From the rivers and quiet backwaters of West Africa comes a truly unique aquarium species: the African butterflyfish ( Pantodon buchholzi ). This oddball fish, a distant relative of arowanas and other bony-tongue fish, is prized for its distinctive appearance and fascinating hunting behavior. Veteran aquarists appreciate the challenges and joys of keeping these top-dwelling predators, and this comprehensive guide provides the information needed to successfully care for and even breed them.
Butterflyfish Basics
Pantodon buchholzi is a top-oriented species, meaning it spends most of its time swimming just beneath the water surface. Its body is flattened on top with a blunt face and deep profile, and it boasts an impressive array of fins that extend outwards. The pectoral fins are particularly noteworthy, being greatly enlarged and extending outward from the sides of the body, resembling butterfly wings when viewed from above - hence the fish's common name. The ventral fins are reduced to thread-like extensions that dangle below the body. The anal fin is large, and together with the broad caudal fin, enables the fish to make powerful leaps out of the water to capture insects.
The African butterflyfish typically reaches about 5 inches in length, although some aquarists have reported specimens exceeding this average by an inch. Their coloration is a gray and brown camouflage pattern, covered with very small dots that cover the lighter parts of their body, which helps them blend seamlessly into their natural environment. This camouflage is essential for their ambush predation strategy.
Natural Habitat and Behavior
In the wild, P. buchholzi inhabits quiet ponds, marshes, flooded areas, and calm backwaters of streams and rivers. These environments typically offer floating structures, especially plants, which provide both shelter from predators and a hunting ground for prey. The butterflyfish's movements are typically slow and deliberate, allowing it to remain undetected by both predators and prey. However, it can move with surprising speed when striking at a potential meal.
Butterflyfish are efficient ambush predators that specialize in eating terrestrial insects that fall onto the water's surface. They are also capable jumpers, able to pluck insects off of overhanging branches and leaves. This behavior is facilitated by their large, upward-facing eyes, which are positioned high on the head near the water's surface, and their very large, upturned mouths, similar to those of arowanas, which can engulf large prey.
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Aquarium Setup
Creating the right aquarium environment is crucial for the health and well-being of African butterflyfish.
Tank Size and Dimensions
The minimum recommended tank size for a single African butterflyfish is 40 gallons. However, it is more important to prioritize a long tank over a tall one, as these fish primarily inhabit the surface layer of the water. If you plan to keep a community of West African fish, a larger tank (30 gallons or more) will be necessary to accommodate the other species.
Water Parameters
Maintaining proper water parameters is essential, as African butterflyfish can be sensitive to fluctuations. While they can tolerate a wide range of conditions, it is best to avoid very hard and basic water. Soft, slightly acidic water is ideal for spawning and rearing fry, but moderately hard water with a pH in the 7.0 to 7.8 range is acceptable for general health. Regular testing and consistent maintenance are key.
Habitat Design
A well-designed environment is essential for the comfort of these fish. Plants play a vital role, and floating varieties are particularly beneficial as they mimic the butterflyfish's natural habitat. However, it is important not to overcrowd the tank with plants, as they still need open surface area for hunting. Low-light plants like Anubias, Bolbitus, and Cryptocoryne are excellent choices.
The substrate is less critical since butterflyfish rarely venture to the bottom of the tank. Additional decorations like rocks, caves, and driftwood are also not particularly important. It is crucial to minimize water current in the tank. Choose filtration and pumps that provide adequate water quality without creating excessive water movement.
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Tank Cover
A tight-fitting lid is absolutely essential to prevent these fish from jumping out of the tank. They are powerful jumpers and will readily escape if given the opportunity.
Lighting
The lighting should be subdued to mimic their natural habitat. Bright light can stress these fish, as they live so close to the surface.
Diet and Feeding
The African butterflyfish is a specialized predator with specific dietary needs.
Natural Diet
In their natural habitat, butterflyfish primarily feed on terrestrial insects that fall onto the water surface. They are also capable of leaping out of the water to snatch insects from overhanging vegetation.
Aquarium Diet
In the aquarium, butterflyfish can be trained to accept a variety of floating foods, such as sticks and pellets, as long as the food is large enough to attract their attention. However, the best diet, especially for conditioning them to spawn, consists of live foods. Crickets are a particularly favored food item. The normally sedate butterflyfish can sense the movement of a cricket on the surface of the water from across a large aquarium and quickly hunt it down.
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Feeding Schedule
The ideal feeding schedule is 2-4 times a day. More frequent feedings provide extra stimulation and mimic their natural eating patterns.
Foods to Avoid
Flakes and typical fish pellets are often refused by butterflyfish. They are primarily predators and require a diet of meaty live foods.
Tankmates
Choosing appropriate tankmates is important to ensure a harmonious aquarium environment.
Compatible Species
Larger tetras and barbs are generally safe from predation. Small, bottom-oriented cichlids, catfish, Ctenopoma species, and mormyrids are also excellent choices.
Species to Avoid
Small fish that venture too close to the butterflyfish's mouth may be eaten. Fin-nipping fish should also be avoided, as they will attack the butterflyfish's long, flowing fins. Fish that occupy the surface of the tank aren’t a good idea at all really.
Behavior and Temperament
African butterflyfish are generally peaceful towards other species, but they can be aggressive towards each other, especially during courtship and spawning. They are interesting to observe, particularly during feeding time, when they will dart towards their target and quickly retreat to consume their meal.
Aggression
While generally peaceful, African butterflyfish can exhibit aggression, especially during feeding. It's crucial to monitor their interactions with tankmates.
Predatory Behavior
As predators, they may consume smaller fish. Careful consideration should be given to tankmate selection.
Breeding
Breeding African butterflyfish in a home aquarium is possible with the right conditions and care.
Sexing
Males and females can be distinguished by their anal fins. A female's fin is broad and unbroken, while a male's fin is separated into two distinct sections, with the lower portion being longer than the upper portion. Females also tend to grow larger and heavier than males. Coloration is highly variable and not a reliable indicator of sex.
Spawning Conditions
To induce spawning, provide a tank with plenty of surface area and floating plants. A cool water change is often a trigger for spawning behavior. Soft, slightly acidic water is also beneficial.
Egg Care
The opaque white eggs, which immediately rise to the water surface, are laid in floating plants. They turn dark after 24 hours and will start to sink. The large eggs take about seven days to hatch. There is no parental care for the fry, and the parents are likely to eat them. Therefore, it is best to remove the parents from the tank when eggs are present.
Rearing Fry
Rearing the fry is more challenging than inducing spawning. The baby butterflies are not very mobile and are not very good at hunting food. Newly free-swimming fry resemble their parents only in color. Their fins are not well developed at all, and they appear similar to skinny frog tadpoles. The only clearly distinguishable features are the eyes, which are large and clear from the start.
Feeding Fry
The most challenging part of raising the babies is getting them enough food. They are too small to take insects like wingless fruit flies or pinhead crickets at first, and any food that drops below them will not be eaten. Baby brine shrimp (Artemia nauplii) is an excellent first food, but they will not live a long time in fresh water. Daphnia or Moina (similar to Daphnia but smaller) are better choices because they will not die, but the trick is to keep the food in front of the fish for as long as possible.
One method is to drop the water level to the point where the floating plants are resting on the bottom. A ½-inch-deep water level is not too shallow. With the water level that low, the live food cannot swim below the fry. A dense cover of floating plants also traps the live food in small spaces with the fry, allowing the fish to easily find the food.
Cannibalism
Cannibalism can be a significant issue when raising butterflyfish fry. To reduce sibling predation, reduce the density of the population. When the fry are about a week old, they can be separated safely into other tanks with fewer fish per tank.
Caring for Juveniles
The fry will start to grow their distinctive pectoral fins at about two weeks of age. They will now be a little over ½ inch long and able to eat larger food items. Wingless fruit flies and pinhead crickets are excellent for this stage. Daphnia and baby brine shrimp can still be fed so long as the water remains shallow.
When the fry are about six weeks old and over an inch long, they will start to eat small floating pellets and freeze-dried foods. This may take some training by feeding pinhead crickets or fruit flies along with the pellets. As the fish aggressively feed on the live food, they will also take some pellets and learn that it is food.
A 12-week-old juvenile looks and behaves like a miniature adult. The risk of cannibalism is greatly reduced after this point, but putting them in with adults is probably not a wise thing to do. After a few months the young adults can be put into community tanks to grow and prosper. P. buchholzi is slow to mature, and it is unlikely that the new generation will try to breed until they are a year or more old.
Common Diseases
African Butterfly Fish are susceptible to the same diseases that other freshwater fish get. Various infections, skin flukes, and parasites are all things to look out for. Where you need to be especially careful is with the water quality and parameters of the tank, general stress can have on the health of your fish.