Beautiful butterflies

[Butterfly Boy]

Hi Everyone. My name is Peter and I have a special interest in butterfly fish. I am from Cape Town and for many years collected up the coast as far as the Wild Coast, but normally as far as Plettenberg Bay. Besides marleyi, which are quite plentiful in False Bay during summer, I have collected and kept auriga, blackburnii, dolosus, lunula, and vagabundus during a short window period in late summer. I had to stop keeping for a long period but have recently started up again - with the specific aim of trying to find a pair of marleyi and trying to get them to breed. I have four juveniles in the tank at the moment and I am hoping that as they mature, two of them will form a pair bond. A bit tricky as some individuals can be very territorial and chase the others, picking on a specific fish. If there is anybody else interested in butterflies let me know so that we can share information on keeping them. Cheers.

 

[Dolfin_05]

Hi, I've been fascinated by butterflies especially Marleyi for years but never seem to find ANY in or around false bay. It's almost as if they forsee that im coming and decide to evaporate into thin air.

 

[Butterfly Boy]

Evening Dolphin-05
They are not exactly common in False Bay, but during midsummer to the end of summer you can find them in Fish Hoek (you have to dive for them) and I know they are fairly common on the Gordon's Bay/Strand waterfront in the pools there. They used to be common in Kalk Bay harbour but I think the pollution has chased them off. There are still one or two between the tyres but you need to look very carefully.

 

[Dolfin_05]

Oh wow that's really quite something, I've often suspected that there might be a few in and around Kalk bay harbour but never knew for sure. But Gordon's bay strand area is a first time im hearing, I might have to check it out in a week or two.

I've kept some Auriga butterflies and one Pakistani butterfly. Butterflies truly are some of the most beautiful fish in the hobby.

If I manage to catch a butterfly or two I'll definitely help keep this thread going!

 

[Butterfly Boy]

Its not a good time now as the water may be too cold. You can have a look but dont be disappointed if you dont see any. The best time is the last two weeks of January and first two weeks of February. You may find juveniles then so maybe set up a smaller tank (60cm x 30cm x 30cm x30 cm) to settle them and get them feeding. You can put them in a larger tank when they are a bit bigger (normally 4-6 months) and use the small tank as a reserve or hospital tank.