Butterfly and my Powder Brown Tang

A;exr54

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Just wanted to quickly post my latest experience.

I have attempted this 2x already. And both times have been horrible failures.
I wont be trying this again.

I've always wanted a butterfly fish in my aquarium. My current aquarium has been up and running now going on 15 years.
All fish and corals are super healthy and vibrant. I am extremely happy with how things are going.
Off topic, but only thing i could really fix is the durso pipe in the overflow, seems no matter what i do i can't get rid of that darn random toilet flushing sound. Its too annoying.

First time i tried a butterfly fish i made the mistake of putting it in the display tank right after acclimation, i typically do this if the fish looks healthy enough and to try and avoid any unnecessary stress to the fish. For me this has worked out very good over the years. With hardly any fatalities, and no parasites.

What ended up happening was the Powder Brown Tang, which i've had for about 12 years, who is also the dominant fish in the aquarium, the PDT totally would not let the Butterfly fish get adjusted. The PDT was biting at it and playing with it like a dolphin would play with a toy ball. It was bad.
I tried to seperate them, but to no avail. I even got a acrylic cage. No way to catch the PBT to put in it, and by then the Butterfly was too abused and too far gone.

About a year later i went for it again. This time i let the Butterfly adjust in the hospital tank, and i placed it in the acrylic cage. The PDT didnt even notice it while it was in the cage, so figured after a few days it will be ok to let the Butterfly out. Soon as i did the BPT did the same. Its like the PBT instinctively HATES butterfly fish and was smart enough to know not to even try while it was in the cage.

Although i did see many keep them together in tanks even smaller than mine successfully.

Well, not in the cards for me. As i am NEVER going to attempt this again :(

I've added other fish with no issues, including a foxface rabbitfish (going on a few years now), a tomini tang (for about 7 years now), a blue spotted jawfish (about 3 years now), and several others which are all going on years in the aquarium.
 
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littlefoxx

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My powder brown likes to harass new fish but nothing like that! Mine also doesnt seem to care for butterflies. I have one in with him that he chases around a lot! But its actually the butterfly’s fault. He annoys everyone. Even got my reclusive marine betta ticked enough to chase him around the tank in broad daylight which he never does! This dude doesnt learn to quit bothering the other fish lol
 
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