Need Info on Butterflyfish

[Lance M.]

Butterflyfish look like really cool surface dwellers, but I've read that they will eat small fish. I went to my lfs and asked the owner about them and he said that he's never seen them eat small fish or attack anything, but that they might eat fry and stuff like that. He also said he keeps them in his pond outdoors during the summer. I just wanted to know if anyone has had any problems with these fish?

Also would they go ok with other surface dwellers- like hatchet fish or pencilfish- or would the butterfly's be aggressive towards them?

 

[Xtremez]

There are too many species and each one is unique.

http://species.fishindex.com/search.php?p=butterfly -- this will cover all of them with full detail.

good luck

 

[Toirtis]

The fish in question is Pantodon buchholzi. These guys get reasonably large (4"), and have a primitive, trapdoor-type mouth, and will merrily swallow anything small enough to fit, so long as it gets close to them. They are also jumpers extrordinaire, so a good, complete tank cover is neccessary. Aside from being oppotunistically predatory, they are quite peaceful, and you must keep them with fish that will not chew off their long lower fin rays.

 

[Fruitbat]

I have three Pantodon buchholzi right now and I've kept many of them in the past. They are distant relatives of the arowana (with the same 'trapdoor' mouth that Toirtis alludes to). They are strictly surface feeders and will not take anything that sinks more than a couple of millimeters below them. I've had great success with these fish by feeding them San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze-Dried Plankton because these little freeze-dried 'shrimp' float on the surface for quite some time. My Butterfly Fish will also take tiny pieces of shrimp and beef heart from my fingertips.

They like a tank with some floating plants but also plenty of open swimming area at the surface. They hang out in the plants and then go 'hunting' in the open area. Males can be aggressive with each other.

Here's one of mine:

-Joe

 

[lyquidphyre]

I read that they can be aggressive towards any other surface dwellers like hatchets and will eat anything that fits in their mouth

 

[tetrin]

amazing pic fruitbat...

 

[Lance M.]

Great pic Fruitbat. What are the plants in the pic? Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Fruitbat]

The plants are Water Sprite which I keep growing (floating) on one end of the aquarium those fish are in. Darned stuff grows like a weed! I have to throw away buckets full of the stuff every month or so.

-Joe

 

[Nippyfish]

Wow Joe, your fish is just beautiful.

 

[chrism]

freshwater contest winner i'd say

 

[Lance M.]

Ok I found water sprites on google. It is Ceratopteris sp. Right? I've never seen it at my lfs but next time I'm there I'll ask the owner about ordering me some. Are these expensive?

 

[Fruitbat]

No....Water Sprite (Ceratopteris) isn't expensive. It is a commonly-available Asian aquatic fern that grows like a weed either floating or rooted. You'll find that after a few months you're going to be grabbing hands full of the stuff and throwing it away just so your fish can have some room to swim at the surface. As far as I'm concerned it is one of the all-time easiest plants to grow....even under conditions of relatively low light. Just be sure you don't get Water Wisteria, which is a higher (flowering) plant that looks very similar to Water Sprite. Water Wisteria likes a bit more light than Water Sprite.

-Joe