I love arowanas their my favorite fish! my personal favorite, the Osteoglossum bicirrhosum in other words, the Silver Arowana. i recently discovered that the African Butterfly Fish, a close relative, is a smaller version (5 inches) of these epic bonytounges. since they grow to about 5 inches i want to put it in a 6 gallon tank since to me, 1 inch of fish = 1 gallon of space. i plan to feed it Hikari floating carnivore stick and put a few plants in for hiding spots. Please tell me what you think of my plan and tell me EVERYTHING you think about it do not hesitate to critisize me. Thanks!
African Butterfly Fish
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On top of what techen said african butterflys really only use the tippy top of the tank. I dont know if you have hopped around this forum very much but the only fish you can put it in that tank is a betta or some male only or female only guppies.
These are natural predators and still need space to swim along the surface, as well as little flow along the surface. They also may not take hikari right away, so it would be best to try live or frozen alternatives first.
Honestly putting a butterfly into a 6 gallon is like putting a arrowana into a 40 gallon because it gets 3ft and that equals 36" so it would be more than enough room you would think, but thats wrong they need a 300+ gallon tank. My advice to you, never use the 1 gallon per inch of adult fish rule, i dont know what stupid petsmart employee invented this method but its terrible.
These are natural predators and still need space to swim along the surface, as well as little flow along the surface. They also may not take hikari right away, so it would be best to try live or frozen alternatives first.
Honestly putting a butterfly into a 6 gallon is like putting a arrowana into a 40 gallon because it gets 3ft and that equals 36" so it would be more than enough room you would think, but thats wrong they need a 300+ gallon tank. My advice to you, never use the 1 gallon per inch of adult fish rule, i dont know what stupid petsmart employee invented this method but its terrible.
ok so what rule should i follow?
( this is my first time using this rule)
i have a 100 gallon tank with 25 rummy nose 6 gold barbs 4 corys 1 BABY black ghost knifefish (i will move it to my pond later) 2 chinese algae eaters and 2 honey suckers 1 betta will a butterfly be ok in there?
( this is my first time using this rule)
i have a 100 gallon tank with 25 rummy nose 6 gold barbs 4 corys 1 BABY black ghost knifefish (i will move it to my pond later) 2 chinese algae eaters and 2 honey suckers 1 betta will a butterfly be ok in there?
There really is no "rule" that works. The size of tank that any fish requires is a matter of the fish's length, its mass (thicker fish opposed to thin fish), how many of its species may be needed, its behaviours (some need room to actively swim, others less), and the other species in the tank. This takes a bit of explaining, so I will expand on any of these if asked.
I had a male/female pair of Pantodon buchholzi for many years back in the 1980's. They are best on their own, in a shallow tank, 24-30 inches length. They spend most of their time motionless, except when feeding or when interacting. They like to hover among floating plants. Drop in an insect and they spring into action. They will eat, or attempt to eat, any fish that comes to the surface.
For anyone interested in this very unique fish, some info from a profile I authored a few years back:
This fish was described by W.C.H. Peters in 1876. It is the only species in the genus, and there are no other genera in the family. The name Pantodontidae is derived from the Greek pan [= all] and odous [= tooth, teeth]. The species epithet honours a Professor Buchholz who discovered this species. Two sub-species described by C. Bruning in 1911 were determined by Gosse (1984) to be conspecific with the subject species.
Pantodontidae is closely related to the family Osteoglossidae (Arowana) and these along with five other families that include the Arapaima, Elephantnoses and Knifefishes, belong to the Order Osteoglossiformes. The name derives from the Greek osteon [= bone] and glossa [= tongue] plus the Latin forma [= shape], and in English these fishes are referred to as the bony tongues. This is a very primitive order, with fossil records as far back as the late Jurassic period (roughly 161 to 145 million years ago). To put this into perspective, this was the period when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up into the two supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana, which in time further divided into the continents as we know them today.
There are two distinct populations known in the wild, one in the Niger River basin and one in the basin of the Congo River, and only recently have these been shown to have significant genetic differences that have existed for at least 57.2 million years. In spite of this, the species is an example of what is termed "morphological stasis," which means that the morphology (the form or shape) has remained virtually unchanged throughout the species' existance. This constancy is believed to be greater than that of all vertebrate examples in fossil records (Lavoue, et al, 2011; cited in Dawes, 2011). Further study may determine that these are in fact two distinct species; the genetic differences between the two populations are so wide that "they might even be reproductively isolated owing to genetic incompatibilities." (Dawes, 2011).
Byron.
I had a male/female pair of Pantodon buchholzi for many years back in the 1980's. They are best on their own, in a shallow tank, 24-30 inches length. They spend most of their time motionless, except when feeding or when interacting. They like to hover among floating plants. Drop in an insect and they spring into action. They will eat, or attempt to eat, any fish that comes to the surface.
For anyone interested in this very unique fish, some info from a profile I authored a few years back:
This fish was described by W.C.H. Peters in 1876. It is the only species in the genus, and there are no other genera in the family. The name Pantodontidae is derived from the Greek pan [= all] and odous [= tooth, teeth]. The species epithet honours a Professor Buchholz who discovered this species. Two sub-species described by C. Bruning in 1911 were determined by Gosse (1984) to be conspecific with the subject species.
Pantodontidae is closely related to the family Osteoglossidae (Arowana) and these along with five other families that include the Arapaima, Elephantnoses and Knifefishes, belong to the Order Osteoglossiformes. The name derives from the Greek osteon [= bone] and glossa [= tongue] plus the Latin forma [= shape], and in English these fishes are referred to as the bony tongues. This is a very primitive order, with fossil records as far back as the late Jurassic period (roughly 161 to 145 million years ago). To put this into perspective, this was the period when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up into the two supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana, which in time further divided into the continents as we know them today.
There are two distinct populations known in the wild, one in the Niger River basin and one in the basin of the Congo River, and only recently have these been shown to have significant genetic differences that have existed for at least 57.2 million years. In spite of this, the species is an example of what is termed "morphological stasis," which means that the morphology (the form or shape) has remained virtually unchanged throughout the species' existance. This constancy is believed to be greater than that of all vertebrate examples in fossil records (Lavoue, et al, 2011; cited in Dawes, 2011). Further study may determine that these are in fact two distinct species; the genetic differences between the two populations are so wide that "they might even be reproductively isolated owing to genetic incompatibilities." (Dawes, 2011).
Byron.
Ok 40 gallon for pair!Goggy said:
and can i keep fishes (like corys and bottom feeders) under the butterflyies?
I would advise at least a 30 gallon for one butterfly fish and if you decide to do multiple, you would need at least a 60 gallon although I would go bigger since they are aggressive with each other and this would give them more room to avoid interaction if they so decided.
The surface area is far more significant than the volume. Example, a 20 gallon long at 30 inches length has the same surface area as a 29 gallon and the 20g is sufficient in volume. Lower fish obviously will impact this. A tank for a pair of Butterfly fish need not have depth, but as soon as you consider lower fish as well, the volume enters the equation.
I had my pair (male/female) in a long 15g which is 24 inches in length (same surface as a standard 20g) for a decade and they were fine. This was back in the 1980's when I knew much less about fish than I hope I do now, and were I to consider this species today I would use a 20g long or a 29g as the minimum for a pair.
Lower water fish are possible in the deeper tank, and substrate fish should be fine. Just keep in mind that any smallish fish that approaches the surface may well be attacked. And the mouth on P. buchholzi is very large indeed when you see it open to feed.
Byron.
I had my pair (male/female) in a long 15g which is 24 inches in length (same surface as a standard 20g) for a decade and they were fine. This was back in the 1980's when I knew much less about fish than I hope I do now, and were I to consider this species today I would use a 20g long or a 29g as the minimum for a pair.
Lower water fish are possible in the deeper tank, and substrate fish should be fine. Just keep in mind that any smallish fish that approaches the surface may well be attacked. And the mouth on P. buchholzi is very large indeed when you see it open to feed.
Byron.
Byron said:
I do agree that when considering just the butterfly fish -- surface area is way more important than water volume. I would honestly not keep a pair in less than a 36 in length tank equivalent to a 40 gallon breeder but then again since I keep aggressive surface dwelling fish, I tend to make sure each individual has plenty of room.
The issue though is that most people - like the OP -- are not going to keep the butterfly fish in a species only tank so volume will be important especially to accommodate big enough shoaling fish that the butterfly will not eat. Which is why recommended tank sizes are important. In this case especially since the OP has been considering much smaller tanks than the fish needs.
30 gallons being the minimum for a single butterfly fish (with other fish) and closer to 60 gallons for multiple butterfly fish (with other fish).
Tongue_Flicker
Fish Herder
techen said:
nuff said and congrats!
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