Feeding a new butterfly

[paperv2]

i recently purchased a Dot and Dash butterfly and a Pearlscale butterfly. They've been in the tank for 3 days so far and neither of them want to eat anything. I've tried coating the food with garlic and they still aren't interested. Can someone give me some suggestion?

 

[edd]

live black worms, but their hard to find.
i have a powder blue going on 3 days won't eat, but i can't find live worms.

 

[marrone]

What where they eating at the store? Also, what type/kind of food are you feeding them now? You can try to get some mussels and clams, leave them on the half shell, and place them in the tank.

 

[paperv2]

I ordered them from Bluezoo Aquatics. I've always been very successful with fish I purchased from them. They said they were eating algae and pellets. I have the pellets they ate there but aren't interested. I've tried feeding Brine Shrimp, Mysis, Muscles, Beefheart, bloodworms, and pellets. I have some clams in a half shell. I'll try that again now

 

[Mattl22]

Butterfly's are hard to get eating black works or clams on half shell I've heard works

 

[paperv2]

Does anyone know of any stores that sell black worms? I threw a claim half she'll in the tank, everyone seemed interested but the butterfly's.

 

[marrone]

Certain BF do take time to get them start eating, so just keep feeding them, and use the food that they were eating, hopefully in time they will start eating again.

 

[prattreef]

I'm not sure if they still have them or not, but Pop Corals posted about a week or so ago that they had blackworms in stock. Check their forum.

 

[sniceley]

Check out aquaticfoods.com they sell live black worms shipped and also great holders to keep them in your fridge. I have used them for years when breeding freshwater fish (discus, cory cats, bettas, gouramis, etc.) Not too hard to raise yourself either once you have a sizable colony.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Some Petland discount stores stock blackworms.
For me training butterflies, I have about a 50 to 25% success rate depending on how I calculate. Of the 13 butterflies I caught this past season, (excluding the ones that died for other reasons) I got 7 to eat live mussels. The rest died due to fighting and other general competition. If I separated them into different tanks based on size, I probably would have another 3 or 4 more today.


Go to the seafood market, buy a couple of live clams, mussels and oysters. Make sure they are fresh and not open in a bucket of ice, since the fresh water shocks and kills them. Toss one of each into the tank and keep the extra in the fridge. If the shellfish is still strong, it will live indefinitely in your tank and the butterfly will learn to pick on its mantle. It will eventually weaken it and then the fish will dig in to its meat. If the shellfish is dying, then as it opens up, the butterfly may take it, but if it dies too fast, dump it or chop it up for the rest of your fish to eat.
Then get the spare shellfish out of the fridge and do it again. It will take them, it's just a matter of time, and theres lots of pollution from the uneaten food.

 

[Ariel110G]

butterfly's are hard to get eating black works or clams on half shell i've heard works

+1 that I did with my CB fish now he eats like a pig