African Butterfly Fish

[fish_keeper2]

im looking for info on these guys. anything you got will be helpfull.

 

[Fella]

I've got one of these guys, and he's great stuff. They look like Mini-arowana with their upturned mouths and graceful swimming motion, and belong to the same "bony fishes" family. They're elegant, but at the same time they're said to be aggressive and would eat fry, but mine has never attempted to. They don't move around a lot, but they are truly fascinating fish, watching them eat food (which must be floating by the way, mine will never leave the waters surface, and wont eat food if it's even 5mm below the surface...) is a joy, and they're great stuff, I recommend them highly. Mine has showed no interest in it, but I'd be very careful regarding thm jumping however, as they're notorious for being found dried up on the floor.

Best google image I found of these guys was this one -

I hope that was some help, are you planning on getting one? I'm getting mine a few more, and some floating plants for him to hide amongst.

 

[Fruitbat]

Here's a link to an article I wrote on the African Butterfly Fish that you might find helpful.

African Butterfly Fish article

-Joe

Oh.....here's a picture I took of one of my African Butterfly Fish admiring his reflection at the surface.

 

[Fella]

Oh yeah, it's also worth mentioning that the colouring on them differs from fish to fish. When I look top down on mine, he has 1 side dark brown and one side light (just luck of the draw that it forms a straight line) and his mixture of brown and silver is much more brown, and there is little silver, unlike the picture above.

Before I got mine I found fruitbats article very useful, be sure to give it a read!

 

[fish_keeper2]

thanks. ya i was thinking of getting one. how big do these guys get? i read anywhere from 4-6 inches.

also what fish should i avoid with these guys and what would be best to keep with these guys?

 

[Gix]

I looked into getting one of these for a while, too (though I never followed through on it as I do not have the right accomodations). African butterfly fish prefer warm acidic water. As they spend a lot of time at the water's surface, it helps to have some floating plants present and a relatively slow current. They are carnivores and prefer live insects like crickets. They do fine with peaceful mid-level and bottom-dwelling species, but are sometimes known to nip at other top-dwelling species unless the tank is large enough for the fish to have their own areas of the tank. It's best not to put them with fin-nippers like barbs, either, as the african butterflyfish is not a fast swimmer and has long, flowing fins.
They're truly beautiful fish, and can be kept in a relatively small tank. Best of luck keeping them!

 

[fish_keeper2]

can one of these guys be kept in a 5 gal all by the selves. or maybe a 10 gal with some other fish.....not sure what type though.

 

[Lexie3787]

No minimum tank size is about 20 gallons but sites like liveaquaria.com and such say 30. They are aggressive. Mine nips at any fish they are put in the tank AFTER him. He nipped at mollys I had in there. They are known for jumping so make sure u have no open spaces. They do like insects/flake/live food. They like floating plants to feel more secure. They definitely arent good for a 5 or 10 gallon tank.

 

[fish_keeper2]

im confused

quote from article provided by fruitbat:

The pair was housed in a 20 gallon Long aquarium

quote from Gix:

can be kept in a relatively small tank

by far i dont think a 30 gal would be considered "relatively small". ive read that they grow 4-6 inches and arent fast swimmers so they dont need a whole lot of room especialy if they are by them selves. also mollies are considered mid to top level fish so it makes sence they would get nipped at in the first place. also places that sell fish sometimes arent correct. as an example liveaquaria.com says true percula clownfish need min 30 gal tank and i have been told by several people here and by a lfs that they can be kept in a 10 gal nano and i have one right now in a 10 gal doing very well.

 

[Lexie3787]

No I didnt say a 30 gallon is considered small. I was putting forth my own information on ABF. And I was stating mollies as an example as they try to fit rather large fish in their mouths. They are agressive and youre lucky if you get one that isnt aggressive. It doesn't matter if the fish move slow, they still need space. Just because it moves slow doesnt mean u can keep it in a 5 gallon with barely any space. Plus, my ABF does not move slow, he swims around a lot, doesnt stay just at the top, ive seen him go near the bottom. Hes attacked mollies, skirt tetras, even tried to nip at my pleco thats twice his size.

 

[fish_keeper2]

sorry i miss read your post a bit. i was at school so i was trying to rush it.

 

[Fruitbat]

One thing to keep in mind regarding minimum tank size for Pantodon buchholzi is that, though they are usually slow swimmers and are inactive for much of the time, they do like to cruise around the surface on occasion.

For surface-swimming fish, the amount of surface area of the aquarium is more important than the volume of the tank. A standard 20 gallon aquarium has dimensions of 24 X 12 X 16 inches which gives a surface area of 288 square inches (L X W). A 20 gallon long aquarium has dimensions of 30 X 12 X 12 which gives a surface area of 360 square inches. Of the two, the 20 gallon long is obviously the better choice for surface-dwellers like the African Butterfly Fish because it sacrifices depth for greater length and thus more surface area.

A standard 10 gallon tank only has 200 square inches of surface area and, while is might house a small African Butterfly Fish for a while it certainly wouldn't be the best choice. A tank in the 5 gallon range is simply too limited for even a very small P. buchholzi.

-Joe