Yellow Butterflyfish - Behavior, care

Yellow Butterflyfish, a marine aquarium fish with a bright lemon yellow color and a super long snout, is gentle, peaceful, and easily adaptable to artificial aquariums.

Yellow Butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavissimus) is a marine aquarium fish with a unique and impressive appearance, with a bright lemon yellow body and a long snout like a "bird's beak". They not only have a beautiful appearance but also have interesting habits, attracting the attention of many aquarium hobbyists.

In today's article, let's explore the origin, appearance, habits and how to take care of pomfret fish in the most detailed way with nice fish !

Information about Yellow Butterflyfish :

Origin of Yellow Butterflyfish

The butterflyfish is a species of fish in the butterflyfish family.

Yellow Butterflyfish, also known as Forcipiger flavissimus, is a native fish species from coral reefs in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, specifically as follows:

• Red Sea
• East African Coast to Hawaii
• Marquesas Islands, southern Japan.
• Great Barrier Reef (Australia).

In nature, this fish mainly lives in shallow coral reefs, where the water is clear with a depth of 1 - 40 meters, most commonly from 5 - 20 meters.

Pomfret is considered a "good ecological indicator" of coral reef health, as it depends on a healthy coral ecosystem.

Nowadays, Yellow Butterflyfish becomes popular in the aquarium industry because of its impressive appearance and eye-catching colors.

Yellow Butterflyfish Appearance

Impressive appearance of a pompano.

The butterflyfish is one of the most unique and impressive looking fish in the butterflyfish family. Let's learn more about the appearance of this fish.

• Body shape : Flat, oval, like a thin plate.
• Size : Average about 12 - 15 cm, maximum can reach 22 cm.
• Muzzle : Long, narrow and pointed, like a bird's beak, silvery white in color
• Color : The hind body, fins, and tail are all bright yellow, eye-catching, the head is divided into two halves, the upper half is black running from the top of the head to cover the eyes like wearing a mask, the lower half is white
• Dorsal fin : High, extending from mid-back to near end of tail, lemon yellow like body color.
• Anal fin, pectoral fin : Yellow, soft
• Swimming style : Graceful, graceful

Yellow Butterflyfish Behavior

A pair of pompano are foraging together on the coral reef.

Below are the typical characteristics of the pompano fish. Let's find out if it is any different from other ornamental fish.

gentle, mild

Butterflyfish are very docile, friendly fish and never show aggression towards other reef fish. They are also not as territorial as other fish in the butterflyfish family.

Don't like to live in herds

Yellow Butterflyfish rarely live in groups, they usually live alone or in long-term pairs of 1 male - 1 female to both reproduce and protect territory together.

Has "settlement" character

Pomfret fish have a strong attachment to a certain living area (coral reef), they usually do not migrate or forage far and only hang around in a small area near their area to forage.

Unique hunting method

Pomfrets have a long snout that resembles a "bird's beak", which they use to poke deep into crevices of rocks and coral in search of food. They can also stand still in one place to carefully observe the coral reef before poking their beak into the crevices.

Sexual reproduction

The pompano is a sexually reproducing fish that lays eggs and fertilizes them externally. The female fish lays eggs floating in the water, while the male fish swims behind and releases sperm onto the eggs to fertilize them.

Before mating, male and female fish often swim parallel, circling gently like a special "dance" to attract each other.

Usually, male-female pairs of pompano tend to bond for life and rarely change partners.

Yellow Butterflyfish Breeding Guide for Beginners

Yellow Butterflyfish need a stable, high quality living environment.

Pomfret is a highly adaptable marine aquarium fish, however if you want to raise them to grow well, be healthy and have beautiful colors, please refer to the instructions below.

Prepare the aquarium for the pomfret fish

To create an artificial habitat similar to the natural habitat of pompano, when designing the tank, please pay attention to the following requirements.

• Tank capacity : Minimum 250 - 300 liters for 1 adult individual.
• Size : 100 x 50 x 50 cm (Length x width x height) or more.
• Tank type : Saltwater tank, with clear glass, with mesh or glass cover.
• Filtration system : Choose a strong filter that can handle ammonia and nitrite. It is best to choose overflow or bottom filtration.
• Aeration or fluting system : Choose a light-duty type that creates a gentle flow.
• Skimmer : Required, choose the type with a capacity of over 300 liters.
• LED lighting system : If you are raising coral, choose standard LED Reef lights.
• Aquarium decoration : Use live rocks to create crevices and caves to help fish have many places to hide and find food. The aquarium floor should be made of fine coral sand 2 - 4 cm thick.
• Tank stabilization cycle : You need to stabilize the tank for 3 - 6 weeks before adding fish to the tank.

Suitable water parameters for raising pompano

To help the pompano fish quickly stabilize and adapt to the artificial captive environment, the water source in the tank needs to be stable and ensure the following quality:

• Temperature : 24 - 28 degrees Celsius, maintained stable.
• Salinity : 1.023 - 1.025 SG
• pH : 8.1 - 8.4
• Ammonia, Nitrite : 0 ppm
• Dissolved oxygen (DO) : High above 6 mg/L
• Calcium : 380 - 450 ppm, not necessary if you do not keep coral in the tank.

To help keep water quality stable and secure, you need the following equipment:

• pH meter
• Test kit API
• Refractometer measures salinity
• If the tank is for coral, additional tests for Ca, Mg, KH... are needed.

What do Yellow Butterflyfish eat?

Pomfrets are carnivorous, but mainly feed on small creatures that live in crevices or coral reefs. However, when you keep them in an artificial tank, you can feed them the following:

• Fresh or frozen shrimp : baby brine shrimp, mysis shrimp.
• Pellet or gel food : Choose the type rich in protein and nutrients specifically for butterfly fish.
• Bloodworms : Favorite food.
• Plant foods : Feed sparingly but as needed, such as brown algae, kelp or seaweed.

Notes when feeding Yellow Butterflyfish :

• Feed fish 2-3 times/day in the morning, noon and evening with moderate amount of food.
• Should diversify foods.
• Do not feed fish too much dry food as it can be a bit difficult to digest.

Which fish species should and should not be kept with pomfret?

Although pompano is a gentle and peaceful species with many other marine aquarium fish, however, in order for them to grow healthily and without stress, you need to choose suitable fish species to raise together, specifically as follows.

Pomfret should be kept with fish :

• Nemo Fish (Clown Fish)
• Types of fish such as: Yellow fish , green fish ,...
• Wrasse
• Parrot fish
• Other butterfly fish species such as: Copperband Butterflyfish, Longfin Butterflyfish

Pomfret should not be kept with fish :

• Lionfish​
• Triggerfish
• Butterfly fish are highly territorial like the red eye butterfly fish, the spiny butterfly fish.

Caring for your pompano fish

To help Yellow Butterflyfish limit disease and stay healthy, you need to pay attention to taking care of the health of this fish species, specifically as follows:

Common symptoms and treatment:

Yellow Butterflyfish Price List

Currently, in the Vietnamese ornamental fish market, the price of pomfret fish depends a lot on the origin, size and aquarium store. Below are some prices that we have compiled:

• Pomfret fish at Aquarium Care store : 670,000 VND/fish, imported fish, medium size.
• Pomfret at Soha Aqua store : Not publicly listed, need to contact the store directly for details.
• Pomfret fish on the international market : About $59 - $120 for 1 fish (About 1,450,000 - 2,950,000 VND)

Beautiful Yellow Butterflyfish Pictures

Please enjoy the moments of the Yellow Butterflyfish with its brilliant, outstanding beauty swimming gracefully through the images below.

Image of pomfret with eye-catching lemon yellow color.

The pompano likes to live in places with many crevices in the rocks to feed and hide.

Pomfret with its impressive, super long snout.

With the content that nicefish.net shared in the above article, hopefully you have the most general overview of the Yellow Butterflyfish . This is a beautiful, outstanding ornamental fish, suitable for saltwater aquariums, but it also requires a stable, high-quality water environment.

If you want to raise and learn more about other beautiful ornamental fish, please read other articles through our Blog section!