Can a Butterfly be housed w/ a fuzzy dwarf lion and snowflake eel

[Gwiizzy]

I have a predator tank which consists of a fuzzy dwarf lion and a snowflake eel which is maybe a 1' 6" and the fuzzy dwarf is barely 2" maybe 3" i have a kline's butterfly who recently proved to not be reef safe i have taken him outta my reef tank and put him in my coral recovery tank (yeah not reef safe blah i knows) would he do poorly in with eel and fuzzy dwarf? in my 50 pred setup when i get it going if so what can i do to best accommodate him


thanx Dan!..

[Gwiizzy]

the tank also has a falco hawkfish

i could really use some advice on this so i can get the notreef safe fish outta my frag recovery tank

[Ms.Blue]

It should be fine as long as it isn't small enough to become food for the other 2 . How big is the butterfly?

[Reefmedic79]

Butterflies are difficult to keep alive for long in the best of conditions, IMO. In a predatory tank like you describe, I'd think it's only a matter of time before the eel get him, his size doesn't matter much to an eel.

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by Ms.Blue

It should be fine as long as it isn't small enough to become food for the other 2 . How big is the butterfly?

he is 3-4"

the eel is still tiny and the fuzzy dwarf and the falco bother no one if anything he'd have an easier chance of eating the other 2

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by Reefmedic79

Butterflies are difficult to keep alive for long in the best of conditions, IMO. In a predatory tank like you describe, I'd think it's only a matter of time before the eel get him, his size doesn't matter much to an eel.

he's a klines so he is supposed to be really hardy

[rdaly97]

Originally Posted by Ms.Blue

It should be fine as long as it isn't small enough to become food for the other 2 . How big is the butterfly?

Should be ok!

[BossHoggin]

snowflake eels are very casual, the average specimen has a live and let live attitude to proportionately appropriate fish. Keep in mind as an example: my snowflake is a bit over 18" --will get bigger than this someday, but at the average pencil size at purchase your butterfly will be somewhat bigger and stockier by the time a snowflake gets pretty big-- and it's head is like an 1" long x 1/3" across and the kleins is roughly 3-4" long by 3-4" tall- the eel would never try and take it down, especially well fed. The smaller heads compared to fish eating species, as well as much less vicious, rounded, "pebbleteeth" for munching crustaceans (their natural, preferred diet) make them a good choice for a FO community tank. Neither the eel or the fuzzy dwarf lionfish should be an issue as long as its not one of those huge 6" bulky Chernobyl fuzzies (even then the lack of the butterfly being laterally compressed would make it pretty daunting, maybe impossible, especially compared to some nice, easy bite sized dead food).
I would be more concerned of the snowflake or fuzzy eating the falco as they get big down the road if they're hungry enough, falco's stay pretty small.

There's my .02, good luck!

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by BossHoggin

snowflake eels are very casual, the average specimen has a live and let live attitude to proportionately appropriate fish. Keep in mind as an example: my snowflake is a bit over 18" --will get bigger than this someday, but at the average pencil size at purchase your butterfly will be somewhat bigger and stockier by the time a snowflake gets pretty big-- and it's head is like an 1" long x 1/3" across and the kleins is roughly 3-4" long by 3-4" tall- the eel would never try and take it down, especially well fed. The smaller heads compared to fish eating species, as well as much less vicious, rounded, "pebbleteeth" for munching crustaceans (their natural, preferred diet) make them a good choice for a FO community tank. Neither the eel or the fuzzy dwarf lionfish should be an issue as long as its not one of those huge 6" bulky Chernobyl fuzzies (even then the lack of the butterfly being laterally compressed would make it pretty daunting, maybe impossible, especially compared to some nice, easy bite sized dead food).
I would be more concerned of the snowflake or fuzzy eating the falco as they get big down the road if they're hungry enough, falco's stay pretty small.

There's my .02, good luck!

yeah the fuzy now is about 2x the eels head size the butterfly is easily 8x the size of the eels head and the falco though elongated wouldn;t fit in his mouth by any stretch of the imagination

ima try it i'll let you know how it goes i just can;t have him nipping at my corals like he is

[BossHoggin]

Originally Posted by Gwiizzy

yeah the fuzy now is about 2x the eels head size the butterfly is easily 8x the size of the eels head and the falco though elongated wouldn;t fit in his mouth by any stretch of the imagination

ima try it i'll let you know how it goes i just can;t have him nipping at my corals like he is

I'm not saying you took what I said out of context but to clarify things eels do eat sizable stuff but you certainly could not compare them to snakes, unhinging their jaws and all that. Personally I would be more concerned by the fuzzy dwarf eating the falco.

Once again, good luck and I'm interested as to how this pans out so it would be cool if you kept me posted.

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by BossHoggin

I'm not saying you took what I said out of context but to clarify things eels do eat sizable stuff but you certainly could not compare them to snakes, unhinging their jaws and all that. Personally I would be more concerned by the fuzzy dwarf eating the falco.

Once again, good luck and I'm interested as to how this pans out so it would be cool if you kept me posted.

For sure and as it stands the butterfly would be the biggest then the falco then the eel then the fuzzy dwarf lion

[IridescentLily]

No, no and no.
If there's 'a large chance' of it not going well, why try it?
It's like playing russian roulette, sure you have a chance, but should you?
My uncle can steer his car with his elbows, but it doesn't mean it's a good thing to do. :-)

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by IridescentLily

No, no and no.
If there's 'a large chance' of it not going well, why try it?
It's like playing russian roulette, sure you have a chance, but should you?
My uncle can steer his car with his elbows, but it doesn't mean it's a good thing to do. :-)

my question is how could it go badly he is far to big to be eaten far far to big

plus wouldn't be first time i've broken the rules

i have 3 different types of clowns in 1 tank

[BossHoggin]

I only hold one opinion out of many but I can't see why so many people are against this mix. Lionfish certainly aren't normally an aggressive fish -(something like a volitan could perhaps be boisterous at times, but does not really pertain here)- but predatory, big difference. Same goes for snowflake eels normally. I have said this in other words already but I don't get what would be wrong with adding the butterfly, after all the kleins aren't horribly finicky as an initially healthy specimen in good care- perhaps a deliberate feeder but if you can keep the eel occupied it should do just fine at feeding time.

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by BossHoggin

I only hold one opinion out of many but I can't see why so many people are against this mix. Lionfish certainly aren't an aggressive fish but predatory, big difference. Same goes for snowflake eels. I have said this in other words already but I don't get what would be wrong with adding the butterfly, after all the kleins aren't horribly finicky as an initially healthy specimen in good care- perhaps a deliberate feeder but if you can keep the eel occupied it should do just fine at feeding time.

honestly up untill a while ago a small clown was in the tank that my gf put in there he didn't other it till he went more that 3 days w/o food plus i'm pretty sure eating the butterfly would be impossible for him

[Gwiizzy]

UPDATE: The butterfly did super well, however he got ich treated it with hypo salinity it went away, however it followed with a fungal infection he wasn't prepared for we lost that battle. But was a great pairing for a long time, I will say if attempting this pairing watch your eel mine would go looking for food and often bump him freaking him out but aside from that him and the lion got along great RIP Nibbles

[MinnFish]

Originally Posted by Gwiizzy

I will say if attempting this pairing watch your eel mine would go looking for food and often bump him freaking him out

Freaking him out = stress. Stress = illness and diseases. Illness and diseases = death. Conclusion this was not a good pairing, do you agree. Good attempt, cost nibble a trip to the sewer plant. RIP. Happy reefing.

[Gwiizzy]

Originally Posted by MinnFish

Freaking him out = stress. Stress = illness and diseases. Illness and diseases = death. Conclusion this was not a good pairing, do you agree. Good attempt, cost nibble a trip to the sewer plant. RIP. Happy reefing.

that wasn't really it cause if anything nibbles was far meaner to the eel than eel was to it, it wouldn't come up and eat if nibbles was around and the ick im almost positive came off of some rock from my main tank wasn't intentional my dad just put it in there versus into my trade in bucket because the display days earlier had an outbreak due to a poorly planned addition by my dad. Nibbles and the lion were like homies!

[SwampyBill]

It sounds like you should QT your dad from your tank...lol...J.K.

[Gwiizzy]

He's learning fish positions are his weakness but since he took over my 150 he's doing amazing coral wise, abd my anemones are gigantic so he just not allowed to pick fishes