Keeping corallivores

[Gareth elliott]

For this discussion will use the Four-Eyed Butterflyfish as the type species.

In the wild this species lives primarily off coral polyps and sponges.

Could this diet be maintained for a pair by using a large coral refugium of fast growing corals of faster growing corals, say pocilopora, certain fast growing acropora, and sponges. If the refugium was 2x the size of the DT. And the refugium was allowed to grow to reef size before the fish were added. Moving colonies from fuge to DT. With supplement feedings of prepared frozen diet for angelfish, and live foods.

This is a hypothetical discussion btw, i currently have no plans to do a build in the near future. Simply spotted a pair while snorkeling this morning and my curiosity was peaked. wondering who has kept this species or a species of similar diet needs. And what their setup entailed.

 

[ca1ore]

You'd have to have a large enough tank that the consumption of the coral polyps was sustainable. What size that would have to be I could not say, though I suspect many hundreds of gallons at least.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Rather than having a separate huge refugium and rotating coral through... just put the fish straight in there. You just need a large tank with a lot of mature coral.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Rather than having a separate huge refugium and rotating coral through... just put the fish straight in there. You just need a large tank with a lot of mature coral.

What would large be? For general care of a pair i would assume ~220 gallons, we kept a few wild caught species of butterflies of non-obligate eaters growing up. But would that be large enough for dietary needs, if allowed to mature for a few years before adding the butterflies? Or would I be more looking at the direction of say a 3-500 gallon custom build?
Though i see them for sale occasionally, i do not see them in any tanks here or other forums.
Only first hand source i have located is https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/08/29/finding-purchasing-butterflyfish/

He does note he kept them in a reef tank safely for aipastia control, and used automated feeders and feeding rings and live california black worms. The Worms remind of @Paul B advice for keeping of copper bands. So perhaps are not as obligate as described by sellers?

 

[ca1ore]

I think it would depend on what role you wanted for the coral. If to act just as food, one answer; if to be maintainable colonies, a different answer. Rather like feeding a harlequin shrimp. You can simply drop in the occasional star leg, or you can have a big enough system that the stars are able to sustain themselves in the face of predation. Whether all butterflyfish are obligate corallivores or not I cannot say. I'd think you'd have to look to real research on the subject - relaying on non-scientific vendors for accurate descriptions is imprecise at best.

 

[ca1ore]

Oh, one other note - I've done quite a bit of pacific diving, and there are massive banks of corals supporting a relatively low number of corallivores.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I may have answered my own question on this fish [emoji23]

Went back to some old photos we had of that butterfly tank.

There was a four eyed. That tank was fowlr. And the fish, was present in at least 1.5 years of pictures. After that i no longer had view of the tank.

So think if i ever do a build i might not have as difficult time as i was imagining with feeding. Oh when memory fails you lol.

 

[Breadman03]

I think I read about someone smearing food onto dead coral skeletons to feed obligate corallivores. I think I read it when the orange spotted filefish was being discussed a while back.

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._to_Pocillopora_corals_following_habitat_loss