Hungry copper band butterfly fish?

Question

I have a 60 gal. reef i put a butterfly in my tank to take care of aphtasia now he ate my feather duster and now is going after my candy corals any suggestion is appreciated

Answer 1

Butterflyfish are not reef safe. Get him out of there.

Peppermint shrimp will also eat aptasia. Use them instead.

Answer 2

well, try giving him some sort of natural food source over the rocks so that he doesnt really rely on stuff you dont want him to eat. try getting some live brine shrimp, and using a turkey baister, suck them up and shoot them over the rock and in holes in the rock (that way the other fish dont eat them right as you put them in!). This will give them a more natural way to feed, that way he isnt forced to eat corals and what not.

I had a friend that had a copperbanded butterfly fish and it died after 2 weeks from starvation. Try your best to present the MOST NATURAL food source possible, and maybe get corals that the butterfly fish DONT like lol.