[1968OldsMan]

I recently purchased a Dot-Dash Butterfly. Its about 2 1/2 inches now, so its not full grown. At the store when I bought It I asked the sales person about feeding issues. They told me to just feed it some of the green dried Sea Weed, this was all it needed.

Since I got the fish, I have been researching it online, and there are many different websites with many different notions on what to feed the butterfly fish. I have some Damsils( 4 - 4striped, 2- yellow tailed), a Yellow Tang, a saddled ventini puffer fish, and 2 perculated clowns in the tank. They all eat the dried pellits, and marinie flakes that I feed. Since getting the butterfly, I have been cliping the sea weed in the tank, the Tang sometimes will eat off of it, But the butterfuly fish will only sometimes peck at it, and wont eat any of the other food.

Since it is a picky eater, and dosent seem to like this sea weed, I need some other ideas what i sould feed it so it does not starve!

He seems to be very healthy, we have had it 2 days now, it is still very active, nothing appears to be wrong with it, I just want to make sure we are supplying it with the propper diet needed for it to survive.

The other fish seem to all be eating well. If there are any other suggetions on any of the diets for the other fish they would be welcome aswell.

If any of you have or had butterfly fish and have some suggestions on feeding, please advise. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks

[Ninong]

According to Fishbase, it's natural diet consists of: "...filamentous algae, corals, and benthic invertebrates."

Scott Michael is a bit more specific saying that it feeds on "filamentous algae, hard coral polyps, soft coral polyps, polychaete worm tentacles and copepods." He goes on to say that "while stony coral polyps are important to this species diet, it is a fairly hardy aquarium species that will accept most types of fish foods, including finely chopped seafoods, chopped frozen or freeze dried krill, baby brine shrimp, frozen preparations and flake foods. Because a good deal of its diet includes algae, it should be fed a frozen preparation that includes Spirulina algae."


P.S. -- Here are a few frozen foods that it might accept:
http://www.oceannutrition.com/produc...spirulina.html
http://www.oceannutrition.com/produc...formula02.html
http://www.oceannutrition.com/produc...brineplus.html
http://cyclop-eeze.com/product_info.php

[kevinpo]

I feed mine frozen raw shrimp from the store and Formula1 frozen food. They need to be fed several times a day until they fatten up then twice a day is fine.

HTH,
Kevin