african butterfly fish

[nimbus46]

I am looking into getting a butterfly fish but here is my problem, I am soooo afraid that he will eat my little boys. The smallest fish I have is the White Clouds and my others are not much bigger. He will be going into a 100 gal tank. If I get the smallest that I could get, I think it will be ok for awhile, but how fast do they grow....anyone out there with some info???

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I don't have any info about them nimbus, but if you decide to get some butterfly fish, let me know how it turns out. I have been thinking of getting some but I haven't heard anyone talk about them before.

 

[SerLunchbox]

http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Anomalochromis_thomasi.html

 

[Veneer]

http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Anomalochromis_thomasi.html

"African butterfly fish" usually refers to Pantodon buchholzi, not a cichlid at all [it possesses closer affinity to the "bony-tongued" Osteoglossidae (namely, arowanas and pirarucu)].

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The African butterfly fish isn't a cichlid? Hmm. The lfs has them labled as Cichlids. The site that you referenced is what I was talking about Veneer in regards to my post. They truly are beautiful fish

 

[nimbus46]

Went to my lfs expert and he said to feed the african butterfly fish live feed and that will keep him from seeing his tankmates as the local buffet. He also said that he has never had his eat his tankmates (variety of cichlids). I think I'm going to take the plunge and get him...I'll let you know the update in a few days.

 

[Veneer]

The African butterfly fish isn't a cichlid? Hmm. The lfs has them labled as Cichlids. The site that you referenced is what I was talking about Veneer in regards to my post. They truly are beautiful fish

To clear up any confusion over common names:

While Pantodon buchholzi is not a cichlid, Anomalochromis thomasi is.

Nimbus, which of the two do you have in mind?

 

[Toirtis]

I would wager we are discussing Pantodon buchholzi, not butterfly cichlids. That being said, although butterfly fish grow at a slower rate than many fish, even at 2½", they will be a potential threat to your white clouds and any other similar sized fish. Although the butterfly fish is unlikely to actively hunt the smaller fish (unless allowed to become hungry enough), anything small enough that ventures close to the butterfly is likely to be snatched up.

 

[SerLunchbox]

first of all ... my appologies ... i wasn't sure which one you were talking about to be honest. Sorry for the mis-information.

Second of all, i agree with Toirtis, The butterfly WILL hunt top swimmers if it is hungry enough, but it will remain fairly peaceful. Also, make sure you don't have many large openings in your tank top. This fish can and will jump very high.

 

[KaiserFish]

I had a butterfly for about a year and a half before he passed on recently. He never actively attacked anything that I saw, nor did he ever try to jump out of the tank when the lid was off for cleaning. He ate flake food and dried bloodworms, and pretty much any type of food that floated on the surface of the water.

He perished in what appears to be a fight with an angel, as both were found floating the next morning with severe wounds on each. Which is odd, since they'd lived peacefully together for over a year and a half.