Got my African Butterfly Fish!

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AC Members
Mar 2, 2005
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Dallas, Texas
I fell in love with these as soon as they were suggested to me. I picked this guy up on Thursday and he is getting along quite well (eating everything that I drop in the tank) . This picture isn't the best (he won't hold still and let me get a nice focused shot.
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And I didn't understand exactly how they got their name until I took this overhead picture.
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Obvious now! :) He's really neat, especially the way he lurks in my plants near the top of the water and just SLAMS any food that comes near him. Very obvious what kind of ambush predator they are. Now I just need a great name for a great fish. Any suggestions?
 
Can't help you much on names, but I have to agree that they're some of the neatest fish out there. From what I understand, it hasn't changed in a very, very long time; it's evolutionarily (I think I made that up, but I like it) well developed.

Your first picture is interesting - you never catch them with their pec fins down like that in mid-flap.
 
Its name could be... "the one that lurks and feeds upon the unwary prey of the tank"... heheh
 
Oddball~ said:
Its name could be... "the one that lurks and feeds upon the unwary prey of the tank"... heheh
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Pretty cool, but a bit uh....unweildy. It just doesn't roll of the tounge. :D

Leopardess you are 100% right! It is really neat to see him blend in with the plants. Is top side is almost completely flat, allowing him(I'm using the male here but I don't really have the first clue as to sex) to get really close to the surface without quite breaching. He moves into my plants and floats in with the top-most leaves and almost disapears. I know where he is and what to look for, and it always takes me a minute to find him, a little fishy or bug wouldn't stand a chance. His mouth is HUGE! If you look at the top picture and see the greyish line that runs from above his eye, more than halfway down to his front fin, that is all mouth. I dropped a flake about the size of a dime right by his head and he destroyed it in one fast chomp. It's really neat to target feed him and watch the strike. I LOVE THIS FISH! :laugh:
 
How about Papillion?
 
Doubletap.
 
Yes, their mouths are large - but they are weak. They're built like a trapdoor but don't have much force behind them. They eat their prey kind of like a snake, taking it in and slowly swallowing it down. Mine's favorite food is frozen baby krill. It's best to cut them in half first though - and mine is picky about eating the heads (can't blame him;)). I use tweezers to lightly place the food on the water, but it took him awhile to get used to the idea. They're very skittish fish. Indeed one of my favorites:)
 
lquinsey said:
How about Papillion?
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Papillion is a nice name. :) It's french for "butterfly". (I'm sure you know though, quinsey, just pointing it out for those who didn't.)
:dance2:
 
Well, it would be french for butterfly if it didn't have the second 'i'. It's just papillon:) Not that it really matters in the scheme of things. It seems feminine to me though, if it is a male Pantodon buchholzi . I'm not good enough at sexing. Males are larger but this is new and I obviously can't see it in person:)
 
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