African Butterfly Fish

Common Name: African Butterfly Fish
Latin Name: Pantodon Buchholzi
Origin: Western Africa, stillmoving waters
Temperature: 78-80°F 26-27°C
Ease Of Keeping: Moderate
Aggressivness: Easy going
Lighting: Dim to high
Adult Size: 4-4.5 inches 10-15cm
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallon
Feeding: Crickets,sometimes flake, frozen/dried livefoods (various), Pellets (floating) Smaller fish (these fish have moderately large mouths and will eat anything they can catch and fit into their mouths - smaller tetras are especially at risk)
Spawning Method: Hard but can be done



If you're looking for an unusual looking fish to add to your acquiring him then you might want to consider the Pantodon
buchholzi or African Butterfly Fish.This unique fish almost looks like a butterfly when viewed from above at his fins stick out
like wing's. Native to Africa, this fish lives in the slow moving rivers of the rain forest and has been sold commercially for over 90
years. This fish can grow to be about 4 inches long and can live about five years.While the butterfly fish is fairly easy to keep, he
can be a bit sensitive and you must act relating to the tank properly.

Be sure to take a bit longer than you do with other fish perhaps an hour or so to slowly introduced tank water into his floating bag. You
should have an aquarium that is larger than 20 gallons and the temperature of between 75 and 82°F along with the PH of six to 7.5.
Also, it is imperative that you have a good cover for your tank that has absolutely no holes in it as this fish is well-known for jumping
out at even the smallest hole in an aquarium cover.

The African butterfly fish is a surfaced dweller and can be a bit nervous so it is ideal if you can put some live floating plants and the tank along with him for cover. He can be a bit territorial, though, and if you have smaller surface dwelling fish will probably eat them so you want to be careful about the types of fish you put in the query them with your butterfly fish. Having said that, he can live peacefully with many other types of fish and basically ignores anything that hangs around in the middle or bottom of the tank. It is also safe to put service drawing fish that are larger than your butterfly fish into the tank with him.

The butterfly fish is basically a carnivore and while you can feed him some pellet and flake foods he will do best in his diet has a lot of live, frozen or freeze dried protein foods. He might like some to affect forms, blood worms or brine shrimp. You can also feed him live insects such as cricketer daddy longlegs and even some small live fish every once in awhile. Whatever you feed him, be sure that it floats since he feeds on the surface only and if the food since he probably won't get a meal.The African butterfly fish can be a good community finish as long as you adhere to the warnings above. Once he's acclimated into the tank he's fairly easy to maintain as long as you feed improperly and keep the area maintained properly.

Other comments from various sites...

I have had this fish for about one and a half months.

They require a ph of 6.0-7.5 and prefer their water to be filtered over peat. They can sometimes get very nervous and will jump out of their
tank so all surface area must be covered. Having floating plants such as duckweed will help this fish feel more secure and it will be more
active. They can sometimes be agressive and may eat other small suface dwelling fish. They love to sit in slow moving current and do not
thrive very well in fast water. Feeding can sometimes be difficult be most of these guys are brought in wild so they may not accept flake. I
have not attempted breeding but I have read it is a long courtship and is much like that of cichlids. It is better to have a wide tank than a
high tank because this fish spends most of its time at the surface.

Scientific Name : Pantodon buchholziCommon Names : African Butterfly Fish, Freshwater ButterflyCare Level : Easy to ModeratePotential Adult Size : Up to 4 inches (10 cm)Tank Conditions : pH: 6 - 7.5, Temperature: 75°F - 82°F (24°C - 28°C)Lifespan : 5 years or longerOrigin / Habitat : AfricaTemperament / Behavior : May try to eat smaller fish that feed on the surface and smaller fish that hang near the surface, such as hatchet fish.Breeding / Mating / Reproduction : They have been bred in
captivity and are egg layers. Eggs will float to the surface and may
get eaten by parents and other fish.Tank Size : 20 gallon minimumCompatible Tank Mates : They can be relatively peaceful if kept
with similar sized and larger tank mates. Avoid keeping them with
smaller top dwelling fish.Diet / Fish Food : An omnivore - provide a varied diet with live
food, frozen food and they should accept flake food. They really enjoy
small insects such as crickets.Tank Region : TopGender :
To determine the sex of this fish you have to look at the anal fin. The females anal fin is strait. But on the male one of the ray's on the anal fin is much longer than the rest.
Various remarks
I've had my African Butterfly fish for over 2 years. I keep him/her in
a 20 gallon long tank along with a breeding population of swordtails and tetras, a pleco, an upsidedown cat and 4 neon tetra
all of whom seem very happy together. I've never fed him anything
"live" but I do make sure he is watching when small pieces of tubifex
worms or other floating food hits the water. He attacks this food
rather vigorously (yes, he has jumped right out of the tank on more
than one occasion!) But, he has never acted aggressively toward any
other fish. Besides being a very unique looking fish, he is graceful
and swift, an easy keeper and has been a pleasure to watch.

hese are a favorite spectacle to all who visit. I feed small, live
crickets every few days and they will take them out of my hand! Mine
have been very hardy in an angelfish and rainbow fish community tank.
They actually get nipped on by others once in awhile. Feed them small
cichlid pellets every day. The most difficult part is making sure the
food flows directly in their path before the angels or rainbows grab
it. It must be floating on the surface. Mine would not eat for 1 week
until I started the live crickets! Tried all sorts of freeze dried,
etc, but they held out for the best! The females have a straight edged
anal fin, while the males have a "dent" in the anal fins rear edge. The
female is dominant over the male in my tank. Also, they seem to be
nocturnal and come out under the "moon light" in search of prey after
the main light has shut off. Enjoy!

Just a couple of notes from personal observation

that floats is eaten - these fish have HUGE mouths - they love blood worm and tubifex (the freeze dried cubes - i break them up for them and the fish all love this - many of my fish sem a lot happier since I started this daily routine - even the chery barbs seem to love the little scraps that drift off)

Also - many fish can and do change colour at night - these fish well at least my three, change from the usual drab brown of the day to a very stunning silver/whote at night - all over except for the pectoral fins - they look like little ghosts floating around - I will try and get a good picture of this if possible.