

 

[mattzang]

Think I should be okay with a float acclimation for 40 minutes, do you pour water from the tank into the bag, half cups with 5-minute intervals, or do you simply float?

Sorry about your loss. I hope you can find another one and have it live a very long life.

thanks

idk, it depends. are you QTing? what salinity is the fish coming from? is it a shipped fish or a local pickup?

 

[Zionas]

Due to space constraints I’ll have to QT using a bucket. The fish are generally kept at a salinity around 1.022-1.023 and it’s my LFS.

 

[mattzang]

mmm not sure i'd advise trying to qt in a bucket. maybe do a decent sized tub at least? i just kept my fish during a tank move in a couple large tubs. not ideal as you won't really be able to observe well, but better than a bucket i think

locally with that close salinity i'd float to temp acclimate and then drip for like 20 min and you should be good

i just messed up and moved all of my fish over to a new tank and the salinity was 1.034. i only lost one fish, but not like this is an ideal way to do things, but they went from 1.026 to 1.034 with zero acclimating and all but one survived. i did realize my error a couple days later and fixed it, but i was pretty surprised they mostly made that jump without serious issue

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for your insights. What fish survived the move and which one didn’t?

If I ever move house my LFS has offered to hold all my livestock for me while the tank is moved with 1/2 the water drained beforehand.

 

[JANSCH]

Here my chelmonops curiosus couple for more than 2 years

 

[Zionas]

Nice. Were they a confirmed pair when you bought them? Are they hardy and easy fish?

Heard they’re a subtropical species. I’ve never come across this genus where I am.

 

[JANSCH]

Nice. Were they a confirmed pair when you bought them? Are they hardy and easy fish?

Heard they’re a subtropical species. I’ve never come across this genus where I am.

I started with 3 pieces, after a year a couple started, the other C. curiosus I had to remove.
These come from South West Australia and are held at 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
They have a good shelf life.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for letting me know. How big’s your tank (length etc.) and did they kill each other off until you were left with a pair?

 

[Abhishek]

chelmonops

Wow !!! I think I have never seen one in US

Both C.curiosus and C.trucatus are creamy fishes that remind me of my fresh water days with Altums !!!

If anyone knows of any vendors who import them , share the info here if possible.

 

[JANSCH]

Thanks for letting me know. How big’s your tank (length etc.) and did they kill each other off until you were left with a pair?

180 x 65 x 65 cm total content 750 liters.
I started with 3 pieces. After a year 2 (male) became very aggressive one after the other I caught the loser out.

 

[JANSCH]

 

[Zionas]

Really exotic looking fish. Nice!

 

[Abhishek]

Bumping this thread !!!

If you have kept any of the below species please share your thoughts and where to get them in US . If you know of your LFS having some , please let me know .

C.melapterus,
C.austriacus,
C.trifaciatus,
C.lunulatus,
C.plebeius

Before you question my sanity , yes am aware of them being obligate corallivores almost all except C.plebeius being Corallochaetadons . And yes , am prepared to feed them sps if that’s what it takes ... But all am looking for are healthy specimens and possibly in multiples to start with .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[pcon]

Great macna talk on the subject, Matt Pedersen even talks a tiny bit about pairing them, I believe his intention was to breed them.

C. Trifasciatus and C. Plebeius are quite common to find on wholesaler or importer lists in the US. C. lunulatus comes in but a bit less frequently than the similar looking C. trifasciatus. C. Melapterus and C. Austriacus are pretty uncommon but not unheard of, TSM had a Melapterus not too long ago.

 

[Abhishek]

Great macna talk on the subject, Matt Pedersen even talks a tiny bit about pairing them, I believe his intention was to breed them.

C. Trifasciatus and C. Plebeius are quite common to find on wholesaler or importer lists in the US. C. lunulatus comes in but a bit less frequently than the similar looking C. trifasciatus. C. Melapterus and C. Austriacus are pretty uncommon but not unheard of, TSM had a Melapterus not too long ago.

Thanks !

Yup I love Matt’s talk and have been in discussion with him on the matter . He has been such an amazing help !!!

He has a Melapterus x Trifasciatus pair over 1.5 years and that’s such an amazing feat !!

I know they are available seldom - just looking for someone who can point me where to find them .