🐠 Sunset Butterflyfish (Chaetodon pelewensis)
Marine Not-Reef-Safe Peaceful Butterflyfish • Yellow-to-Deep-Orange Gradient Body With Diagonal Black Banding • Genuinely Difficult to Acclimate at First • Intermediate Marine Fish
 
📋 The Sunset Butterflyfish, also known as the Sunset Butterfly, has a genuinely captivating gradient body running from yellow through to deep orange, resembling a sunset, crossed by distinctive diagonal black banding.
Native to the Western and Central Pacific, this species inhabits coral reefs and lagoons.
This is a genuinely peaceful species that revels in swimming and requires ample open space, doing best in a well-established fish-only setup or a reef tank with mixed corals it isn't targeting. We want to be honest that this species can genuinely be difficult to acclimate at first, and new specimens may initially require live zooplankton or live mussels with crushed shells to entice feeding, with pressing food into coral skeletons or rockwork sometimes helping. It's genuinely best kept singly unless introduced as a genuine confirmed pair, since unpaired individuals may become territorial toward each other. We want to be upfront: this species is not reef safe, and will genuinely consume coral polyps, so it should not be kept in a reef tank with valuable coral you wish to protect.
 
🟡🟠 Highlights
🎨 Yellow-Orange Gradient Body With Black Banding: A genuinely striking, sunset-inspired butterflyfish
😌 Genuinely Peaceful: Coexists well with a wide range of non-aggressive tank mates
⚠️ Genuinely Difficult to Acclimate: May require live foods initially to establish feeding
⚠️ Not Reef Safe: Will consume coral polyps
💑 Genuinely Best as a Confirmed Pair: Unpaired individuals may become territorial