Editorial: August 2005
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About two weeks ago I had to make a draconian decision. For several years I had a small colony of the Majano sp. anemones in my 10-foot reef tank. The colony survived next to my Euphyllia ancora, because the old tomato clown (A. frenatus), now in its 23 year in captivity with me, trying to protect his/her home from my Navarchus inadvertently also protected the Majano colony. Everywhere else in the tank the Navarchus ate the Majanos. However, several months ago for reasons only known to the angelfish it stopped eating them. Quite quickly they started popping up all over the tank. The Majano anemone is very invasive and can quickly take over an entire reef tank.
For a good picture of the Majano sp. anemone see this link:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/bta/not/majano.html
So, after consultation with Greg Schiemer, I purchased a 4-inch Chaetodon ulietensis. Here are some links to this butterfly fish:
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/culietensis.htm
http://www.oceanlight.com/lightbox.php?sp=chaetodon_ulietensis
You will also find a description of this butterfly fish in Scott Michael's excellent book, Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Reef Fishes Series Book 3, published by Microcosm.
It wasn't in the tank for more than a day before it went right after these dreaded anemones. Of course, I'm very concerned with what it will attack next. However, much to my surprise, it eats flake food, and hasn't shown any interest in any other sessile animal. A word of caution, the behavior of any individual fish is unpredictable, and furthermore, what it might decide to dine on in the future is unknown. I will, of course, continue to report on this individual's behavior. Currently, it is doing the job it was put into my reef to do.
I want to add that I purchased the fish by mail order from
Foster& Smith, and that it arrived well packed and in a very
healthy condition. They were the only ones at the time of order
that had this species in stock.
Contributors : Terry Siegel
Pomacanthus Publications, LLC
Last modified 2006-01-01 19:08
Editorial: February 2007
