butterfly fish care

ARGYGANG · Jun 26, 2023

whats the best beginner butterfly fish to start with? any that are semi reef safe? ive tried 2 pearl scales and a racoon and all three lived exactly three weeks after a 30 day copper treatment and all died from uronema, could my tank just kill butterfly fish? have not had any other issues with the tank in a while now and all other fish are happy even a dispar anthias and chromis. are butterflys just really hard compared to other fish?

Rtaylor · Jun 26, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
whats the best beginner butterfly fish to start with? any that are semi reef safe? ive tried 2 pearl scales and a racoon and all three lived exactly three weeks after a 30 day copper treatment and all died from uronema, could my tank just kill butterfly fish? have not had any other issues with the tank in a while now and all other fish are happy even a dispar anthias and chromis. are butterflys just really hard compared to other fish?

They tend to be difficult because they can be finicky eaters. Were yours eating? I think my cb butterfly would have starved if I hadn’t put him directly in my established display with lots of aptasia and other micro organisms for it to scavenge.

ARGYGANG · Jun 26, 2023

Rtaylor said:
They tend to be difficult because they can be finicky eaters. Were yours eating? I think my cb butterfly would have starved if I hadn’t put him directly in my established display with lots of aptasia and other micro organisms for it to scavenge.

yeah they were all eating just fine, like pigs even. the only three things i can think of that caused all their deaths was #1 my tank just cant support butterflys #2 i was doing something very very wrong (feeding mysis and cubes of sponge twice a day keeping good water quality and didnt have any bullies in the tank) #3 i got them all from petco which gets them from liveaquaria which doesnt have a good track record with most people. tank was only 6ish months old when i tried them and i didnt try them all together either. they would literally have no signs at all then be dead in the morning on their side with a massive red mark on their side, i dont have cuc bc my puffer was and still is there so the mark wouldnt have been caused by crabs or snails eating it.

Rtaylor · Jun 26, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
yeah they were all eating just fine, like pigs even. the only three things i can think of that caused all their deaths was #1 my tank just cant support butterflys #2 i was doing something very very wrong (feeding mysis and cubes of sponge twice a day keeping good water quality and didnt have any bullies in the tank) #3 i got them all from petco which gets them from liveaquaria which doesnt have a good track record with most people.

It could also be that the species doesn’t tolerate copper or whatever treatments you gave them in QT. I’d go to the Humblefish forum for that info, I don’t know if they are sensitive or not.

ARGYGANG · Jun 26, 2023

Rtaylor said:
It could also be that the species doesn’t tolerate copper or whatever treatments you gave them in QT. I’d go to the Humblefish forum for that info, I don’t know if they are sensitive or not.

good point, i may try one with CP since i have that now instead of copper. just odd if that was the case since they were dying 2-3 weeks after added into dt not during 30 days copper.

Rtaylor · Jun 26, 2023

You said they died of uronemia? Once that’s in your tank, all future fish are at risk. And it’s a super fast killer. That could be the problem.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 27, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
good point, i may try one with CP since i have that now instead of copper. just odd if that was the case since they were dying 2-3 weeks after added into dt not during 30 days copper.

Butterflies are not sensitive to amine-based copper products. Pearlscales can be delicate when first acquired, but racoons are usually very hardy but are not really reef safe.

I recognize your screen name, but I can't recall the case(s), I probably told you that internal uronema can't really be treated. Butterflies do get that, not as commonly as green chromis and anthias do though.

Jay

LaloJ · Jul 22, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
whats the best beginner butterfly fish to start with? any that are semi reef safe? ive tried 2 pearl scales and a racoon and all three lived exactly three weeks after a 30 day copper treatment and all died from uronema, could my tank just kill butterfly fish? have not had any other issues with the tank in a while now and all other fish are happy even a dispar anthias and chromis. are butterflys just really hard compared to other fish?

I just found this thread, have you reached any conclusion?

littlefoxx · Jul 22, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
whats the best beginner butterfly fish to start with? any that are semi reef safe? ive tried 2 pearl scales and a racoon and all three lived exactly three weeks after a 30 day copper treatment and all died from uronema, could my tank just kill butterfly fish? have not had any other issues with the tank in a while now and all other fish are happy even a dispar anthias and chromis. are butterflys just really hard compared to other fish?

My first butterfly is a saddleback! I think this one is very hardy and reef safe, at least my guy is! Never touched a single coral other than to pick food off them. Very active and peaceful fish from what I see in mine! His name is Dash, he swims the length of my tank more than my 3 tangs do!

ARGYGANG · Jul 22, 2023

LaloJ said:
I just found this thread, have you reached any conclusion?

Yeah it’s worked with me now with a raccoon make sure you source them from reputable people and if possible have them hold or better yet qt them for you.

jtf74 · Jul 23, 2023

I've really enjoyed my yellow longnose. Pretty easy to get feeding. Has been ok with nems, softies, euphyllia. Very bold and interesting fish.

LaloJ · Jul 23, 2023

ARGYGANG said:
Yeah it’s worked with me now with a raccoon make sure you source them from reputable people and if possible have them hold or better yet qt them for you.

Do you continue to use copper in the qt tank?? I personally don't medicate qt tanks unless necessary, definitely getting fish from reputable sources is the first step to success with these fish, they are picky about water quality and food so I see no reason to stress a newcomer fish with a copper treatment IMO, but if it's working right now for you it's a good start. I have in mind adding butterflyfish to my tank in the future, and I consider Auriga and Raccoon the most feasible as someone who wants to try butterflyfish for the first time.

ARGYGANG · Jul 25, 2023

LaloJ said:
Do you continue to use copper in the qt tank?? I personally don't medicate qt tanks unless necessary, definitely getting fish from reputable sources is the first step to success with these fish, they are picky about water quality and food so I see no reason to stress a newcomer fish with a copper treatment IMO, but if it's working right now for you it's a good start. I have in mind adding butterflyfish to my tank in the future, and I consider Auriga and Raccoon the most feasible as someone who wants to try butterflyfish for the first time.

Had a lfs qt it for me, think he used chloroquine or copper safe can’t remember which :/ I’ve had all my “sensitive fish” atleast survive copper safe ( some have died afterwards still so I buy pre qt now) whereas cupramine is a fish killer imo and I’ll never use it on any fish again. The fish would have just as much chance surviving cupramine as it would the actually white spot ime.