African Butterflyfish
Common Names: African Butterflyfish, Butterfly
Scientific Name: Pantodon buchholzi
Family: Pantodontidae
Maximum Size: 4 inches
Life expectancy: 5 years
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperature Range: 75 - 86 °F
pH Range: 6.9 - 7.1
Water hardness: 1 - 10
Temperament: Aggressive
Origin: Africa
Aquarium Setup:
The African Butterfly likes densely planted tanks with a few plants that will extend almost to the top of the surface. Just a few floating plants for cover is preferred as long as there is still lots open swimming space.
They prefer shallow aquariums at about 6 to 8 inches deep, but have thrived well in regular tanks. Tanks that are longer instead of tall give them more surface space to enjoy!
Diet:
These predators will love being feed live foods such as crickets, worms, flies and any other small insect you can think of. They will also dine on smaller fish in the community, so they need to be watched.
They will eat almost any kind of fish food including frozen, dried, flakes and pellets. They will also take care of any flying insects that fall into the tank!
Favorite foods will vary from fish to fish, some will love crickets while others won’t. Trial and error is the best way to find your Butterflies favorite meal.
They will only eat what floats right in front of their mouths, so when feeding them try to drop some food in their path. Being a top swimmer floating foods will work best.
Tank Mates/Community:
While the Butterfly is aggressive toward other top swimmers they get along well with most fish that are too big for them to eat! They have been tanked with Rainbow Sharks, Angelfish, Tetras, Swordtails and Pleco’s.
Never introduce another surface swimmer into the tank, it’s most likely that they’ll get badly hurt or killed. Most fish that are about the same size as the Butterfly or larger will make good tank mates.
Behavior:
Butterflies are top swimmers and will swim around upside down on the tanks surface looking for food. They’re a very interesting and unique looking fish that can add to the beauty of your tank.
Although, they are vigorous predators they usually won’t bother any fish that stay on the bottom or in the middle of the tank. But, they will quarrel with fish that rise to the top to feed.
Color:
The Butterflies body is a dark brown or black and is covered with lighter speckles. The are the most interesting part of this fish, they’re shaped similar to a butterfly or birds wings.
Breeding:
This species is difficult to breed, but feeding them a variety of live foods will often spur spawning. The female will release the eggs to float to the top of the tank, the eggs must be removed or they will get eaten by the pair!
You can scoop the eggs off the top with a spoon or container and move them to a separate tank. The fry are very hard to keep alive, they will only eat what food floats right in front of their mouths.
Anywhere from 3 to 7 eggs will be released at a time with 80 to 200 eggs dropped each day. The eggs will hatch in around 36 hours and can be fed infusoria, rotifers, brine shrimp or microworms.
Interesting Notes:
Their wing like fins are for more than looks, these fish can literally jump out of the tank and glide for short distances almost flying! Make sure that you have a tank cover, they can maneuver out of the smallest of holes!
With a little love and attention, African Butterflies will become really tame and eat out of your fingers! These beauties were have been aquarium favorites since 1905 and are the only member of it’s species!
