Heniochus Butterfly

kbaker721 · 01/04/2008, 04:59 PM

I know as a rule, butterfly fish are not reef safe. I was wondering about the Heniochus (banner fish) butterfly fish. Can it be kept in a reef tank. I really like that fish and would love to have one in my 120 tank, but I am also in the process of making it a reef tank (primarily soft corals)..... don't want to mess that up... Thanks

sjfishguy · 01/04/2008, 05:03 PM

ask this question in the reef fishes forum, you will get a better response.

kbaker721 · 01/04/2008, 05:03 PM

will do... thanks

ahullsb · 01/04/2008, 05:38 PM

They are supposed to be ok but in my experience they are not. I had one that began nipping at polyps and lps corals all day. I got rid of him immediately.

bertoni · 01/04/2008, 08:25 PM

There are a number of species of Heniochus. One is supposedly okay, but telling the difference is difficult.

old salty · 01/04/2008, 10:16 PM

I had a really nice one for a year and was a model citizen. One day, it just decided that it wanted to eat corals and decimated an entire hammer colony. Then it just kept going at the clams until it was removed. Hard decision to make, but it had to be done.

01/04/2008, 04:59 PM	#1
kbaker721 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Lancaster PA Posts: 384	Heniochus Butterfly I know as a rule, butterfly fish are not reef safe. I was wondering about the Heniochus (banner fish) butterfly fish. Can it be kept in a reef tank. I really like that fish and would love to have one in my 120 tank, but I am also in the process of making it a reef tank (primarily soft corals)..... don't want to mess that up... Thanks

01/04/2008, 05:03 PM	#2
sjfishguy Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Delray Beach, FL Posts: 2,212	ask this question in the reef fishes forum, you will get a better response. __________________ Rich nanoTOTM May '08 29 years saltwater, 19 years reefs Current Tank Info: 65 mixed reef

01/04/2008, 05:38 PM	#4
ahullsb Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: sacramento, ca Posts: 2,729	They are supposed to be ok but in my experience they are not. I had one that began nipping at polyps and lps corals all day. I got rid of him immediately. __________________ Andy Sacramento, CA Current Tank Info: 55 gallon reef w/20 gallon sump/ER135/ 75 pounds of live rock, 4 in sandbed, 2 b&w ocellaris clowns, yellow watchman/pistol, rosy scaled wrasse, Mystery wrasse, Copperbanded Butterfly, Lighting 48" outer orbit 2 150 mh/ 4 t5 actinics

01/04/2008, 08:25 PM	#5
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	There are a number of species of Heniochus. One is supposedly okay, but telling the difference is difficult. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

01/04/2008, 10:16 PM	#6
old salty Genius Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: The Island of Misfit Toys Posts: 3,131	I had a really nice one for a year and was a model citizen. One day, it just decided that it wanted to eat corals and decimated an entire hammer colony. Then it just kept going at the clams until it was removed. Hard decision to make, but it had to be done. __________________ "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." Thomas Jefferson Current Tank Info: Out of the marine aquarium hobby