Aquarium Conditioned-Blue Spot Butterflyfish

Aquarium Conditioned-Blue Spot Butterflyfish, Chaetodon plebius.

Size: ~1.5-2.5 inches. They will reach up to ~3.5-4.5+ inches with maturity.

Please see unique care information for this species below:

The Blue Spot Butterflyfish is an absolutely adorable species. Other common names include Blue Dash Butterflyfish or Blue Blotch Butterflyfish. These have a beautiful bright yellow body with a brilliant blue dash on both sides of the fish as the name describes. This species is native to the western Pacific Ocean and the eastern Indian Ocean.  We are feeding them a variety of prepared foods including frozen Mysis shrimp, LRS frozen nano blend, TDO XS pellets and a variety of other prepared foods at our farm. We recommend feeding them often such as 2-3+ times daily. They love PE Mysis shrimp.

We recommend housing this species singly or as a bonded pair. If you want to keep them as a pair we recommend adding two individuals at the same time. They are peaceful fish and friendly to keep with our captive bred seahorses. There is a possibility of them nipping at corals. Blue Spot Butterflyfish are known for feeding on Pocilliopora and Acropora polyps in their natural environment. They may or may not pick at these coral species in the aquarium but these are not common coral species kept with seahorses anyways. Keeping them well fed also helps lessen the likelihood of them nipping on corals. Of course, keep an eye on them. We recommend a 50-75 gallon or larger aquarium size for this species. They like swimming space and having lots of branch rockwork.

Butterflyfish can be great seahorse tank mates in larger seahorse aquariums. They like to be fed often and a lot like seahorses. They are peaceful fish and also extremely beautiful. While some are a bit larger fish, they are generally docile feeders and they are not going to easily outcompete your seahorses during feeding time.

These fish have a lot of personality and can make for a fun and unique tank mates in your seahorse aquarium, FOWLR aquarium and even some mixed reef tanks. If keeping them in a reef tank you may consider avoiding Acropora and Pocillopora coral species if you do not want to risk them picking at these corals. There is a possibility of them nipping at other corals but this is pretty unlikely in our experience. Many of these species like to explore the aquarium with their mouth and they may take an occasional nip at a coral but this is unlikely to be harmful to corals in many instances. We recommend being cautious with housing this species with clams, scallops, and feather dusters.

Our Aquarium Conditioned fish are quarantined and observed at our aquaculture facility before offered for sale. We prophylactically deworm all our fish as well as run an anti-parasitic treatment on all of our fish.  

Give us a call 410-618-3604 or send us an email: alyssa@seahorsesavvy.com if you have any questions. We are happy to help!