[dougc]

I finally scored three pyramid butterflies (Hemitaurichthys polylepis). I have been looking, both locally and online, for these truly reef safe butterflies since last October.

It took a bit of luck to get them, though. Several times over the last few months, I had ordered these fish from an online vendor, but had lost the "first come, first served" race to others. LiveAquaria.com lets you set up an email alert for a species that is out of stock and I had an alert set up for the pyramids. On Monday at lunchtime, I happened to go to their website and saw that they had pyramids in stock. I immediately placed an order and crossed my fingers. I did not receive the "in-stock" alert email until after 7 PM that night. On Tuesday afternoon, I knew I had hit the lottery when I received a ship notice from LiveAquaria.

This morning at work, FedEx pulled up promptly at 10:30 with my box of fish. Better than Christmas, I tell you! A quick check of the bags confirmed that all three fish were alive and swimming. I ran home, unpacked them, and acclimated them to the quarantine tank. The only snag was that the specific gravity of the water in the bags was 1.019, so I had to dilute the water in the q-tank to get close to that value. LiveAquaria packs fish pretty well. 5 layers of bags, including black plastic layers presumably intended to avoid light shock, and a plastic "air mattress" insulated liner for the box.

I'll post a picture later tonight. Now, I can worry about getting them to eat. I don't want to give them names while they are in quarantine, but I think the only appropriate names would be Khufu, Khefre, and Menkaure (the Great Pyramid kings).

[Reefland]

That is awesome Doug! I hope that they do well for you and look forward to seeing some pictures!

[Penguin]

So you finally found them, eh Doug? Good luck with them, and hope to see a pic once they're all settled in.

[dougc]

Here's a picture of the new arrivals. Not a good shot, but the best I could do with low light, a fast shutter speed, and a non-photogenic quarantine tank. They are a decent size and will fill the display tank nicely. They eagerly ate live brine shrimp tonight. Tomorrow, I will try some mysis.

[kevinpo]

I have 3 at the store and they are not diffiucult to get feeding. They like freeze dried plankton but will also eat frozen Formula1 cubes. They eat only small particles of food at first but after a couple of weeks they progress to large pieces. Very well behaved fish that do well in reefs and get along with others.
If the ones at the store don't sell I will put them in my display tank. I think they are very cool too

Congrats!

Kevin

[Poseidon]

Cool FISH!!! I am glad you finally got them. Do they have any benefits, such as Aiptasia eaters, or anything like that, or are they reef safe because they are not interested in polyp type food?

[dougc]

Unlike most butterflies, they are mid-water plankton feeders, which is what makes them reef-safe. They are typically found in large aggregations on the edge of reef walls, where upwelling currents bring in plankton. Look on the inside overleaf of Scott Michael's Marine Fishes and you will see the picture that got me hooked on these fish.

I have 3 at the store and they are not diffiucult to get feeding.

I have only ever seen one speciman in a local store and that was a couple of years ago. I resorted to LiveAquaria because nobody ever gets them around here. I tried special ordering them through local stores, but the wholesalers never seemed to have any. Stores don't seem to relish special orders anyway, probably because they often get stuck with the fish after the buyer backs out. I have also heard that they don't ship particularly well, but the ones I received are in excellent condition.

Today, they are eating frozen mysis eagerly. I do want to wean them onto dry foods, since I can then set up an automatic feeder to dispense food several times a day. These are not fish that will do well long-term on one feeding a day.

[Reefland]

How are the fish doing today Doug?

[dougc]

All is well. They now flock to the end of the tank where I drop in food as soon as I step into the room. My next dilemma is that we will be going on vacation for a week starting on August 13, leaving my tank(s) in the hands of a fishsitter. I don't really want my stand-in to have the additional task of dealing with the quarantine tank, so I am tempted to move the fish to the main tank before we leave. I hate to cut the quarantine period short, but I'm not sure which path represents the greater risk.

[zhenya]

Congrats, Doug. Those are truly magnificent reef fish and I hope to get to see them in person one day. I always wanted to keep this but never had large enough aquarium to even attempt, perhaps some day.

PS. I think I would also consider transfering them into the display tank, perhaps two or three days before living. Observe their feeding behaviour and interaction with another residents, then you could instruct the sitter accordingly. Just my humble opinion, of course.

[almostdiva]

Doug,

COOL FISH!!! I would consider move them after 14 days if they are looking OK and eating pretty well for you, depending on your fish sitter. I have been away and had stuff in q-tine myself. The person I have come in is pretty animal-savvy, if I tell her there are fish in quarantine, she feeds them.

If your person is at all like mine, I would leave them be -- any extra 2 weeks in q-tine won't hurt them.

It's hard to tell from the pic -- how big are they?

Rebecca

[dougc]

I don't exactly how big they are, but they are probably about 4" each. They eat as much as all the fish in my display tank combined!

My reason for concern with leaving them in quarantine is that they are a pretty heavy bioload for a 29 gallon tank. To compensate, I have been doing daily 5 gallon water changes, but that is not something I can ask a fishsitter to do.

[almostdiva]

I think I would move them then, too. It sounds like they are acclimating well and eating (LOTS!). You can probably move them safely without a problem.

Better to get them into the display, which will have better, stable water chemistry I would say.

[dougc]

Well, all bets are off. I came home today from work, looked in at the q-tank, and, lo and behold, the butterflies have ich. So much for moving them. Worse, ich treatment is definitely a hands-on enterprise, so I can't leave the task in the hands of an amateur. After much reading and dithering, I have decided to treat with copper, which means daily testing of copper concentration and monitoring of water quality. We are supposed to leave Saturday to camp at the Delaware WAter Gap, which is at least 2 1/2 hours away. It would be grueling to run down here every day (or even every other day).

The best laid plans...

[zhenya]

Bummer,Doug.

Good luck with everything and I hope the copper treatment works out for you.

[Reefland]

Man that is really bad timing. How long are you planning to be away for? What about just leaving them in Q and having the sitter feed something with garlic to help get them through until you return?

[dougc]

We have cancelled our camping plans and will be going to the Jersey shore instead. Its only an hour away, which I can do much more easily. I owe my wife big time, now. :slap:

[Samper]

Wow, bummer on the ich situation doug but congrats on having such an understanding wife. My ex girlfriend would have thrown a fit......which is why she's an ex.

[dougc]

She has mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she was looking forward to all four of us, including my 21 year old, going to a place where we have nothing to do but be with each other. On the other, preparing for, setting up, breaking down, and cleaning up from a camping trip is a major production.

Understanding, yes, but she has warned me to expect some serious paybacks for this. There will be some zingers dispensed and I will not be permitted to defend myself. Time to strap on the kevlar vest!

[almostdiva]

Good luck doug!

On both fronts!


Rebecca

PS regarding your treatment -- have you looked into Formalin? You have to follow the instructions to use the right amount and not overdose, but it's easier (IMO) than copper -- you don't have to test (and try to read the DAM*&^ color chart). It works very well on ich and I think bfs will tolerate it, but double check me on that. You can also add an extra powerhead for improved water circulation. It messes up your biological filter, but no worse than copper.