Buterflys and Anemones

[kaiser]

I have a couple anemones ( 1 sebae, 1 bta and 1 condy) and I am thinking about getting a butterfly. How do they get along or should I rather not do that?
Any input would be appreciated.

[Tim Marvin]

Butterfly diets include anemones.

[Instar]

There are hundreds of butterflies available to us. Some eat anemones and others eat coral and still others eat feather dusters and sponges. What kind are you talking about?
Most are very difficult to acclimate to frozen foods and need a pretty good sized tank. Many must be kept in mated pairs if they are big enough, or they won't survive for long, others school at certain ages and fight to the death at other ages. Some will not do well outside a school. They can be as complicated as they are diverse in color and shape and the habits and diet varies between species from different localities.

[Tim Marvin]

I was refering to the copperband and racoon which seem to be the most common. These two can be a real problem to your tank, but the copperband is the safer of the two.

[kaiser]

I was looking at a Auriga or a Pearlscale.

[Tim Marvin]

Better wait for instars answer I'm not familiar with the feeding habits of these two.

[GaryP]

Larry is definitely the butterfly man.

Gary

[Instar]

I love butterflies with a passion! I once had a tank with 4 in there and coral for them to feed on. I didn't have to touch it. It was like a never ending movie. I never fed the fish, they just ate the coral. Just have to keep the coral growing. I believe you will see those two bother some things. Although, they do tend to go for the foods you feed them after while. I have kept pearl scales before, I know. Can't remember right now about the Auriga, but, I think so. I think he was the one that loved the brains. They can do well on frozen foods. That was so long ago I'll have to go back and see if I have any pictures. I may have had brains with both of them as well as other things, can't recall. I'll get back to you on this one. I once had a 60 high with a head of lettuce (pachy whatever, elephant skin) coral in it. It was about 8 inches around. Cool coral head and had 4 of the four eyed butterflies from Florida that are supposed to eat feather dusters. Little tiny ones too, like real tiny babies. Well they did love that coral head. Chased around it and ate from it all day long. Those were the days... days when I didn't keep coral alive for too long sometimes. LoL But really it wasn't because of the butterflies. My reef skills and equipment was seiously lacking in those days many years ago. I sure wish I had pictures of that.

[Instar]

After digging thru the archives, this is what I came up with: I have kept butterflies with corals, but, they did eat some of them. The Hawaiian trifacialis, Florida four eyed, and RedSea triangle loved the open brains. They never looked at the mushrooms at all. I did have a true pearl scale. I say true b/c even the literature has pictures of the wrong species with the description for the xanth. sp. true pearlscale. There are at least two or three others that look almost like it and both of them can be expected to eat coral and anemones of some species. The true pearlscale may acclimate to food from your freezer and then not bother anemones at all, but, they range from the Indo-pacific to Austrailia to HI and into the Red Sea. Habits and preferences can vary between individuals and ages. And then there is the Auriga, or threadfin. It will almost certainly eat anemones, but, perhaps not every kind of anemone. They may be kept at bay by a fiesty pair of large clowns that just won't have an intruder eat their host. You can expect both kinds to take down a plate coral in short order and from my experience also the open brains and similar things such as lobophyllia. I would also expect goniopora too. It may take them a while to devour an open brain, but they will go for it. The auriga more so than the pearlscale, but, if the pearlscale has a taste for it, this will not likely stop. These guys get large. The auriga get to be 9 inches! A small tank will just not do well for them at all as they like some room to roam. Small ones should do ok in a tank of at leat 55 gallons so long as their are lots of caves and rubble areas. Shallow tanks are not a problems so long as they have cover. They really like to be pair at some point in theri lives, but, the younger ones we most often get can live alone. They may even fight in a small tank if kept in pairs. If you just can't resist trying it, go for the HI pearlscale, a true pearlscale, not one of the look alikes. Don't try this unless you have a good sense of humor or another tank to move it to if it goes for the anemones. Don't mix it with a plate coral. Plates generally can't take what the butterflies can dish out. The exception here would be the indonesian copperband. It is not expected to bother a plate coral but, like all butterflies is very difficult to acclimate to frozen foods. Each butterfly has its own personality and preferences. Most will eat benthic worms, small crustaceans, copepods and some kinds of snails, feather dusters, christmas and cocoa worms. Most will also need a little algae in their diets. A large one may be a good way to get rid of your peppermint or coral shrimp, but, it would have to be pretty good sized. These are generalities at best. One person may have a really benign pearlscale and the next person a real terror that eats every living thing in the tank. I doubt they would mess with leathers, zoos, etc., but, there is always a risk, even if only a small one. Its not a risk with the auriga, its a sure thing. They will eat what you have. They will eat plates, almost for sure. They may pass on the types of anemones you have if they really pack a good sting. Zenias may be a really good treat for them too. Don't know about that one. I never kept aurigas with corals for a long time. Pearlscales I've kept in peacful community tanks, not aggressive ones, and all the fish ate frozen foods. I couldn't find any pics of them with softies like mushrooms, but, I am thinking that would probably work based on the other kinds that I kept that for sure did eat hard corals. No guarentees though.
And I have to say thanks a lot guys! :) Now with all this talk I am thinking about converting my sps reef into a butterfly reef. I am trying to compute how many corals I will have to have and what kinds vs fish species to keep the damage to a minimum. That will be really expensive, but you hit my hot button here. I am dreamin of angels and triggers and butterflies on my reef tonight. I really need a bigger tank!!!
Tim, I'm back to that 8x8 pond thing again!

[Instar]

And one other thing, the tank should be old enough and fit for sps corals. The water has to be clean and prsitine in a stable and mature tank.

[GaryP]

Larry,

Somehow I don't think it takes much to motivate you.

Gary

[Instar]

LoL, yeh, I think everything is cool, remember?!

Here is a very old pic of eating my brains out...

Don't try this at home!

[kaiser]

Thanks a lot for all that info Larry. I think I will try the Pearlscale.

[Instar]

Good luck Kaiser. Let us know how its going from time to time.

[GaryP]

Larry,

I don't think I could sit and watch fish do that to my open brain. I think its the best coral I have. Its about 10" across when fully open. I'm afraid I would be guilty of butterflyicide. :)

Gary

[Instar]

Gary, Someday I gotta see your brain! It would last a while at that size; save me some trouble. :)
I really think its possible to keep them together with the right conditions and enough corals to spread out the wealth a little. They don't seem to do much damage, just eat some of the slime. I am currently testing my theory of keeping coral eaters with corals using a pair of spawning yellow clown gobies. Man they laid a couple hundred eggs this morning.

[GaryP]

Don't you just hate when that happens? Cha-Ching!

Give me a yell the next time you are up this way. I live right down the street from Texas Tropical. You are always welcome Larry. If you don't still have my number leave me a PM.

If your butterflies will eat Xenia I always have plenty. I fragged a bunch today for the next meeting.

[Instar]

Thanks Gary. right now all i am keeping are the copperbands. They don't even look at zenia.