Above: This picture shows a 3.5" long premium quality African Butterfly Fish, swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us took this picture.
Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or in the online stores that we visit.
Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.
Click here to learn more about Premium Pet Fish.
Origin: This Wild Fish was caught in West Africa and shipped to us from there.
Maximum Size: This fish can grow to be about 4" long, including their tails.
Sometimes very old females are longer.
Behaviors: They will usually move around pretty actively during the day, but some of them seem to hide during the day and become more active at night.
When there's food to be eaten, they become very active looking for it.
Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include any community fish that won't nip at their fins.
Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.
Temperature: They live well from about 75 to 82 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 78 degrees F.
Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.
Feeding: Premium Fish Food Flakes when very small and small Premium Pellet Food when larger.
They also love to eat freeze dried krill, shrimp, and bloodworms, plus live foods like small crickets, moths, flies, etc.
Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.
Water Conditions: This fish seems to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.
Probably a pH of about 6.5 with moderate hardness is best.
Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.
Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.
Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.
Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 30-gallon tank, but bigger is better.
They do best in a shallower aquarium instead of a tall aquarium.
Decor: These fish do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.
Click here for more about aquarium gravel. Pieces of aquarium-safe driftwood are also nice.
Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality.
This species seems to greatly appreciate floating plants.
Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.
A Penguin 200B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK.
Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.
The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range.
Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.
Life Span: These fish can live for several years, probably many years provided they are fed premium food and kept in a large aquarium with very fresh water.
Gender: As they mature females presumably become plumper with eggs, and the genitalia on the male has a convex curve, while the females is straight.
Breeding: It's very difficult to breed this fish in captivity, but if you try to spawn them, we believe you should feed them lots of live food.
The male fertilizes the eggs at the surface of the water, as the female releases the eggs one clutch at a time, then the adults should be moved to another aquarium.
Or the eggs can be carefully spooned out and moved to another aquarium with water having the same pH, hardness, and temperature.
Popularity: This fish has been somewhat popular for a long time.
Names: The scientific name is Pantodon buchholzi.
Variations: This Wild Fish lives across a wide range in Western Africa, and so we expect there are some variations.
We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.
DrTom - 01/14/2015
All of our fish are Premium Quality Fish from the best suppliers in the world. Our fish have better health, more energy and brighter colors, as you can see in our pictures on this website.
We have 380-aquariums with lots-and-lots of popular aquarium fish plus lots-and-lots of rare fish!
We consider ourselves to be the link between the world's best sources of fish and the world's best customers. We love our work, and we are very responsible about caring for our fish and then shipping them carefully.
We also offer lots and lots of information about keeping and caring for pet fish, all from the knowledge of the Bailey Brothers, who have a combined total of 100+ years of experience as breeders, wholesalers, and retailers of pet fish!
Our fish and our customers are treated with the best of care, and we work energetically everyday to make sure every customer enjoys their new fishy friends.
When you purchase pet fish from us, you know you're receiving premium quality fish and premium quality service.
"Received my fish last night and was so pleased! They all arrived alive and appeared to be healthy.
"Once in the tank, they became very active and are now thriving in their new home.
"Beautiful fish, I asked for color and aquariumfish delivered. Processing and shipping was extremely quick."
Nevin and DrTom, the Bailey Brothers
This website is owned and operated by the Bailey Brothers, DrTom and Nevin, who've been together in the fish business for more than 50-years.
The Product Manager has been with the company for more than 35-years.
So we feel very confident that this is the fishiest crew anywhere.