Longfin Bannerfish

Care at a glance

Overview

A peaceful, elegant, mid-water swimmer that does well singly or in odd-numbered groups in a large tank. It adapts to aquarium foods far more readily than the Moorish idol it resembles, accepting frozen meaty foods and prepared rations. Unlike most butterflies it is relatively hardy and beginner-tolerant once eating.

In the wild

Longfin bannerfish live over deeper reefs, lagoons, and drop-offs across the Indo-Pacific, often in small groups or pairs in open water above the reef. They are plankton pickers in the wild, feeding on drifting zooplankton rather than grazing the substrate. In the aquarium they want tall open water for their trailing dorsal fin and a large tank if kept in a group.

Good to know

Heniochus acuminatus belongs to family Chaetodontidae and is often mistaken for the Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus) because of its long white dorsal filament and black-and-white banding, earning it the nickname poor man's Moorish idol. It is very frequently confused with its near-twin Heniochus diphreutes, the true schooling bannerfish; acuminatus has a longer snout and is more of a benthic feeder while diphreutes is the dedicated planktivore.

Did you know

It is often sold as a Moorish idol substitute because it looks strikingly similar but, unlike the notoriously unkeepable idol, actually thrives in captivity.

Related species

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  Schooling Bannerfish

  Heniochus diphreutes

  8.3 in (21 cm)124 gal (470 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Golden Butterflyfish

  Chaetodon semilarvatus

  9.1 in (23 cm)151 gal (570 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Big Longnose Butterflyfish

  Forcipiger longirostris

  8.7 in (22 cm)100 gal (380 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Copperband Butterflyfish

  Chelmon rostratus

  7.9 in (20 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Black Pyramid Butterflyfish

  Hemitaurichthys zoster

  7.1 in (18 cm)106 gal (400 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Pyramid Butterflyfish

  Hemitaurichthys polylepis

  7.1 in (18 cm)124 gal (470 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)