FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I went to my lfs store to test my water today (all fine, by the way), and when I browsed their tanks I noticed an african butterfly fish in the tetra "community" tank, in the "peaceful" fish section.

Is it just me, or is somebody going to end up with a tank full of dead fish reaalllly fast?

Last edited by plasmax000 at 26-Mar-2005 18:40

Just you. African Butterfly Fish are mainly dangerous to other fish in the way that they are predatory rather than territorial, and even then usually only towards surface fish. Thus, if the tetras are large enough then there won't be anything wrong.

Last edited by Shinigami at 26-Mar-2005 18:56

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

yeah, it woul depend on the size of the butterfly. if it's a 4-inch fish in with sale-size neons, they'll get eaten up, but only 2 or 3 a day. if it's a sale-size, 2 inch fish in with rummynoses or whatever then they should be alright. but it might get its fins nipped.

this fish could have been misplaced, or put in there only for a few days. i guess that it would eat the tankmates.

I have an ABF. He stays at the top of the tank all of the time unless other wise spooked. He wont mess with the tetra unless they hang out at the top. They also have poor vision. Mine wont feed unless something is right on top of him. He has never once chased or bitten one of my cherry barbs and they are quite small. The ABF is a nice fish to have. I wouldn't recommend keeping one in a community tank under 20+ gallons. They also like to jump. I hope they had a hood on the tank.

FreeBlaze

They also like to jump.

That has to be one of the most masterful pieces of understatement ever.

Pantodon buchholzi is a freshwater flying fish. Jump? It's positively rocket propelled once the mood takes it! Which is likely to be often!

Mind you, if you have the space and the conditions to keep it, it makes a pretty spectacular oddball. Plus, if you can persuade the fish to breed (not easy by any stretch of the imagination) and raise the fry (very difficult because they need moving food continuously present before them at the surface) then you can witness one of Nature's most wonderful camouflage acts: the babies look just like splinters of bark for the first 3 months or so of life.


Last edited by Calilasseia at 28-Mar-2005 14:16

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002