Butti question?

[someonestolemyname]

ive become very interested in a buttifikori<-- no idea how to spell it but i have some questions like whats the minimum tank size how agressive are they cant they have tankmates and any other info i should know about them

[large_cichlids]

buttikoiferis get very large the minimum would be a 40 or 75 gallon since they have the same length of 4 feet.I have one in a 40 for now because it killed my arowanna in my pond.Yes they are agressive mine wont even stand for a pleco in its terriotory.Once it is in a 75 gallon and it hits 6 or 7 inches tankmates are out of the question.I hope this helps.

pm me for more questions
o yea they have sharp teeth also so watch hands when your cleaning the tank


heres mine

[evercl92]

beautiful fish btw

[fishmaven]

Butticofferi are from Africa. Do a Google or a Yahoo search.

[REC]

There is no way a male buttikoferi could live for life in a 75 gallon. These guys can easily reach 17-20 inches so i would suggest at least a 120 for one specimen if its male.

[large_cichlids]

are u serious. buttikoferi only get to 12 - 14 inches and rarely 16 inches.they dont get 20 inches.

[sicklid-holic]

What the books says does not necessarily mean true. For instance a Doviis are always overblown in the books at growing 30"!!! but in reality will only reach around 16"-18" in home aquariums, even that will take many, many years. I cant see a Buttis reaching 14". Maybe around 12" the most.

[REC]

Honestly guys you are both amateurs in the hobby and no very little of what you are talking about. Please stop misinforming people on this thread. This fish below belongs to a guy that I recently gave my 15" Marble Pim too that lives in bellevue. He has a 2400 gallon tank in his back yard that has butti's ranging from 16" to 21"......The following male is 20".................

[roliva]

See that, buttis can live in a community tank (2400 gal)!! If your thinking about putting the butti in a 75 or 120, you'd probably want it solo.

[large_cichlids]

sorry but that butti is not 20 inches its just a real good close up.They only get from 12 to 14 inches and like i said there have been some freaks that have reached 16 but thats extremely rare.

[large_cichlids]

if that catfish is 15 inches the butti cant be 20 inches becuase its not even as long as the cats.

[bigsmooth]

if that catfish is 15 inches the butti cant be 20 inches becuase its not even as long as the cats.

that is tiger shovelnose catfish with the butti

[big train]

I agree with REC:iagree: the butti can reach huge sizes in huge tanks i have seen inperson a 16" butti at a lfs and the 1 in that pic if it aint 20":WHOA: its darn close lol large cichlids.:cry:

[REC]

if that catfish is 15 inches the butti cant be 20 inches becuase its not even as long as the cats.

Wow kid your calling me a liar on fish i've seen with my own eyes. That Tiger Shovelnose is currently about 33" long you obviously don't know your fish so please stop this non sense and keep your rookie opinion to yourself. :banhim:

[Jason_S]

no need for an argument about it....bottom line is butti's have the potential to grow incredibly large. 14-16" isn't all that abnormal for several year old males. I'd go with no less than a 75 but as it gets larger a 120 may be more suitable. :)

[loach43]

:iagree:

I really don't think that a standard 75 would be a torture chamber for a solitary buttikoferi although a larger tank would be better. Biggest ones I've ever seen were in the 14-16" range at the shedd aquarium.

[someonestolemyname]

thank you guys for all the replys i guess now ill wait until i have a suitable home for a butti befor i buy one

[PMK]

I have a Butti and have had him for about a 9 months he was originally 1.5-2 inches and now he is about 6 inches.


Do they usually grow this slow???

I know he was a picky eater and would not eat shrimp so i had to feed him bloodworm only and flake food. He looks very healthy very very very very strong coloring when he wants to.

[terrors r us]

Hi there, I used to own a pair of buterkofries in a 600gal tank with a bunch of
other aggresive cichlids. They were very aggresive (8 inches at that time) but lived
with the other cichlids and there were no deaths. My opionion is that if the tank is
big enough then it should work. If you want to keep just one fish then I would get
a female because she keeps her intensive black/white stripes where as the males
black stripes turn kind of grayish(washed out) with age.
Also I have no doubt that they could reach 18 inches in a large tank but it
would take many years. In a 100gal tank they should hit 12 or 14 inches.
Good luck!!!!

[Oscarboyz]

ok guys stop arguing

[Ripdevil]

thats funny, they def get big, just got a 2 inch one today, in 125 community, let you know how it goes, as long as my pbass dont eat it

[sicxspeed]

if that catfish is 15 inches the butti cant be 20 inches becuase its not even as long as the cats.

WOW. LOL, thats all I really wanna say on that.:ROFL:

Anyway, Butti's are extremely aggressive, extremely and should not be trusted with other fish for the most part unless a very big tank is provided. Only house with other very large, nasty cichlids aka, Dovii, Jags, Midas etc etc.....

Oh and they do clear the 14 inch mark with ease. Biggest ive seen was at a public aquarium at around 20 inches or so.

[Opiate]

i dun mean to cut in, but REC not everyone has a 2400 gallon tank :) butti wont hit more than 12-14 inches in a 180 gal or 240, etc etc..but a 75 is definately outta the question!

[chrisdef15]

i dun mean to cut in, but REC not everyone has a 2400 gallon tank :) butti wont hit more than 12-14 inches in a 180 gal or 240, etc etc..but a 75 is definately outta the question!

So its ok to keep one in a small tank because they will get stunted?? Great logic.

[stonecat]

Well, like others have said before, butti get big, 20 inches is about max, i personally had one in an indoor pond that was close to 20inchs. As for keeping them with other fish, any of the large bichers and electric cat do well with butti, (similar water conditions) also butti are veggies they wont eat your fish. Bronx zoo has them with Jewels and congo tetras. granted the congo tetras are full grown.

[Killerhap]

also butti are veggies they wont eat your fish.

They are Omnivores and they are famous or infamous for killing other fish.

Bronx zoo has them with Jewels and congo tetras. granted the congo tetras are full grown.

I never been there, but I bet that is a huge tank?

They keep HUGE territories, so in order to keep them with other fish you need a very big tank or a pond. They need space, lots of space to be happy.

Here is a good article to read: http://articles.gpasi.org/tilapia_buttikoferi.html

[thatonegirl]

Buttis are awesome fish. IMO, you could keep one in a 75 or 90 for quite a while, but long term, something like a 125 would be better. They have tons of personality, and it's worth it to just have one fish in a 6' tank if it's a butti. :)

[searcyb]

I was given one as a gift in august and it is just now hitting the 5-6 inch range. It killed its first fish this weekend and has already picked out its next victim. It killed a 4inch green terror by bitting it in the head. all that was really left of the GTs head was gills and a mangled eye socket. It was pretty gruesome if you think about it.

It is very territorial but I have it in with some larger fish, oscars and a green terror. it will not pick on my breeding pair of nicaraguense or convicts. Maybe there is something to be said about keeping it with breeding pairs with raised aggresion levels.

[koff]

i have a 6 inch butti with alot of smaller fish and it dosnt look to be as agressive as you guys make is seem........

[Oscarboyz]

look guys no offense to anyone here but REC knows his stuff if you look at all the info he has added to this site you would be amazed he should be respected for his knowledge of cichlids

[ShadowStryder]

Like they said above they can get bout 14" and are highly aggressive. They can be hyper aggressive to the point they will kill everything in the tank. There is no way you can keep in a tank that small.
Mine killed almost everything in my 125 at 14 inches, till I moved him by himself and found a taker.

[at2]

i dont know why people argue about stupid stuff on here.... but either way, buttikoferi are awesome fish....i have had mine in a 55 gallon with other fish since i got it around 9 months ago and it is doing fine.

[Bogwoodbruce]

Once i tried a 5inch butti with a pair of 12" and 3 13" Tinfoil barbs and it stripped most of the barbs scaels and this was in a 125g.

[Bogwoodbruce]

Definately a solo fish.

[Rakie]

Wow kid your calling me a liar on fish i've seen with my own eyes. That Tiger Shovelnose is currently about 33" long you obviously don't know your fish so please stop this non sense and keep your rookie opinion to yourself. :banhim:


Why is it every post I happen to see you in you're a complete douche ?

Thats an honest question, id like an answer.



Either way, get over yourself.

[Rakie]

look guys no offense to anyone here but REC knows his stuff if you look at all the info he has added to this site you would be amazed he should be respected for his knowledge of cichlids


He does seem to be a knowledgeable guy, i don't think anybody is doubting that, but he's also quite rude and extremely full of himself. Why cant he be well informed AND polite ?

[thebestincali2000]

some people just have big fat heads,i have a fat head too,but i was born with mine,unlike alot of people

[thebestincali2000]

i dont really understand the whole stunting thing,like why is it such a bad thing?my cousin in oregon has a convict that he purposley stunted.its still alive and has been for about 6-7 years.he was stunted at 2 inches and is still 2 inches,with a mate.he has sucessfully bred many times and is clearly a happy fish.i dont have a pic of him only cause my cousin doesnt have a camera

[Kimix]

i dont really understand the whole stunting thing,like why is it such a bad thing?my cousin in oregon has a convict that he purposley stunted.its still alive and has been for about 6-7 years.he was stunted at 2 inches and is still 2 inches,with a mate.he has sucessfully bred many times and is clearly a happy fish.i dont have a pic of him only cause my cousin doesnt have a camera

So if i want a great dane, but want it small, it would be ok to keep it in a closet to stunt its growth???

Its ANIMAL CRUELTY if you are doing it on purpose. Its bad enough that many people do it on accident because they don't know any better.

If you don't want a big fish, stick with guppies.

[KingKong123]

uhh i think fish are a different story than dogs... just sayin

[Opiate]

So its ok to keep one in a small tank because they will get stunted?? Great logic.

no it's not ok...i never said that at all...what i said came across wrong....majority of buttis that live in 180's etc etc usually dun reach over 14inches..

[Mike fail]

ive seen an 18" butti he was huge!!!!!!!!!

[SAP627]

nice fish