i love butterflies, so my brother, trying to be nice, bought me a fish that hangs out on top of the water and looks like a butterfly. it really is beautiful and i would like to be able to keep it and have it be as healthy as possible, but i know NOTHING about it. he couldnt even remember the real name. i dont have a digital camera or i would show it to you guys. can anyone help me?? in the tank it is in now i have 3 guppies, 3 mollies, 2 tetras, 1 pleco, and a ghost knife fish who is waiting to be transfered somewhere bigger. will anyone bother my fish, what foods does he/she like, can it jump out, should i have floater plants for it, ect........any thing else will help greatly!
butterfly fish??
- Thread starter butterflylove
- Start date
African Butterfly fish
Is likely what it is though I find it hard to call them beautiful in the conventional sense. Say goodbye to your guppies as they'll soon be food. The tetras will probably last a little longer esp if they're big. If the mollies are young and can fit into the butterflys mouth they to will soon be lunch.
Butterfly fish need live food esp. insects to THRIVE but can be fed dried and frozen. They are fantastic jumpers so secure your top.
It would appreatiate surface plants but sould have open surface area to swim in. In general your other fishes survival will depend on their size, speed and how close they venture near the top.
Is likely what it is though I find it hard to call them beautiful in the conventional sense. Say goodbye to your guppies as they'll soon be food. The tetras will probably last a little longer esp if they're big. If the mollies are young and can fit into the butterflys mouth they to will soon be lunch.
Butterfly fish need live food esp. insects to THRIVE but can be fed dried and frozen. They are fantastic jumpers so secure your top.
It would appreatiate surface plants but sould have open surface area to swim in. In general your other fishes survival will depend on their size, speed and how close they venture near the top.
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my tetras are much too big to fit into its mouth, and i have seen my fancy guppies come up top and the butterfly fish didnt seem to mind them too much. what kind of live insects are good for him? can the surface plants be fake? i can try to move my guppies to another tank (if they are still there) and the butterfly fish has eaten some flake food. do u know if they like a warmer or cooler temp? thanks for all the info QT!
Abf
Keeping the BF well fed will keep your guppys alive longer. You can have fake plants but I would avoid hard plastic. As for insects, there out of season for me but collecting bugs flies spiders crickets etc will all be happily gobbled up.
I'd be careful of store bought crickets unless you rinse them first.
They like a ph around 6.8-7, but your guppies and mollies won't. Go for neutral.Temps in the high seventies. They spend most of their time hidind in the surface plants waiting for prey to drift by.
Keeping the BF well fed will keep your guppys alive longer. You can have fake plants but I would avoid hard plastic. As for insects, there out of season for me but collecting bugs flies spiders crickets etc will all be happily gobbled up.
I'd be careful of store bought crickets unless you rinse them first.
They like a ph around 6.8-7, but your guppies and mollies won't. Go for neutral.Temps in the high seventies. They spend most of their time hidind in the surface plants waiting for prey to drift by.
dirty little crickets
Crickets spend most of their time crawling around in cricket poop because of enclosed boxes, which gives off a strong ammonia smell. Anything that stinks of ammonia and is covered in crap isn't going in my tank.
Also crickets cost$$$, collecting bugs provides both variation in diet and is easier than going back and forth to the LFS, as the crickets can be difficult to keep alive.
Crickets spend most of their time crawling around in cricket poop because of enclosed boxes, which gives off a strong ammonia smell. Anything that stinks of ammonia and is covered in crap isn't going in my tank.
Also crickets cost$$$, collecting bugs provides both variation in diet and is easier than going back and forth to the LFS, as the crickets can be difficult to keep alive.
In my experience, my AFB never bothered my trio of guppies back in the days when I had a 10 gallon. I fed my AFB flies and spiders as well as flake food.
qtaquaman said:Crickets spend most of their time crawling around in cricket poop because of enclosed boxes, which gives off a strong ammonia smell. Anything that stinks of ammonia and is covered in crap isn't going in my tank.
Also crickets cost$$$, collecting bugs provides both variation in diet and is easier than going back and forth to the LFS, as the crickets can be difficult to keep alive.
Umm, thats a BAD choice. Normal bugs on the ground most likely have been exposed to SOME pesticide/chemical whether you like it or not. BUY THE CRICKETS. Its not like you cant afford 25 cents for like 3-5 crickets. And you dont have to feed them SOLELY crickets...and one by one, your tetras are gonna disappear
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
I have an abf too, mine eats frozen blood worms that I drop in little pieces on top of the water and she eats a bite or 2, not a big eater. It seems to be enough. The ABF and the ghost knife are ok together, but your guppies will be in trouble. I had a pair for breeding feeders in the tank, but I found the male dead and half eaten. So, I won't do that again. 
Let's see.
You do not need to feed it crickets. Most will eat any normal food that floats. Of course, some relish crickets more than anything, and crickets are a good source for live food - but if you are concerned about disease and/or don't want to keep buying them/breeding them, fish food works fine. I feed mine flake food and chopped up frozen krill, mostly (along with blood worms, some freeze dried foods, etc). The krill are his favourite and they are a good meaty food. You'd be surprised how much they are willing to eat when healthy. New specimens are often known to not eat for as much as two weeks when you get them. Just keep trying and be persistent.
YES, YES YES they can jump out. They are *notorious* for jumping out. They can jump over 6 feet vertically. Get a roll of duct tape and cover up any and all gaps in the hood if you have any at all. Trust me. Please.
Don't worry about the pH. Anything that isn't very abnormal (below 6 or above 8.5 ish) will be fine. Basically, go with your natural water and don't mess with the pH. Stable pH is far more important than target pH and trying to change it will only lead to pH fluctuation which is very deadly.
Butterfly fish will eat anything that fits in their mouth (which is very large and built like a trap door) but they have weak jaw muscles and cannot defend themselves well. Do not keep them with any nippy fish or say good bye to that beautiful finnage. Keeping them well fed will help eliminate his desire to eat tankmates...but isn't guaranteed.
Floating plants are, in my opinion, a must. These fish are incredibly nervous critters. Live plants (duckweed, phyllanthus fluitans, water sprite, anachris, najas, anything will work) or even plastic plants will be appreciated. For plastic plants, I just let them float. You can pop off that big plastic piece on the bottom. I also anchor it in one place by attaching it to a suction cup at the surface - this keeps it from going all over the tank.
These fish must not have a strong surface current, for obvious reasons. They need a space with very little movement at least somewhere in the tank.
You didn't mention tank size but these don't really belong in anything under a 29g IMO.
It's real name is Pantodon buchholzi. Here is a brief article I've written up for it:
http://www.myfishtank.net/freshwaterprofiles.php?profile=175
You won't convince me these fish aren't beautiful though
Clickety
That photo is from Fruitbat at MFT.
Do a google search and a search here at AC for butterfly fish/pantodon buchholzi and you'll find a lot of info.
PS - Definitely get the knife fish out of there soon...
You do not need to feed it crickets. Most will eat any normal food that floats. Of course, some relish crickets more than anything, and crickets are a good source for live food - but if you are concerned about disease and/or don't want to keep buying them/breeding them, fish food works fine. I feed mine flake food and chopped up frozen krill, mostly (along with blood worms, some freeze dried foods, etc). The krill are his favourite and they are a good meaty food. You'd be surprised how much they are willing to eat when healthy. New specimens are often known to not eat for as much as two weeks when you get them. Just keep trying and be persistent.
YES, YES YES they can jump out. They are *notorious* for jumping out. They can jump over 6 feet vertically. Get a roll of duct tape and cover up any and all gaps in the hood if you have any at all. Trust me. Please.
Don't worry about the pH. Anything that isn't very abnormal (below 6 or above 8.5 ish) will be fine. Basically, go with your natural water and don't mess with the pH. Stable pH is far more important than target pH and trying to change it will only lead to pH fluctuation which is very deadly.
Butterfly fish will eat anything that fits in their mouth (which is very large and built like a trap door) but they have weak jaw muscles and cannot defend themselves well. Do not keep them with any nippy fish or say good bye to that beautiful finnage. Keeping them well fed will help eliminate his desire to eat tankmates...but isn't guaranteed.
Floating plants are, in my opinion, a must. These fish are incredibly nervous critters. Live plants (duckweed, phyllanthus fluitans, water sprite, anachris, najas, anything will work) or even plastic plants will be appreciated. For plastic plants, I just let them float. You can pop off that big plastic piece on the bottom. I also anchor it in one place by attaching it to a suction cup at the surface - this keeps it from going all over the tank.
These fish must not have a strong surface current, for obvious reasons. They need a space with very little movement at least somewhere in the tank.
You didn't mention tank size but these don't really belong in anything under a 29g IMO.
It's real name is Pantodon buchholzi. Here is a brief article I've written up for it:
http://www.myfishtank.net/freshwaterprofiles.php?profile=175
You won't convince me these fish aren't beautiful though
Clickety
That photo is from Fruitbat at MFT.
Do a google search and a search here at AC for butterfly fish/pantodon buchholzi and you'll find a lot of info.
PS - Definitely get the knife fish out of there soon...
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