Experiment to See if Specific Corallivore Butterfly Species will Ignore Non-Native Coral Species

[livinlifeinBKK]

After doing some tedious research into Corallivore Butterflies and the selectivity displayed by some certain species in choosing which coral species' they choose to prey upon, I believe it may be possible to keep some species in a reef tank as long as their preferred coral species are absent. (Of course the butterfly will have to be weaned onto an alternative diet.) I believe this is also highly depended among butterfly species though as some will prey on practically any coral while others are MUCH more selective. In the next few days I will be buying a C. bennetti butterfly to try this theory out first.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

After doing some tedious research into Corallivore Butterflies and the selectivity displayed by some certain species in choosing which coral species' they choose to prey upon, I believe it may be possible to keep some species in a reef tank as long as their preferred coral species are absent. (Of course the butterfly will have to be weaned onto an alternative diet.) I believe this is also highly depended among butterfly species though as some will prey on practically any coral while others are MUCH more selective. In the next few days I will be buying a C. bennetti butterfly to try this theory out first.

I've never kept a bennetti in a reef tank. I don't consider small ones obligate corallivores, but large ones are really tough to keep.

I tend to find that over time, butterflyfish become more apt to feed on corals then less. Still, if the corals are doing well, a bit of grazing won't be the end of them.

Jay

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I've never kept a bennetti in a reef tank. I don't consider small ones obligate corallivores, but large ones are really tough to keep.

I tend to find that over time, butterflyfish become more apt to feed on corals then less. Still, if the corals are doing well, a bit of grazing won't be the end of them.

Jay

The one I'm going to be starting out with will be small so I'm pretty confident I can introduce foods that have been successful with other butterflies I've kept such as an 8 band butterfly... through my research I've read studies indicating that certain butterfly species such as Bennetti will altogether avoid some coral species which in the case of Bennetti happens to be Acropora...I'd like to investigate this farther and see if this holds true in an aquarium as well and if I see success I'd like to see if the same holds true for certain other species

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The challenge has begun!

 

[damsels are not mean]

I expect it depends a lot on the individual.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I expect it depends a lot on the individual.

I'm pretty confident if you do your research and go about it the right way you'll be successful with at least some if not most species...I have a different thread in the forums I posted yesterday that I'm gonna update regularly. You can follow along if you want

 

[Big E]

There is no doubt certain BF species eat specific corals. Some will eat only softies, Sps, ect.

The trick is finding which corals each species will or won't eat. I see no other way to do that than through trial and error. It helps a lot to use a BF species that will more readily take prepared foods.

There was a fascinating study years ago that they took different BF species and examined what was in the gut contents. A lot of the non type coralivores main diet was anemones like aiptasia ect. The rest of the diet mostly consisted of worms and other detritivore type animals.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

There is no doubt certain BF species eat specific corals. Some will eat only softies, Sps, ect.

The trick is finding which corals each species will or won't eat. I see no other way to do that than through trial and error. It helps a lot to use a BF species that will more readily take prepared foods.

There was a fascinating study years ago that they took different BF species and examined what was in the gut contents. A lot of the non type coralivores main diet was anemones like aiptasia ect. The rest of the diet mostly consisted of worms and other detritivore type animals.

The reason for choosing C. bennetti was due to many previous studies of their eating behavior finding that in the wild they would completely avoid Acropora species...another reason was due to availability of the fish...I've though about trying this with C. trifascialis which eats only Acropora species and particularly prefers A. hyacinthus. I also have access to them atm

 

[Big E]

If memory serves I remember C. rafflesii only ate soft corals, but as we all know a lot of the non corallivores are very opportunistic and can/will eat a variety of corals.

My problem/issue with using a strict corallivore is that even if they will eat prepared foods the long term success rate is poor. You can't change their gut microbiome, so even though they may eat a substitute food they will eventually waste away.

​

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If memory serves I remember C. rafflesii only ate soft corals, but as we all know a lot of the non corallivores are very opportunistic and can/will eat a variety of corals.

My problem/issue with using a strict corallivore is that even if they will eat prepared foods the long term success rate is poor. You can't change their gut microbiome, so even though they may eat a substitute food they will eventually waste away.

​

That's a very real concern and one I have thought about but I'm not sure if it would be possible or not to keep them long term since there have been success stories I believe with say orange spotted filefish which are also SPS specialists...if the substituted foods are close enough to a natural diet I'm really not sure because some species such as C. bennetti do eat a much less specialized diet when young than when they're mature. This is precisely the reason I don't think they should be treated with copper in quarantine since the copper would destroy much of their gut microbiome.

 

[Big E]

I think in the case of the file fish they still picked all over the reef tank on corals so they may have been getting enough of that food to satisfy not destroying their insides.

My friend had kept a pair of the file fish and I think the male is still alive. They female died a few years ago. He had a full blown reef tank of approx. 260g and now since moved to a bigger system.

Too bad it's not viable from a profit perspective as I think a fish food company could come with with a dominant coral based food mash.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I think in the case of the file fish they still picked all over the reef tank on corals so they may have been getting enough of that food to satisfy not destroying their insides.

My friend had kept a pair of the file fish and I think the male is still alive. They female died a few years ago. He had a full blown reef tank of approx. 260g and now since moved to a bigger system.

Too bad it's not viable from a profit perspective as I think a fish food company could come with with a dominant coral based food mash.

I think either Repashy ot Panta Rhei does have some type of gel food to smear on a dead coral skeleton to get a feeding response but I'm not sure how well it works

 

[Big E]

Yes, I've heard of success using those foods but I don't think they contain any actual coral flesh per say.

They succeed in presentation of the food as it sticks to something so the fish doesn't need to learn feeding from the water column.