African Butterfly Fish Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The African Butterfly Fish is an unusual surface-dwelling predator with a broad, flattened body and large, wing-like pectoral fins. Its mottled brown and bronze colouring helps it blend into shadows, floating leaves and reflections at the water’s surface, while its upturned mouth is perfectly suited to taking prey above the waterline.

Pantodon buchholzi spends much of its time motionless beneath the surface, but it can launch itself with surprising speed when hunting. In the wild, it feeds on insects and other small creatures that land on or skim across the water. Its powerful fins also allow it to glide short distances above the surface when escaping danger, although this behaviour should not be confused with sustained flight.

These fish are most active around dusk and during the night, when many of their natural prey become available. They can be territorial toward one another, particularly in confined spaces, and their large mouths mean that smaller fish may be viewed as food rather than tankmates.

African Butterfly Fish have a distinctive ancient appearance and belong to a small African freshwater lineage. Their specialised body shape, surface-oriented eyes and expansive fins reflect a life spent beneath floating vegetation in quiet tropical waters.

African Butterfly Fish are native to slow-moving and still freshwater habitats in West and Central Africa. Their range includes parts of the Congo Basin and countries such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon.

A single African Butterfly Fish should have at least 150 litres, with a footprint of around 120 x 45 cm or larger preferred because swimming length and surface area are more valuable than height. Use a secure, tightly fitting cover with very little gap above the water, as these fish are accomplished jumpers. Provide gentle filtration and subdued lighting, with floating plants, overhanging vegetation and shaded areas at the surface. A dark fine-grained substrate, driftwood and smooth rocks can be used below, while open surface lanes should remain available for feeding.

Females can reach about 12 cm (4.7 inches), while males are usually slightly smaller at around 10 cm (3.9 inches).

African Butterfly Fish are carnivorous surface feeders. Offer a varied diet of insects, insect larvae, live or frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and suitably sized aquatic invertebrates. Floating foods are particularly useful because these fish often ignore food that sinks, while occasional live foods can encourage natural hunting behaviour. Avoid relying on flake or vegetable-based foods, which do not match their natural diet.

African Butterfly Fish can live with peaceful, similarly sized fish that occupy the middle or lower levels of the aquarium, including larger tetras, Congo Tetras, peaceful barbs, medium-sized rainbowfish, larger corydoras and suitable small to medium catfish. Avoid tiny fish, shrimp and other animals that can fit into their mouths, as well as fin-nipping species and aggressive surface dwellers. They may be kept singly or with compatible individuals, but multiple African Butterfly Fish need ample space and broken lines of sight to reduce territorial conflict.

African Butterfly Fish are egg scatterers and are challenging to breed in home aquariums. Spawning usually occurs near the surface among floating plants, where the female releases buoyant eggs that are fertilised by the male. The adults should be removed after spawning because they may eat the eggs and fry. Eggs generally hatch within a few days, and the tiny surface-dwelling fry require suitably sized live foods such as newly hatched brine shrimp and other microscopic prey.

Females are generally larger and deeper-bodied than males. Mature males usually have a slimmer profile and a more deeply notched anal fin, whereas the female’s anal fin is broader and less deeply divided.