Pet Information > ASK Experts > Pet Fish > Freshwater Aquarium > African butterfly fish

African butterfly fish

23 16:09:02

Question
55 gallon
3- African butterfly Fish
1- African Leaf Fish
2- Dragon Goby
1- Cory Cat
1- Gold Algae Eater
1- Bala Shark
1- Albino Red Fin Shark
1- Zebra Loach?(Botia Striata)
1- Goldin Sailfin Mollie (Female)


I dont know any of the watres levels accept tempurature, the tank has been running for almost two months not one month with fish in it in it has two filtration systems both hang on the back the cartridges get changed every three weeks i have done one water change and one cleaning the second one is happening tomorrow i change 30 percent of the water and and treat the water with cycle when i do the change i have a 25 gallon tank  upstairs that runs 24/7 with nothing in it to do water changes but i would like to stock feeder fish in there and perhaps another shark :)

Now my question is about my butterfly fish the three of them were all doing good one was a little more shy and hid in the corner but now it seems to be more prominent then than one of the two larger ones....one of the fish is gorgeous its almost has like a chrome band wrapping around its body and the other smaller of the three is quite pretty as well it gets some of the same sort of coloration as the other one, however my problem lies with Jay that is the third butterfly fish its color is almost completely gone and i cna tell one of his fins has been bitten quite fiercly is this just induced by stress or does my fish have bigger problems

Answer
The color loss with Jay is probably attributed to aggression in the tank.  The other two may be trying to mate or they may be fighting with each other over a female... I would try to feed them some additional food such as water fleas or wingless crickets... even brine shrimp.  Butterfly fish are quite beautiful but be careful as they are fabulous leapers and will fly right out of your tank... If the extra food does not help with the aggression then let me know... dave