Aiptasia eating butterfly fish

Delphinus · #1 03-12-2012, 05:28 AM

1) Likely those CBBs died from causes other than eating aiptasia.

2) IMO I would say most butterflies get too big for an 80g, but not all. Threadfin (C. auriga), double-saddleback (C. ulietensis), raccoon (C. lunula), Pakistani (C. collare) strike me as a couple that ought to do OK in a tank that size (depending on tankmates and if you get them small enough). No worse than many other species of fish we keep at any rate.

fishoholic · #2 03-12-2012, 01:25 PM

I had originally thought threadfin but then read they get up to 8" so then I was thinking Klein's would be better because they get to 5-6". However someone earlier mentioned trying a bannerfish and I've wanted one of those horned ones for awhile now and then I read this on live aquaria

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...96&pcatid=2896

Phantom Bannerfish (Heniochus pleurotaenia) it is

I will order one when the time is right. I will have to wait a bit as I might be putting some of Doug's corals in there when he moves up, and will need to move Doug's yellow tang out of the 80g first.

Reef Pilot · #3 03-12-2012, 01:36 PM

I have Pearlscale butterfly fish, and they totally cleaned up my aiptasia problem. They also taught my Copperband to eat aiptasia. If well fed, the Pearlscales won't eat my coral, but if hungry (not fed well), they will pick at my mushrooms and palys/zoas. They leave most of my other corals (soft and LPS) alone. I don't have any SPS, so not sure what they would do to them.