hey people. Ihave a 7 inch butterkoferi that icant do anything with as far as a tank mate. Is there anyway Ican get him use to sharing a tank??? He started off in a 55 gal with several other aggressive fish as a baby, and killed them all.
Butterkoferi help
- Thread starter DontTRYmyDOVII
- Start date
If he killed off other aggressive fish, then you have a fish with a violent personality and there is little to no chance of him sharing a tank with someone else.
Only possibility is putting him with a larger fish of a similarly aggressive species and maybe he accept him as the alpha.
However the more likely scenario is they fight to the death, so probably not worth the risk.
Secondly if he is still in a 55, that tank is not large enough for him alone. You will need to upgrade to a larger tank, just for this single fish as it should grow to 12 inches.
Only possibility is putting him with a larger fish of a similarly aggressive species and maybe he accept him as the alpha.
However the more likely scenario is they fight to the death, so probably not worth the risk.
Secondly if he is still in a 55, that tank is not large enough for him alone. You will need to upgrade to a larger tank, just for this single fish as it should grow to 12 inches.
The only tank mates I believe are OK with buttikoferi are Hippos.
They live communally in nature, as the Hippos drop feces, the buttikoferi eat them.
On a less asinine note (even though the above is true), in tanks under 300 gallons, I have never found any other tank mate that a buttikoferi will tolerate, including other buttikoferi, if the other fish is small enough not to appear as a territorial threat, it is eaten.
And I agree with Don'TRYmyDOVII, a 55 is not even close to being a large enough tank for any but a juvie, I had buttikofer that hit almost 20", they wouldn't be able to turn around in such a tiny tank. Mine was kept in a 300 gallon rubbermaid horse trough, and it was only spacious enough for 1 butti.
They live communally in nature, as the Hippos drop feces, the buttikoferi eat them.
On a less asinine note (even though the above is true), in tanks under 300 gallons, I have never found any other tank mate that a buttikoferi will tolerate, including other buttikoferi, if the other fish is small enough not to appear as a territorial threat, it is eaten.
And I agree with Don'TRYmyDOVII, a 55 is not even close to being a large enough tank for any but a juvie, I had buttikofer that hit almost 20", they wouldn't be able to turn around in such a tiny tank. Mine was kept in a 300 gallon rubbermaid horse trough, and it was only spacious enough for 1 butti.
I also had a butti that wouldn't share a tank with anything. Beat up anything I tried. Had him in a 72 gallon bow, then put him in a 100 gallon trough for a while, then gave him to a store with a large indoor pond.
Thanks a lot. I’m definitely updating my tank for him. It’s only a grow out. Ihave A 60 gallon grow out with a dovii pair that won’t stop spawning so I’m tryna figure out wat to do with all the fry. Lol imma put the butter in a 125 soon as Ican
The only tank mates I believe are OK with buttikoferi are Hippos.
They live communally in nature, as the Hippos drop feces, the buttikoferi eat them.
On a less asinine note (even though the above is true), in tanks under 300 gallons, I have never found any other tank mate that a buttikoferi will tolerate, including other buttikoferi, if the other fish is small enough not to appear as a territorial threat, it is eaten.
And I agree with Don'TRYmyDOVII, a 55 is not even close to being a large enough tank for any but a juvie, I had buttikofer that hit almost 20", they wouldn't be able to turn around in such a tiny tank. Mine was kept in a 300 gallon rubbermaid horse trough, and it was only spacious enough for 1 butti.
I had similar situation. Had 6 juvies together and alpha male attacked each relentlessly. He even attacked me when trying to clean his tank.
These fish get bigger than most people seem to think. I wouldn't consider anything less than 200 gallons for a large adult.