Pakistan Butterflyfish

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Moderate   • Temperament: Peaceful   • Maximum Size: 8"
• Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons   • Water Conditions: 72-82° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
• Diet: Omnivore   • Origin: Indo-Pacific, Sri Lanka
• Family: Chaetodontidae   • Species: Butterflyfish   • Aquarium Type: FOWLR

Help Support AquariumDomain!      

• Your support keeps AquariumDomain advertisement free, lightning fast and fully optimized for both mobile and desktop browsing.

• Visit our Patreon page to learn about the exclusive benefits our Patrons receive!

The Pakistan Butterflyfish is found ranging throughout the Indonesian Pacific Ocean from Pakistan and Sri Lanka down to Indonesia and the Philippines. Pakistan Butterflyfish adults typically live in pairs, where they are found living in and amongst shallow coral reefs throughout the region. They feed mostly on coral polyps in the wild, thus are not considered suitable for reef aquariums. Their somewhat specialized natural diet also makes them somewhat difficult to acclimate to aquarium life, since they need to both change their diet and adjust to living in an aquarium environment.

Pakistan Butterflyfish can be kept singularly, in pairs or in groups of 6 or more; however, they tend to do best within the aquarium environment when kept in a pair where both fish are introduced to the tank together.

Pakistan Butterflyfish are a somewhat difficult species to care for in the aquarium as they have a specialized diet of coral polyps in the wild and attain sizes of approximately 8 inches in length. They also require excellent water quality with plenty of water movement and open swimming areas, along with areas of live rock in which to swim in and around. It is highly recommended that only intermediate to advanced hobbyists with established aquariums attempt to keep this species, as they are not very tolerant of the types of mistakes beginning hobbyists are prone to make.

As their natural diet consists of large amounts of coral polyps and sponge material, Pakistan Butterflyfish are not suitable for reef aquariums or FOWLR housing corals. While they can be kept singularly, they tend to do best when kept as a mated pair or as a group of 6 or more individuals if kept in a very large aquarium with strong filtration.

The diet of the Pakistan Butterflyfish in the wild consists mostly coral polyps, sponge material and meaty items with small amounts of algae. In the aquarium environment, they should be fed a variety of commercial foods that are primarily meaty based. They should be started off with mysis shrimp, brine shrimp or cyclop-eeze, then expanded to frozen meaty preparations and high quality commercial flake foods. They should be fed 2 to 3 times per day the amount of food that they will readily consume within a few minutes. Frozen preparations with sponge material and crustacean flesh designed specifically for Butterflyfish and Angelfish are an excellent choice for this species.