Bennetts butterfly feeding requirements

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Hi guys

I saw this guy at a LFS and simply couldnt resist. Bennett's butterfly also known as an eclipse butterfly. The coloration is simply amazing and i have been leaning towards a more pretty fish oriented tank rather than coral. I am fully aware he will munch my sps


SpotButterfly.jpg



Now my question is feeding. The LFS stated that it eats brine. I have tried feeding it brine/mysis/angel formula/pellets/flakes and it hasn't seem to interested in it.

What it has been eating is my birds nest (so at least he is eating right). I dont have a problem with that as such but i'd like to know what i can do to encourage it to munch on the other food - or is there something else i can try feeding it.

Cheers
 
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I would have asked the LFS to feed the fish before i even chanced taking the fish.

Another tip is next time if you not use put a deposit down and ask for the fish to be kept for a week or 2 to see how it does.

Hope the fish starts eating!
 
Feed the frozen food slowly with a syringe.

Just like Copperbands, they takes their time before they decides if he want to eat something. And by then, the other fish already ate it.

So first, feed the pigs.

Then use a syringe, close to the butterfly, and slowly push some food out. Just a bit. Do not move your hand fast or away. Also close to a open rock space. So that the food that is dispersed is slowly moving over the rock. Almost like they should do if alive. Take your time. Let him learn that the syringe means food.

By the way, beatifull fish. Understand you could not resist....
 
Thx for the advice, I will try that when i get home today RiaanP.

Will he get enough nutrition from just munching the sps ? (for now anyway?)
 
Ok ive tried the syringe method but the food just floats by him without him eating it. He didnt eat off the rocks either. Is there anything else i can try?

As an extreme measure what sort of SPS would he eat long with the birds nest he is already nipping at?
 
switch some internal pumps off when feeding, so that the food floats by slower.
 
Hi

I tried again this morning. No pumps on. He is quite ok with my hand and syringe close to him without being scared off. I mixed some garlic with mysis/brine and angel formula. The food literally floats by him slowly with him not interested. Im slowly getting worried.... He is still nipping at the birds nest and another sps i have.

I am wondering if i shouldnt just get a nice polyp rich sps for him so he can live off that or is that a bad idea?

Thx guys
 
Better start buying the colonies bra or it will waste away

BFsMaldives

Chaetodon, bennetti Cuvier 1831, Bennett’s Butterflyfish is a beauty for sure, but just as assuredly almost only eats coral polyps (the rest, corallimorpharians), usually acroporids in the wild. Unfortunately also collected out of the Indo-west and central Pacific.
 
Nah i think he should be ok. I bought some butternut coral this morning. Nice big colony and thanks to the guys at Jungle aquatics for a great deal.

Now lets hope he eats it. I will add some more sps just to make sure he has variety. Hopefully i can ween him onto other food, will keep trying and keep u guys posted
 
he will also eat corallimorpharians so better start getting the mushrooom farm going

Got lots of those, my tank is quite coral rich. He has only nipped sps though so far and from what i have read this particular species only eat sps (chaetodon bennetti)
 
if you can get your hands on some common sea urchins freeze them. Then cut it in half and put it in your tank. its quite messy so dont leave it too long.
 
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