Bluestripe or Fremblii Butterfly... Using WWM  -- 1/2/08 I am considering adding a Bluestripe Butterfly to my established FOWLR tank. <Is a neat Hawaiian endemic...> Inhabitants include a Hippo Tang, Yellow Tang, Flame Angel, clowns, Royal Gramma and a Mandarin. Will a Bluestripe co-exist with these fish? <Likely so... if there's enough room, cover... at least a hundred gallons...> What is the temperament of a BSB. Will it devour all the pods-thus starving the mandarin? <Maybe> What is the general care of these fish? <Posted> I am getting the sense that they are hard to come by-any thoughts on this. <Not all that common on the reef, in the trade...> Thanks for your help and have a great year. Steve <Please use the search tool here: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm  per the instructions in writing, asking us questions. Bob Fenner>

Chaetodon ephippium comp.  1/2/07 Howdy Crew and Happy New Year!! <Happy new year to you and yours as well! JustinN with you on this fine day.> We currently have a 90G display tank, 29 G QT, and a 10G algae/pod grower. <Ok, sounds good> We bought the display tank used with ~90# of LR. It was down for 3 hours before being restarted with 60G old water 30G new. It has a Coralife 220 skimmer 3G HOB 'fuge an Emperor 280 BW and PH's that turn the water 14x an hour. Amm and NI are 0 NA < 10ppm pH 8.0, Alk 4.25 meq/L, Ca 400ppm <Good> Current occupants are: 2 Sebaes,1 C. bispinosus, 1 "lawnmower" blenny, 3 cleaner shrimp,1 peppermint shrimp, 3 small Mithrax crabs,& 40 or so snails. The Sebaes and bispinosus just went in after a 4 week QT and Meth Blue dip, so we are looking for the next occupants of the QT. <Ok> I've read quite a few posts about Tangs bullying butterfly's if the Tangs were there first so... <Yes, the tang would be established and likely bully some... I'd add last> Would it be a good idea to get a pair of C. ephippiums before getting a Kole Tang? In Scott Michaels " Butterfly's and Angelfishes" he states they are okay with soft corals (none yet but we want some) and like to eat hair algae (got plenty, want less) plus they like amphipods, too. <*Pulls out the soapbox* Anemones and corals aren't really behaviorally compatible, can lead to detrimental effects to all tank inhabitants if and when the anemones decide to go on a walkabout. *Puts soapbox back away* My theory here is the same as with the tang above. If the corals are already established, there may be less chance of the butterflies going after them.> Thanks again for this site. It really is awesome. <Thank you for the kind words, Ed. Is certainly a labor of love. -JustinN> Ed
Re: Chaetodon ephippium   1/4/07 <Hello again, Ed. JustinN here once again> We don't want any anemones, just some soft coral. <Ah, I took the "stocked Sebaes" to mean Sebae anemones... I now assume they're Sebae clownfish?> Given what you said about establishing the soft coral before adding the butterfly's would the Kole Tang be a better choice to add at this point? <Mmm, no, I'd continue to plan for the tang to be the final addition. I more meant to add and establish the corals now, then have the next aquatic addition after coral acclimation be the butterflies. If you're really itching to add some more fish, why not consider some of the many gobies available? Most of these will be very little impact on the tank's bioload, and can be quite interesting additions in their own right.> I'm in the process of building a new hood for the display. When finished it will have 6 54 watt T-5's with ice cap reflectors. Currently the lighting we have is only 96 watts of t-8 in the plastic hood that came with the tank. For that reason, I'm reluctant to start adding soft corals right now. <I feel you are wise to wait here. When your new T5 hood is in place, I would proceed ahead with the soft corals.> Thanks
Ed
<Anytime, Ed! -JustinN>

Butterflyfishes for Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner