How to Care for Your Butterfly Fish

The butterfly fish is striking in appearance and hearty enough for both new and experienced fish owners to care for. They do well with a variety of other fish, assuming the other fish are not aggressive and are not surface dwellers. If you are caring for a butterfly fish for the first time, there are a few ways to ensure that your fish is healthy and happy.

Things You'll Need

  • Established aquarium
  • Butterfly fish
  • Bag
  • Aquarium water
  • Fish net
  • Tank lid
  • Floating food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Prepare your established aquarium for the butterfly fish. An established aquarium is one that has gone through the nitrogen cycle and has had fish in it for a while. Your aquarium needs to be 20 gallons or larger. Adjust the pH to between 6.0 and 7.5 and the temperature to between 75 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Make certain that all the fish in the tank are peaceful fish and are not top dwelling fish.

    • 2

      Purchase two or more butterfly fish at the same time.

    • 3

      Place your butterfly fish, still in the bag they came home from the store in, into your prepared aquarium. Leave the bag for ten minutes, and then add a few tablespoons of tank water to the bag before resealing the bag. Continue to add more tank water every 10 minutes for the next hour. This gives your fish a chance to adjust to the water temperature and water pH slowly and avoid shock.

    • 4

      Open the bag and use a fish net to transfer your new butterfly fish to the tank. Never pour the bag into the tank since there may be foreign bacteria or fungi in the bag water.

    • 5

      Cover the tank with a tank lid. Butterfly fish are capable of jumping out of aquariums and a lid will help keep them in.

    • 6

      Feed your fish several times a day. Butterfly fish like a variety of food, both live and frozen. For live foods, try smaller fish, worms (such as tubifex, glass or bloodworms), brine shrimp, daddy long legs or crickets. For frozen foods, try beef heart, daphnia and plankton. Some butterfly fish will even eat flake food. The most important thing is to be certain that the food floats since butterfly fish will not swim down to get sinking food.