Yellow Longnose Butterfly

viper357

viper357

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Yellow Longnose butterfly - Forcipiger flavissimus

Forcipiger_flavissimus.jpg


Has anybody had any success in keeping these fish? I am thinking of getting one for my fish only tank.
 
The LFS here in CT I frequent get these in often. I was wondering the exact same thing. I know that Butterflies in general as notorious for not doing toooo well in an aquarium. I would too like to know people's opinions on this fish.

Dean - I know (by reading) that they say this fish should be "reef-safe" and that they do not eat polyps - only pods/worms.....
Not sure how easy they survive though...
 
some info from WWM

"The Yellow Longnose Butterflyfishes, Genus Forcipiger​

Environmental: Conditions​
Habitat
Long noses, like most Butterflyfishes, inhabit broken reef areas where food and hiding space is plentiful, and circulation brisk. Your success with them will be commensurate with providing similar conditions in captivity.
Chemical/Physical
Favored parameters are a pH of 8.0 to 8.4, temperatures in the high seventies, low eighties, and an artificially low specific gravity of 1.020. The latter to allow higher gas diffusion, concentration, and aid in reducing parasite loads. Keep the pH high and make frequent partial water changes.
Biology/Other
It should be mentioned that these fishes display some unusual behavior. Don't be unduly surprised should you catch yours swimming or hanging upside down; or that it might "spit" water in your direction at the surface. Also, let me mention their blanched whitish appearance on being exposed to light from dark conditions; like sleep or removal from a shipping box. A loss of yellow during the day is a fast sign that you need to be looking for a cause; probably fright from bullying, or diminished water quality.
One last color note (I promise); check out the disruptive black bar over the fish's eyes and prominent 'eye-spot' at the tail for prospecting predators to bite at. Okay, I feel better.
Filtration
Longnoses are stout fishes but do require clean, well-filtered water. Circulation cannot be too strong to suit them either; keep the water moving.
Display
Giving these marine organisms open areas and rocks, coral where they can seek refuge in a hex or show type aquarium, results in better adjusted, longer lived specimens. The system should be no smaller than forty gallons, ideally with twenty or more gallons set aside per butterfly.
Behavior:​
Territoriality
Can be problematical. These fishes are best kept one to a system. The best wholesalers keep their specimens in separate cubicles. Overcrowding is stressful, but does temporarily cut down on squabbling.
Introduction/Acclimation
Simple enough. One suggestion: put your longnose in as one of the first fishes, maybe right after the damsels. They need to feel at home so as to get their share of offered foods.
Predator/Prey Relations
Outside of quarreling with other longnoses, these fishes are peaceable. Be wary of placing them with larger predatory fishes however. I have seen them used as bait by island fisher folk, and can recount more than one tearful aquarium gulp-loss.
Reproduction, Sexual Differentiation/Growing Your Own:​
The butterflyfishes are broadcast spawners, with young passing through an extended planktonic stage as peculiar tholichthys larvae. As yet, they have not been spawned, reared in aquaria.
Feeding/Foods/Nutrition: Types, Frequency, Amount, Wastes​
Despite their looks, these B/F's accept all types of foods, frozen, fresh and prepared, with gusto. You'd think that their long "beaks" and priser-like teeth would be only suited for snipping out invertebrates from tiny crevices, but these fishes will try almost any size and shape of foods offered. It's best to defrost frozen items.
Please do include some meaty foods daily; bloodworms, shrimps, clams. These fishes are active, seeking food all day on the reef and in aquaria, and do well only when offered sufficient nutrition. Be wary of relying solely on one type of dry or frozen prepared food type.
Disease: Infectious, Parasitic, Nutritional, Genetic, Social​
These fishes tend to be very infectious- and environmental disease resistant. They are more susceptible than "average" to marine "ich" (Cryptocaryoniasis); this is easily cured with copper remedies and specific gravity manipulation (lowering).
Two other all-too-often fatal complaints are so-called secondary bacterial infections most-often resultant from bad handling. The genus Vibrio is often cited as implicated, following a mouth, body "incident" due to user-failure. After a reddish area forms at the mouth, fin-ray base or body flank, there is almost no chance of recovery.
I'd really like to do my bit here for vastly reducing these losses; they result from beatings in the wild, the tank, shipping bags, and in-between. What To Do: Be Careful, don't wallop the fish; it's that simple. If/when you use a mesh-type net (some collectors use clear-bottom varieties), make sure it is one composed of soft, fine material. Longnoses have a real problem with getting their snouts and fin rays, principally the hard dorsal, anal and pelvics, snagged in coarse netting; resulting in tearing and infection. Real professional fish handlers gently cradle the fish in fine nets with their hand behind, when lifting from and to water to diminish thrashing.
Similarly, providing the right size, shape, orientation with an adequate amount of water in a shipping bag is important. Allow me to elucidate. The worst, though typical arrangement is to plop a specimen into a bag just large enough to accommodate the animal head to tail. No wonder it ends up with a broken, fungused snout, torn fins, and you with a punctured bag. What to do: grant the organism enough bag space to turn around, and either double-bag and ship in the dark, or provide a dark 'spacer' (even newspaper works) between bag layers. Wholesalers and transhippers who can scarce afford the space and weight that retailers and hobbyists can would do well to ship these fishes on their sides. Yes, I'm very serious. By placing the same (albeit too small) size bag on it's side, the butterfly will lay down, struggle far less; and therefore use less oxygen, produce less wastes, pierced bags... you know, less mortality. This is not pie-in-the-sky theory. I've done it; try it, it works.
Summary:
There is a reason why these butterflies are ever-popular. They're gorgeous and they live in captivity. Don't let their frilly looks throw you. Learn what a good specimen looks like and you will be successful with these species. If ever there was a "first-timers" butterflyfish, these would be them."
 
Thanks Joe :thumbup:

Sounds pretty good, I think I will give one a try and see how it goes.
 
jacquesb said:
I know that Butterflies in general as notorious for not doing toooo well in an aquarium.
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I disagree. There are quite a few finiky bff but many are pretty bullet proof. All the local common species do very well in my experience:

lunula
vaggie
auriga
b-burnii
coachman
maddy
kleinii
gussy

I do not have any experience with the longnose, but am desperate to catch one! Also keen for a dolosus that I have no experience with, but suspect they are not oo tricky either!
 
they not too bad dean! a mate of mine is wanting to get rid of one if you keen
 
Just by the way , there is a good chance that a Longnose butterfly will also eat aptasia.. Apparently they can be just as effective as the copperband
 
Pretty easy to keep just the first few day's can be stressfull as they are prone to whitespot, but yeah not to bad had my first one for about 4 years but gave it away due to downsizing a while back, never downsized though. Viper a good food is bloodworm and fresh mussel.
 
Thanks guys, definitely going to get one :D

Tridan, fresh mussell as in fresh from the sea?

calvin said:
they not too bad dean! a mate of mine is wanting to get rid of one if you keen
Click to expand...

1) Why is he getting rid of it?
2) Is it eating?
3) Price?

:D:D
 
not sure on details dean but ill find out!
 
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