Are all Butterflies coralNippers?

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Yes - that's C. striatus. And no, I don't see that person in the mirror (grin) he works at another public aquarium.

Jay

Cheers, thanks again!

 

[LaloJ]

Take a look at Tane Hoff reef tank, this guy has always kept butterfly fish on his reefs, it's quite possible that these guys do damage to his coral colonies but being a fairly large tank I think the damage can be diluted a bit. Feeding your fish regularly can also be a way to create a greater taste for prepared foods in them, and it would help a lot to prepare with that during your fish qt, IMO. There are people who are in charge of keeping these types of fish directly, it's complicated on several occasions due to the dietary needs, especially of the obligate coralivores, and there are aquarists willing to offer coral temporarily while the fish adapt to the food prepared, personally I would if that were the case.

 

[Boreas_SA]

Pyramid butterflies are your best bet if you want a butterfly. Have a copperband going on 4 years now, and it only goes after Micromussa, but so did my bellus angels. It used to eat aiptasia, but seems to have gotten lazy now. Have 3 pyramids that only went into the tank a week ago, so will see how they turn out, but so far seem to be sticking to the top of the tank, and they were eating pellets an hour after going in. Bottom line, there are no guarantees, and certain corals are more prone to being nipped than others, Micromussa seems to be the most tempting out of all of them for "reef safe" fish.

 

[Boreas_SA]

Can see the copperband’s laziness behind him:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Oh, also have this ‘RSWC’ guy that was sent as a wanai butterfly, not sure it is though (probably flavissimus), but so far hasn’t touched any corals even though it nips off the rocks, and it also started eating pellets:

 

[LaloJ]

Can see the copperband’s laziness behind him:

That's a beautiful fat fish.

 

[i cant think]

Can see the copperband’s laziness behind him:

You may find those aiptasias are too big for butterflies to munch on.
I had one huge Aiptasia (2” in diameter Atleast) and my CBB didn’t touch it until aiptasia X had knocked it down to half its size. Instead she went for the babies that you don’t always see.

Oh, also have this ‘RSWC’ guy that was sent as a wanai butterfly, not sure it is though (probably flavissimus), but so far hasn’t touched any corals even though it nips off the rocks, and it also started eating pellets:

That’s definitely a Wanai, Flavissimus and Longirostris both have solid yellow whilst Wanai has a darker patch on its side with yellow edging on the fins. When she colours up that faded yellow band behind the black on the head will become much brighter and she’ll look much more like photos but currently she’s skinny and has a couple blemishes as well as being coloured down. All of these will heal with settling in and getting fed.

 

[Boreas_SA]

That’s definitely a Wanai, Flavissimus and Longirostris both have solid yellow whilst Wanai has a darker patch on its side with yellow edging on the fins.

Interesting, it is super tiny though, got 2 initially, and the one didn’t make it, side by side one looked like flavissimus and the one that didn’t make it like longirostrus. Was super thin when I got it, but the remaining one is gaining weight now:

 

[i cant think]

Interesting, it is super tiny though

They will be, I don’t believe any adults of this species have been collected for captivity and most are juveniles that are showing some adult colouration.
Here’s another juvenile which shows off the differences (Juvenile flavissimus/longirostris are solid yellow all through their lives).

 

[Boreas_SA]

They will be, I don’t believe any adults of this species have been collected for captivity and most are juveniles that are showing some adult colouration.
Here’s another juvenile which shows off the differences (Juvenile flavissimus/longirostris are solid yellow all through their lives).

Aah, nice, thank you. Definitely looks like that. Had it about a month now, settling in and gaining weight, pity I lost the second one, but think it was too far gone when I got it, could almost see through them.

 

[Boreas_SA]

Another butterfly you can try is the Caribbean longnose, Prognathodes aculeatus, apparently also quite reef safe, just haven't had the chance to get one here, Caribbean shipments are few and far between here, but should be able to get them in the US.

 

[NEFFx]

Was reading through this. Had some similar thoughts on coral growing fast enough to mitigate nippers. That said I may have went a little overboard. I got 2 Heniochus (from the mouth length they appear to be acuminatus) to try out. They didn’t pick at corals. One would go at rocks. So I got 5 more on sale and thought I would see how badly they nip.

I’ve had rabbit fish eat my trumpet corals. Angelfish C. Genus nip at everything. And just figured it’s usually not enough to make a difference. Biggest issue I ever had was a blue face who went to town on zoas.

That said. The 7 Heniochus butterflies are highly monitored. They look amazing together. Usually just picking at the nori in the clip. Eating frozen. One was certainly picking a little at the sps (hopefully the faster growing ones). Worst case I’m moving the tank in a month and they might not make it to the next one…

I wanted to know if the occasional nipping really was an issue. Given the amount of them in nature. Maybe there is some benefit to this?

 

[Seansea]

I would say they prob will nip. I have a bicolor angel and he def nips. I just deal with it. But **** those fish you got look cool.

 

[dennis romano]

Was reading through this. Had some similar thoughts on coral growing fast enough to mitigate nippers. That said I may have went a little overboard. I got 2 Heniochus (from the mouth length they appear to be acuminatus) to try out. They didn’t pick at corals. One would go at rocks. So I got 5 more on sale and thought I would see how badly they nip.

I’ve had rabbit fish eat my trumpet corals. Angelfish C. Genus nip at everything. And just figured it’s usually not enough to make a difference. Biggest issue I ever had was a blue face who went to town on zoas.

That said. The 7 Heniochus butterflies are highly monitored. They look amazing together. Usually just picking at the nori in the clip. Eating frozen. One was certainly picking a little at the sps (hopefully the faster growing ones). Worst case I’m moving the tank in a month and they might not make it to the next one…

I wanted to know if the occasional nipping really was an issue. Given the amount of them in nature. Maybe there is some benefit to this?

What people don't realize about Heniochus is that they are one of the larger butterflies. I have seen them in the ten inch range. To make things worse, they are nowhere as cute as when they are two to three inches.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Was reading through this. Had some similar thoughts on coral growing fast enough to mitigate nippers. That said I may have went a little overboard. I got 2 Heniochus (from the mouth length they appear to be acuminatus) to try out. They didn’t pick at corals. One would go at rocks. So I got 5 more on sale and thought I would see how badly they nip.

I’ve had rabbit fish eat my trumpet corals. Angelfish C. Genus nip at everything. And just figured it’s usually not enough to make a difference. Biggest issue I ever had was a blue face who went to town on zoas.

That said. The 7 Heniochus butterflies are highly monitored. They look amazing together. Usually just picking at the nori in the clip. Eating frozen. One was certainly picking a little at the sps (hopefully the faster growing ones). Worst case I’m moving the tank in a month and they might not make it to the next one…

I wanted to know if the occasional nipping really was an issue. Given the amount of them in nature. Maybe there is some benefit to this?

I've had terrible luck trying to tell these two species apart. Diphreutes is much rarer, especially with Hawaii closed down to collecting. I don't think the mouth shape is very reliable with juvenile/small Heniochus. One way to tell them apart is to look where the lower rear corner where the anal fin forms a point. This point will be part white and part black. Where that transition happens is different in the two species. In the Schooling Bannerfish, the dividing line between white and black exactly hits the corner. In the Longfin Bannerfish, the division is just a little further back, so that the corner itself is clearly white, and the black starts a little beyond the corner.

Jay

 

[LaloJ]

Was reading through this. Had some similar thoughts on coral growing fast enough to mitigate nippers. That said I may have went a little overboard. I got 2 Heniochus (from the mouth length they appear to be acuminatus) to try out. They didn’t pick at corals. One would go at rocks. So I got 5 more on sale and thought I would see how badly they nip.

I’ve had rabbit fish eat my trumpet corals. Angelfish C. Genus nip at everything. And just figured it’s usually not enough to make a difference. Biggest issue I ever had was a blue face who went to town on zoas.

That said. The 7 Heniochus butterflies are highly monitored. They look amazing together. Usually just picking at the nori in the clip. Eating frozen. One was certainly picking a little at the sps (hopefully the faster growing ones). Worst case I’m moving the tank in a month and they might not make it to the next one…

I wanted to know if the occasional nipping really was an issue. Given the amount of them in nature. Maybe there is some benefit to this?

That is a fantastic group !

 

[NEFFx]

I've had terrible luck trying to tell these two species apart. Diphreutes is much rarer, especially with Hawaii closed down to collecting. I don't think the mouth shape is very reliable with juvenile/small Heniochus. One way to tell them apart is to look where the lower rear corner where the anal fin forms a point. This point will be part white and part black. Where that transition happens is different in the two species. In the Schooling Bannerfish, the dividing line between white and black exactly hits the corner. In the Longfin Bannerfish, the division is just a little further back, so that the corner itself is clearly white, and the black starts a little beyond the corner.

Jay

The black corner thing is not a good reference I’ve read. And based on the 7 I have all have black before and after the corner. I think they are all the worse ones. Lol. And no chance I’m counting the spines.

What people don't realize about Heniochus is that they are one of the larger butterflies. I have seen them in the ten inch range. To make things worse, they are nowhere as cute as when they are two to three inches.

I likely won’t have them that long. But that’s a big mouth to feed. Seeing them in nature they are always pretty though? 7 butterflies or one Queen angel

I would say they prob will nip. I have a bicolor angel and he def nips. I just deal with it. But **** those fish you got look cool.

Thanks! I have a very laissez faire attitude. Otherwise I wouldn’t be in this hobby for 30 years

 

[jtf74]

I have a copperband and yellow longnose. No troubles with nems, soft corals, euphyllia

 

[argiBK]

FWIW when my tank gets over grown and corals are cramming into each other im gonna try a racoon butterfly. USe as a possible coral pruner

My choice for coral mower would be an emperor angel.

 

[NEFFx]

My choice for coral mower would be an emperor angel.

Might enjoy this if it works

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