flakes for butterflys

[munki]

if i get a butterfly fish from the petstore would it be ok if i feed him marine flakes like i feed to my other fish?

[corallimorph]

Sure...if he or she likes it.

[munki]

i ask because i read that you would have to feed them frozen or live foods.

[Witfull]

butterflies as a family are picky feeders. some are easier to feed (heniochus) while others are very fussy or specialized feeders. i would not buy any butterfly with hopes that it will eat flakes.

[PhilOlsen]

What kinds of other fish do you have?

[cioutlaw]

I might have been lucky but my Coral Beauty Angel is a very aggressive eater..so far I havent seen anything it wont eat except cyclopeeze, I think he smells it but its too small to see? Also grazes the rocks all day.

edit:Holy cow..I just realized you were talking about Butterflys & not Angels, I must have been real tired when I responded lol

[cheeks69]

As Dave mentioned Butterflies are very picky many of them feeding exclusively on coral polyps. Which one are you planning to get ? I would also be very surprised if it ate flake food and it should not be it's staple food.

[munki]

i was looking at a copper band butterfly or any really. i just go down to the different fish stores and see what they have. i was thinking about a mandarin goby, but those are hard to feed to. the worker at the store said they just throw brine or blood worms in and that keeps them happy. i dont know what else they have they get their shipments in on wednesdays. i would buy fish online, but i think that might put a lot of stress on them. i heard good things about liveaquaria, but i dont feel like spending $35 shipping on a $30 fish. are gobies picky eaters? i will have to go in a few days and see what they have.
thank you-

[cheeks69]

How long has this tank been setup ? The copperband is a very difficult fish to keep and will usually go on hunger strikes and refuse any food altogether, don't buy him if it's thin or you don't see it eat at the store. What fish do you have at the moment ? How much live rock do you have ?

If your tank isn't mature with at least 100lbs. of Live Rock with plenty of fauna then I wouldn't consider adding the Manderin Goby since they feed almost exclusively on live foods and even if your lucky and they take prepared foods they will not contain enough nutrition for them to survive long term.

[sokimnod]

Copperbands are a little tricky to keep! Like posted..... MAKE SURE THEY EAT! Your best bet from my experience is Mysis shrimp! If you're looking to keep a healthy salt tank, plan on feeding some frozen food! Flakes aren't gonna cut it! good luck!

[munki]

i read that fish need flakes because frozen food isnt enough. on the bottle it says that it includes brine..if i feed frozen is that all i feed them? or do i feed bot frozen and flake?

[cheeks69]

Brine shrimp has little to no nutritional value and should not be used as a staple food. As far as the flake food I don't use it because of the amount of phosphates it contains, I prefer Mysis, squid, cyclop-eeze for the carnivores Emerald Entree for the omnivores and Nori for the herbivores or you could make your own fish mush there are plenty of recipes on the net with instructions.