Longnose Butterflyfish - Really Reef Safe?

[xxBarneyxx]

As the title says is the Longnose Butterflyfish really reef safe with both corals and other inverts? I wanted to double check because all the other butterfly fish I have looked at seem to specialize in eating inverts of one kind or another (which I was really gutted about because I really wanted a bannerfish).

Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

Its a risk Barn... USUALLY they only go after anemones. However they have been documented as eating fleshy LPS, mushrooms, and some softies like xenia. They're similar to dwarf angels in that some may develop an apetite for corals while others never will. However they are sometimes difficult to get to ween onto frozen foods (since small nems are their diet in the wild). All in all a difficult fish to keep, but possibly suited to your new big tank.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah I thought it sounded a bit to good to be true Seems that every fish I like either likes munching on coral or on shrimp/crabs. I'm halfway tempted to go for FOWLR as there are loads of fish I really like which just aren't reef safe.

 

[Lynden]

Have you checked the butterflyfish section on my list? If I am not mistaken the long long nose (Forcipiger longirostris) is apparently more planktonivorous than Forcipiger flavissimus. The downside being that the former is harder to feed.

Butterfly fish
My research is somewhat lacking on the family Chaetodontidae, but I can tell you that
many species, such as the Copper band (Chelmon rostratus) the Long nose (Forcipiger sp.),
two Banners (Heniochus diphreutes and H. singularis) and the Pyramid
(Hemitaurichthys sp.) are not true cnidarian eaters, and thus safe with corals and anemones unless
underfed. Search Fishbase for more details on reef-safe butterfly fish; the reef safe varieties do
not feed on polyps, but most still eat tubeworms.

As for going to fowlr... to be honest when it is so simple to combine both worlds in a smaller tank (just look at mine) why not do a reef?