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Teardrop Butterflyfish

Onespot Butterflyfish Family: Chaetodontidae

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Chaetodon unimaculatus Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The Teardrop Butterflyfish are a really beautifully colored fish, but they can be rather difficult to keep.

   It spends most of its time in heavily populated coral areas eating stony and soft corals, sponge, algae, and polychaete worms (marine worms).  The Teardrop Butterflyfish specimens from Australia and the Pacific islands have a white ground color like the photo above, while those from the Indian Ocean and the western portion of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago are yellow.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium

Maintenance difficulty:
   The Teardrop Butterflyfish is difficult to keep. It's dominant natural food is corals. Some say that once it is acclimated, it will do well though.

Maintenance:
   It is important that you feed Butterfly fish a good variety of live, frozen, and prepared formula foods with emphasis on vegetables and spirulina. These foods can include live brine, flakes, and frozen foods of all kinds including Formula I, Formula II, Angel Formula and spirulina. Several sponge based frozen foods are now available and can also be fed to butterflyfish. Best to feed small amounts several times a day.

Diseases that Marine Butterflyfish are susceptible to:
Marine Ich(white spot disease), Marine Velvet, Uronema marinum, and Lymphocystis

Foods:
   Mainly found in areas with prolific coral growth. The Teardrop Butterflyfish eat stony and soft corals, sponge, algae, and polychaete worms (marine worms).

Social Behaviors:
   Usually found in groups of two, three, or more fish, they are not common and are usually timid.

Sexual differences:
   Unknown.

Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Greg Rothschild

Light: Recommended light levels:
   No special requirements.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Probably will not be accomplished in captivity. See the description in Breeding Marine Fish for information on reproductive habits.

Temperature:
   No special requirements. Normal temperatures for marine fish is between 75 and 79 degrees.

Length/Diameter of fish:
   Teardrop Butterflyfish adults can grow to 20 cm (8 inches).

Minimum Tank Length/Size:
   A minimum 50 gallon aquarium is recommended. Provide rockwork and hiding places.

Water Movement: Weak, Moderate, Strong
   No special requirements.

Buy Tear Drop Butterflyfish From LiveAquaria.com

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom
   Swims all over the aquarium.

Availability:
   This fish is generally rarely available and is fairly expensive.

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Author: David Brough. CFS.