How to Stop a Butterfly From Eating a Brain Coral

Butterflyfishes are among the most striking and interesting marine aquarium inhabitants. These vividly colored coral fish, however, are difficult to feed, and those that do begin to feed in captivity often target living corals, which the aquarist is eager to culture. By offering the butterflyfish a variety of sea food items, including living copepods and shrimp, the hobbyist is often successful in weaning the fish from living corals, onto more acceptable food items.

Things You'll Need

  • Meaty frozen or fresh sea food, such as oyster, scallop and prawn
  • Sharp knife
  • Clean plate
  • Clean spoon
  • Plastic knife
  • Various coral skeletons
  • Living oyster
  • Living baby brine shrimp
  • Living black worms
  • Dried sea weed
  • Produce clip
  • Living soft corals
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Instructions

    • 1

      Chop a variety of meaty sea foods, such as oyster, scallop and prawn, into fine pieces.

    • 2

      Place the pieces on a plate and use the back of a spoon to crush them into a soft paste.

    • 3

      Use a plastic knife to smear the paste onto various pieces of coral skeleton.

    • 4

      Position the pieces of coral skeleton around the brain coral. The various sea food items will hopefully attract the butterflyfish with their strong smell and it will begin to feed on the paste and no longer on the living brain coral.

    • 5

      Purchase a living clam from a fresh sea food dealer. Crack open the shell with a sharp knife and split the two halves of the shell. Rinse one half with bottled water, or reverse osmosis water if you have access to it. Reverse osmosis water can be purchased from an aquatic dealer. Place the half shell that contains the oyster shell near the brain coral.

    • 6

      Remove the oyster shell after a few hours and replace with a fresh shell. Alternate the oyster shell with the sea food paste on the coral skeletons.

    • 7

      Add living baby brine shrimp to the aquarium. The movement of these tiny creatures should attract the butterflyfish and it will begin to capture the shrimp. By targeting the shrimp, the butterflyfish will have less time to devote to eating the brain coral.

    • 8

      Add living black worms to the aquarium. The writhing motion of these worms is irresistible to most butterflyfish.

    • 9

      Add a number of pieces of live rock to the aquarium. Live rock is marine rock on which various animals, such as living sponges, are growing. Minute marine crustaceans, such as copepods, also live on the rock and will be targeted by the butterflyfish.

    • 10

      Place a piece of nori onto a produce clip and attach the clip, using the adhesive suction cup, onto the aquarium glass.

    • 11

      Purchase one or two pieces of living soft corals and position them around the brain coral. Aquacultured soft coral are easier to replace than brain coral, if the butterflyfish begins to feed on them.

    • 12

      Remove either the butterflyfish or the brain coral, if all else fails.