I am new to the hobby besides when I housed several african and south americans when I was around 12 years old in a 30 gallon tank thinking it was okay. Wrong I was! they ended up dieing or killing eachother within weeks.
Recently I purchased a 5" Butti because he was on sale for roughly $25 USD which is insanely cheap because here in Japan Aquarium fish are very overpriced. Good example is I saw a 8" Bred Green Terror going for $112, but then they were selling a wild 3" one for $120. There is also a large Red Devil in horrible condition currently selling for nearly $240. They have several types of fish, but everything is overpriced. So basically the Butti was by it's lonesome for sale and I had to purchase him.
I have a 55 gallon aquarium where he will be living by himself or maybe with a couple others, 1 Green terror or Flowerhorn. I know you guys are going to say that the 55 is too small for a full grown Buttikoferi, but the thing is I do not plan on keeping him for more than two years because I am in the military and will be moving so eventually I will give him to the LFS. If the fish is currently 4-5" will I be able to house him and a couple others in a 55 safely for the next two years?
So far he is extremely aggressive and I had him in a smaller tank where he killed all his tankmates including two small pleco within a week. He hasn't been eating in front of me, but I know he's been eating because otherwise he'd be dead by now. I've owned him for almost a month. It seems although he has ignored the hikari pellets I've thrown in there, he has eaten some of the cucumber. When I attempted to give him a couple feeder fish he just killed them within minutes, but did not eat them. Do you think as soon as I transfer him to the 55 gallon he will start eating?
