Australian copperband

[JMM744]

I have notice occasionally someone will offer a copperband butterfly from Australia and that they claim they are more robust and easier to keep and get eating. Wonder if anyone has gone this route with CBB ‘s and if so how did it work out for you? Price is certainly much more for them.
Thank you, Jim

 

[Instigate]

You may have already found this article, some comparison between CBBs from Australia vs elsewhere in a couple of the paragraphs.

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/...terflyfish-chelmon-rostratus-full-article.htm

 

[JMM744]

Thank you.

 

[Dilan Patel]

I believe the ones in Australia are caught without cyanide.

 

[Instigate]

I believe the ones in Australia are caught without cyanide.

Not all fish caught outside of Australia are caught with cyanide. But I suppose it would be much much less likely.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Not all fish caught outside of Australia are caught with cyanide. But I suppose it would be much much less likely.

Im not saying all fish Im saying copperbands are usually caught with cyanide which usually mess with eating which messes with health. The australian caught butterflies are not caught with cyanide and that is why they are more expensive but in term have a better survival rate.

 

[Instigate]

Im not saying all fish Im saying copperbands are usually caught with cyanide which usually mess with eating which messes with health. The australian caught butterflies are not caught with cyanide and that is why they are more expensive but in term have a better survival rate.

Why would copperbands usually be caught with cyanide? I don't see why they would have any more chance of being exposed to cyanide than any other Indo-Pacific fish.

 

[Dilan Patel]

cyanide stuns a fish so it makes them easier to catch. not all fisheries use cyanide due to it being illegal. australia and hawaii do a gret job in trying to avoid the use of cyanide when places like the phillipines almost 85% of the fish are caught using cyanide. Im saying since fisheries are aiming for a lot of a fish species such as abutterflies using cyanide makes the job easier even though it is unethical.

 

[Instigate]

cyanide stuns a fish so it makes them easier to catch. not all fisheries use cyanide due to it being illegal. australia and hawaii do a gret job in trying to avoid the use of cyanide when places like the phillipines almost 85% of the fish are caught using cyanide. Im saying since fisheries are aiming for a lot of a fish species such as abutterflies using cyanide makes the job easier even though it is unethical.

I know Hawaii and Australia have more regulation and enforcement in place. I think Australia only does hand caught right? Anyways, 85%? Where is that number coming from?

 

[Instigate]

I found an article claiming that it's more like 11% but that was an extremely small study so who knows. But they did say that CBBs were one of the more common ones to have been exposed to cyanide. I don't know what that would be. https://reefs.com/2017/08/03/15-aquarium-fishes-collected-cyanide/

 

[JMM744]

I found an article claiming that it's more like 11% but that was an extremely small study so who knows. But they did say that CBBs were one of the more common ones to have been exposed to cyanide. I don't know what that would be. https://reefs.com/2017/08/03/15-aquarium-fishes-collected-cyanide/

Very interesting articles. I have often heard it said that copperbanded butterflies fail to do well due to being poisoned during collection. Never heard were this came from though . Knowing how things spread over time and get blown out of proportion at times I always entertained a little doubt that it was why most failed to survive. I have found in my limited experience that a med. size butterfly has been easier to keep and get started eating then either a large or small specimen. The first link above suggested the reason for smaller fish not doing well. Indeed I found that small specimens were more fragile and had less substance to them to make it through getting them eating and qt.
My though, and only that, is that large specimens may be hard to get eating our preferred foods due to having spent so much time feeding in the wild and not recognizing our offerings as anything palatable.
Thanks for the conversation.
Anyone had experience with the Australian Copperbands?

 

[Dilan Patel]

I meant to say 50%. A research was conducted by a professor in this article on this forum.https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyanide-and-fish-from-the-philippines.250700/

And yes fish are mostly hand caught in Hawaii and Australia. I guess it is hard to know the percentage but just know Philippines is first for fish to be affected with cyanide followed by Indonesia.

 

[Instigate]

I meant to say 50%. A research was conducted by a professor in this article on this forum.https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyanide-and-fish-from-the-philippines.250700/

And yes fish are mostly hand caught in Hawaii and Australia. I guess it is hard to know the percentage but just know Philippines is first for fish to be affected with cyanide followed by Indonesia.

There is no study cited for that number. That's just a quote of some professor in California, who knows where he's getting that number from. But the discussion in that thread says that the most recent data on cyanide fishing is very old, 90's and early 2000's. No doubt cyanide fishing still happens and is most likely to happen in the Philippines and Indonesia but now it's likely far less than previous studies have estimated.

 

[Mark Gray]

Hmm i really have not seen fish for many years caught with cyanide. 20 to 30 years ago maybe evan 10 yes. I have a friend in the Philippines and it has stopped for awhile their reefs looked bad. but i was there 2 years ago and the reefs looked pretty good. That and the Thai reefs brought me back to the hobby, Once you get a CB eating you are ok. live wirms work best black worms and white worms

 

[PranK]

I can't add much other than to confirm collection laws here in Australia are pretty firm and heavily regulated. We do not allow import of any fish or coral from outside the country which means we are limited to what is caught here. I've never come across any report or even suggestion about collection using anything other than hand.

So, I can't help with the comparison of CBB's but I can back up our safe collection methods.

 

[Mark Gray]

I meant to say 50%. A research was conducted by a professor in this article on this forum.https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyanide-and-fish-from-the-philippines.250700/

And yes fish are mostly hand caught in Hawaii and Australia. I guess it is hard to know the percentage but just know Philippines is first for fish to be affected with cyanide followed by Indonesia.

Oh yes I have for sure gotten cyanide caught fish before but they do make it but you really have to baby most of them for 6 to 9 months, I am sure some may use it but not like the old days. it was used so much the reefs started dying out. but they have come back preaty well now. When I dive I ussally don't go with the tour group dives so I go off the beaten path

 

[Dilan Patel]

Oh yes I have for sure gotten cyanide caught fish before but they do make it but you really have to baby most of them for 6 to 9 months, I am sure some may use it but not like the old days. it was used so much the reefs started dying out. but they have come back preaty well now. When I dive I ussally don't go with the tour group dives so I go off the beaten path

Thank you for the updated knowledge! I didn't realize cyanide wasn't as popular in those areas as they once were. And you are correct cyanide really messes with a fish and babying them is really your only option to keep them healthy until they get thicker and such.

 

[Mark Gray]

Thank you for the updated knowledge! I didn't realize cyanide wasn't as popular in those areas as they once were. And you are correct cyanide really messes with a fish and babying them is really your only option to keep them healthy until they get thicker and such.

I remember quite a few fish I had that were for sure cyanide caught, but the other thing that got them to is there was no such thing as over night shipping fish were in bags for 6 to 8 days. Today things are so much better, and we also have better foods to get them back in shape, Black worms, white worms, Selcon and even the frozen are much better today

 

[Punchanello]

I'm not sure if cyanide is a factor in Copper-band feeding and survival. I'm in Australia and purchased an Australian caught Copper-band a couple of weeks ago. I had a long chat with my LFS who I trust. He was pretty clear that even with reduced transit times and being had caught without cyanide the issue is getting a copper-band to eat in captivity and that survival rates weren't great.

It's been a week for me. I have it in quarantine and I've tried various frozen foods, masstick and also clams. It pecks very sparingly if at all. Funnily enough the most I have seen it eat was when I tried flakes. He only took the tiniest sinking particles which i think might be the key with mine. Very small pieces. I also notice that they are super timid and quick to hide and most likely won't eat if you are peering over the tank or moving around. Fingers crossed.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Im getting pretty good at getting these copper bands to eat prepared foods lol. After losing 1 to starvation Iwas keeping three but the smaller one died due to the yellow tang beating it up. The others are fat and happy