Multiple butterflyfish in one tank?

Experiment397

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Feb 26, 2010
2,815
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Probably the Poly section
Is it possible to keep multiple butterflyfish in one tank? I have given up on the idea of keeping preds in my first salt tank due to the price of feeding them (I prefer not to feed them processed food so my bill for fish food would be a bit too high for preds) so now I'm looking at keeping maybe a few butterflyfish and a few smaller colorful fish like Anthias or a small wrasse with them. Can you keep multiple butterfly's? I'm thinking maybe a teardrop, saddleback or mertensii and a Tahitian or semilarvatus. Any thoughts? I will have a pretty big fuge for the tank so lots of live cultures of Copepods and shrimp. And also im breeding some mollies in a brackish setup for small feeders. I am going to run an autofeeder with some freeze dried mysis and daphnia that will feed 2-3 times a day. The tank is a 125 by the way.


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ckcdrummer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2012
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CA
My brother had 2 butterfly's in his tank and they were fine, I'm not completely sure but my guess is they will be fine. I could be wrong though.


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DripN.Wet

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2012
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Bloomingdale, Ohio
They should all be added at the same time for best results and remember the semilarvatus is very exspensive and is pretty hard to acclimate to aquarium fair.
 

pagancry

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 29, 2007
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Mobile, Alabama
Butterflyfish are fine together generally and a 125 is a good size tank. The key with butterflyfish is to do research into what species you want. Many are very difficult to maintain long term but there are also many pretty easy to keep. Since your not keeping sessile inverts then a Raccoon Butterflyfish, Teardrop and Threadfin would look great together. Also, many butterfly species do well in pairs if added at the same time. Most butterflyfish are not aggressive and somewhat passive so do not keep them with boisterous fish like large damsels, triggerfish etc... Anthias would be good tank mates though. I also like Pakistani butterflyfish. They are one species that I would like to keep but haven't yet.

James
 
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