Pyramid Butterfly - Advice

Aussiemarine · Nov 3, 2019

Hello reefers!

I recently acquired a pyramid butterfly and in my experience with a few previous tanks is these guys are pretty much as reef safe as you can get. I’ve never had a problem with them eating or touching corals however this guys seems to be causing my Sinularia some problems

I have also been struggling to get this guy to eat, he only wants to eat nori. I have been trying him on:
- Mysis
- Brine
- Masstick
- Marine Grazer
- Pellets
- Frozen algae mix
doesn’t touch any of them..

I had him in quarantine for about 4-5 weeks and he didn’t eat much then either I did see him eat a few mysis and a little brine over that period. He went through TTM, prazipro and freshwater dips and showed no signs of parasites including flukes - which I thought might have been the cause of his eating problem as when I got him he was head twitching a lot but the FW dip showed nothing even before prazipro.

He did have some mouth fungus as well which has cleared up since being in the display.

I wanted to know if anyone hashad any experience getting finicky fish to eat a more varied diet but also how I could go about getting him to stop nipping at my sinularia

I have attached a photo of before he went in vs after - he doesn’t appear to have done any damage to it and I haven’t seen him pick at it the last couple of days it was more so when he first went in. He also nipped at a Zoa once but hasn’t gone back again - all the Zoas are still out as normal

Any help would be much appreciated!

Murica · Nov 3, 2019

I’ve had two over the years, both loved nls thera a pellets, unfortunately once a fish gets a taste of something it’s hard to get them off. I’d just keep trying and hope for the best

Aussiemarine · Nov 3, 2019

Murica said:
I’ve had two over the years, both loved nls thera a pellets, unfortunately once a fish gets a taste of something it’s hard to get them off. I’d just keep trying and hope for the best

Yeah that’s my worry, I’m crossing everything that he has stopped picking at it (as I haven’t seen him do it recently) but the fact the coral is still retracted makes me think he still is.

I might try and source some nls pellets and see if he likes those

saltyhog · Nov 3, 2019

I kept a trio of pyramids in the past and they never bothered anything in my tank. However, I did not have any soft corals other than zoas. Mine all ate pretty much everything I fed and did so very early in quarantine. Try some frozen blood worms. That has always been the one thing that gets my finicky fish to eat.

tehmadreefer · Nov 3, 2019

They a clam, butterflies love em.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 3, 2019

Add garlic to food. . . . . . Sea Chem Entice is also a good supplement. I agree on bloodworms Sparingly as they spoil quicj if uneaten, 1/2 clam on shell and Formula 2 frozen

Aussiemarine · Nov 3, 2019

saltyhog said:
I kept a trio of pyramids in the past and they never bothered anything in my tank. However, I did not have any soft corals other than zoas. Mine all ate pretty much everything I fed and did so very early in quarantine. Try some frozen blood worms. That has always been the one thing that gets my finicky fish to eat.

tehmadreefer said:
They a clam, butterflies love em.

vetteguy53081 said:
Add garlic to food. . . . . . Sea Chem Entice is also a good supplement. I agree on bloodworms Sparingly as they spoil quicj if uneaten, 1/2 clam on shell and Formula 2 frozen

Thanks for the advice - I will try bloodworms I think I can get them locally and a half clam to.Fingers crossed I can get him off the taste of my softies

Qasimja · Nov 4, 2019

I got two Pyramid butterfly fish about a month ago I know the supplier I got them from started them on brine shrimp they eat everything I feed them I didn't QT them as well

64Ivy · Nov 4, 2019

Live Blackworms?

ca1ore · Nov 4, 2019

I have had close to two dozen (pyramids and zoster) over the years - have 8 now. Mostly they are fine and eat anything you offer, but sometimes you get a batch that just won’t eat. I find that it is usually shipping related mouth damage, but they also seem susceptible to intestinal problems (I actually autopsied one). If yours is eating nori, and is not losing weight, I wouldn’t worry - it’ll take to other stuff. As to the sinularia, who knows. Mine will eat Xenia, blue clove polyps and majanos, but nothing else. Even if they did, it’d be an acceptable trade off.

Aussiemarine · Nov 4, 2019

ca1ore said:
I have had close to two dozen (pyramids and zoster) over the years - have 8 now. Mostly they are fine and eat anything you offer, but sometimes you get a batch that just won’t eat. I find that it is usually shipping related mouth damage, but they also seem susceptible to intestinal problems (I actually autopsied one). If yours is eating nori, and is not losing weight, I wouldn’t worry - it’ll take to other stuff. As to the sinularia, who knows. Mine will eat Xenia, blue clove polyps and majanos, but nothing else. Even if they did, it’d be an acceptable trade off.

hes had the mouth damage but it’s almost full healed even after only two weeks of being in the display. He also has a little bit of lymph on his body but that’s slowly going away as well.

He was fat when I got him and has only lost a little since I got him but that was because he didn’t reallyeat in quarantine however he’s put it back on since being in the display and eating nori. He now goes nuts when I get the nori clip out and he’s the first one to start munching

I have treated him with two rounds of prazi to ensure he had nothing internal so hopefully that worked

Aussiemarine · Nov 6, 2019

UPDATE

so turns out it isn’t the pyramid that’s nipping at the sinularia anymore it’s actually my scribbled Rabbitfish - anyone has this happen before? I have had a couple in the past and have always been model citizens

I didn’teven realised they were “with caution” (shows how much I pay attention)

he’s super well fed actually so well fed he struggles to swim sometimes cause his belly is that full (when he turns on his side he is like a blimp) yet still has a sneaky dig at the sinularia.

Anyone else had their rabbits nipping at soft

vetteguy53081 · Nov 6, 2019

Aussiemarine said:
UPDATE

so turns out it isn’t the pyramid that’s nipping at the sinularia anymore it’s actually my scribbled Rabbitfish - anyone has this happen before? I have had a couple in the past and have always been model citizens

I didn’teven realised they were “with caution” (shows how much I pay attention)

he’s super well fed actually so well fed he struggles to swim sometimes cause his belly is that full (when he turns on his side he is like a blimp) yet still has a sneaky dig at the sinularia.

Anyone else had their rabbits nipping at soft

Yes , especially bi-colored . I have orange spot rabbit on my stocking list but have resisted as they are know nippers of zoas. Most rabbits are with caution.

Aussiemarine · Nov 6, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Yes , especially bi-colored . I have orange spot rabbit on my stocking list but have resisted as they are know nippers of zoas. Most rabbits are with caution.

Cool I must have been just lucky up until now haha. He has the most personality of any fish in my tank so I wouldn’t take him out I’ll just keep feeding him and hope he stops bothering it