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The Yellow Longnose butterflyfish, whose scientific name is Forcipiger flavissimus, is a colorful fish that has a bright yellow body and aren’t too difficult to maintain. However, they come with some caveats that you should know about to determine if they’re right for your tank.
In this care guide, we’ll look at some of the features of this fish and what you can expect when it comes to caring for them.
Similar to other butterflyfish, the Yellow Longnose butterflyfish is potentially reef safe, but not always. These fish, while often docile, may begin to nip at your corral and invertebrates in a reef tank. So, practice caution when introducing them to a reef tank and keep an eye on the health of your corral and invertebrates. You’re often better off keeping them in a separate tank.
The Yellow Longnose butterflyfish is carnivorous and feeds primarily on meat. This species enjoys brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp, bloodworms, blackworms, clams, and mussels. You’ll need to feed this fish a few times per day to keep it healthy.
Of course, you can feed this fish frozen meat eventually and supplement meat with pellets and flakes.
With proper care and acclimation, this species is often hardy and can thrive in an aquarium. However, you should keep them in an aquarium that’s devoid of a reef environment and ensure the tank is of sufficient size. They tend to do best in a tank that’s 125 gallons or larger.
These fish are somewhat large and can take up a lot of space in your tank when fully grown. They grow to around 9 inches in length and tend to be active swimmers, which is why you should spring for a larger tank when getting one or more.
In the wild, the Yellow Longnose Butterfly is known to live for about seven years, but their general lifespan is around five to 10 years. They also face many dangers in the wild that has largely cut their numbers over the years, including pollution.
Like other butterflyfish, the price of a Yellow Longnose butterflyfish will vary greatly, depending on the specific type and the shop. You can find these fish for anywhere from $60 to $150 at most aquarium shops.
The following are a few interesting facts about the Yellow Longnose butterflyfish you might not have known:
The Yellow Longnose butterflyfish is generally docile and doesn’t fight too much for territory, but it will go after others of its species along with other butterflyfish. As long as other fish in the tank are non-aggressive and easy to get along with, you probably won’t have too much of a hard time keeping your butterflyfish with other sea life.
Also, you won’t want to keep this fish with invertebrates in most cases, as these fish love to feed on shrimp and other invertebrates.
Some of the best fish to keep with this species include:
If you want to purchase a Yellow Longnose butterflyfish, many online fish shops carry them, including:
When looking for a colorful fish to add to your tank, you often can’t go wrong with the Yellow Longnose butterflyfish. The decision to add this fish to your tank typically comes down to whether you have a reef tank with other invertebrates, but even these fish are potentially reef safe with the right precautions.