Butterfly in a 55g mixed reef

[swany82]

I've been looking to add one more fish for awhile. I have a 55 gal mixed reef. I like the look of butterfly fish... Is there any butterflies that can be be easily kept in a 55 mixed reef?

 

[Joeganja]

What other fish do u have

 

[swany82]

I have a bicolor blenny, coral beauty, blue-sided wrasse, and male Lyretail anthias.

 

[Joeganja]

Okay. You can get a copperband. Be careful with them harder to keep than most fish. A long nose would work but be careful with them. With any of those two be careful. But any other butterfly wouldn't work.

 

[swany82]

Ok, thanks. Don't both of those get fairly large? Would one of the smaller ones be too fragile or eat coral?

 

[Joeganja]

Both. Lol butterfly's are perfect for fish only.

 

[Joeganja]

Get a tang. You can get a yellow tang or purple or regal blue. Or tomini. Yellow eye kole tang

 

[swany82]

I was looking at a rosy or longnose Atlantic butterfly as a possibility. Only get 4" supposed to be relatively hardy and are "semi" reef safe. Lol.... The tangs have always been tempting but every time I consider one I get cussed out by the tang police in these forums, etc.

 

[Joeganja]

Don't listen if they say it's too small. I had a purple tang in a 36 gallon and it was in there for a year you can get a purple tang, a yellow or blue regal. Trust me just get them at a couple inch sizes

 

[swany82]

I may consider that...

 

[Joeganja]

Just make sure that they are healthy and quarantine them

 

[ronnie]

I've been looking to add one more fish for awhile. I have a 55 gal mixed reef. I like the look of butterfly fish... Is there any butterflies that can be be easily kept in a 55 mixed reef?

No.

 

[swany82]

Ok, thanks for the help.

 

[pickupman66]

um... you said mixed reef correct? IN my experiences there is only one or two butterflies that are reef safe. Yellow pyramid and McKoskers. These are planktonic feeders and dont eat corals. however, they can get Palm sized as adults and SWIM ALOT. they are also hard to find, but Liveaquaria has them. They are pretty hardy and mine ate EVERYTHING.. Given that, they are SWIMMERS and pace the tank. they need alot of swimming room.

a Copperband is a possibility, but as stated they are very specialized eaters and DONT do well in captivity. from my experience with them, you need to have plenty of tube worms and aptasia for them to feed on as they settle into the tank. you need pretty calm tank mates and a very healthy specimen. I got lucky with mine as the LFS had two in the same tank. I chose the dominant one and it took 3 or 4 months before witnessing it actually eat frozen mysis. It fed on the aptasia in my tank, the tube worms and the pods. It was a voracious eater of those and Finally, i saw it eat some mysis. now he is a very good eater. Others have had success with feeding them Live blackworms. A small CBB might be ok. I have a larger one in my 66 cube now, only because nobody wanted to buy him for the $100 I was selling him for.

 

[Trex]

Don't listen if they say it's too small. I had a purple tang in a 36 gallon and it was in there for a year you can get a purple tang, a yellow or blue regal. Trust me just get them at a couple inch sizes

What about when they grow? An P. hepatus can get to be a foot long.
Purple tangs have a nasty tendency of getting very aggressive in small tanks, which is what a 55 is for them.

 

[Joeganja]

A yellow tang will do fine. I'm telling you I've had a lot of tangs. They'll do fine as long as you get them no more than 3 inches when you start off

 

[Trex]

A yellow tang will do fine. I'm telling you I've had a lot of tangs. They'll do fine as long as you get them no more than 3 inches when you start off

They will still grow, that 3 inches will become 6 in short order.

 

[swany82]

From what I've heard via my reefer friends, some butterflies are more reef safe than others. Kinda like angels. Some species are definitely not reef safe at all while with other species it can depend on the specimen. My inlaw has kept a spot-fin butterfly in his reef tank for 2 years and has never seen it damage a coral. A CBB is not considered reef safe either yet people frequently recommend it.... I agree about the blue and purple tangs Trex. I'm always hesitant to get something I know I'll have to trade in when it gets too large. That's why I've been looking at a longnose Atlantic butterflyfish. Get to 4.5" adult size, semi-reef safe, and one of the hardier butterflies. LiveAquaria says 50gal min tank size as well...

 

[pickupman66]

I've kept both I spoke about. Best of luck to you

 

[ronnie]

A yellow tang will do fine. I'm telling you I've had a lot of tangs. They'll do fine as long as you get them no more than 3 inches when you start off

Sigh...