CBB experiences

[Andresnyc93]

Hello fellow reefers,

I have recently discovered some bristle worms in my system that probably snuck in with a coral that was added a couple of weeks ago. I also have some aptasia popping up here and there but my peppermint shrimp aren’t doing much to them so I was wondering what peoples experiences are with this fish. I have an 85 gal established mixed reef and it’s mostly filled with euphyllia and RBTA’s. I have a pair of clowns, a midas blenny, a diamond goby, a mandarin, a flame angelfish and a royal gramma. I feed frozen once a day with live BBS and TDO at night.

Any input would be helpful!

 

[Oldreefer44]

Having had both success and failure with them, here is my input:
It is all about the health of the individual fish you get. Is it eating? What is it eating? Has it been quarantined? Will likely help with Aiptasia but IME not the bristle worms. Most do not consider the worms as harmful but actually valuable members of their CUC unless they are overrunning the tank due to overfeeding.

 

[Tamberav]

They don’t always eat Aiptasia and mine never touched a bristle worm. He loves feather dusters and spaghetti worms. I bet the bristles are too big and spikey.

They can be difficult as you need to find a healthy specimen, preferably eating, that isn’t damaged in anyway. They are fragile and can get internal damage in transport. They also often show up skinny with pinched heads and stomach and may not recover.


They can be targets by bully tangs or angelfish. Sometimes they nip at fleshy corals.

 

[Andresnyc93]

Having had both success and failure with them, here is my input:
It is all about the health of the individual fish you get. Is it eating? What is it eating? Has it been quarantined? Will likely help with Aiptasia but IME not the bristle worms. Most do not consider the worms as harmful but actually valuable members of their CUC unless they are overrunning the tank due to overfeeding.

That’s very helpful! Do you follow a specific protocol for QT with them? I understand they’re very shy and hard to get them to eat frozen so that’s why I wondering if they’re worth a shot, stunning fish as well and wouldn’t mind feeding them to their needs but also want them to work on the aptasia and worry they’ll nip at my euphyllia since some of it weren’t cheap.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I have had mine for a little over a month and so far so good. Mine has converted completely to prepared foods and is doing quite well and has put on a good bit of mass since I got him. Within the first 72 hours he decimated all the aiptasia I had in my tank, and I basically had all very small ones, none any taller than 2 cm. Has not bothered any of my corals or my RFA's. Overall the process was slow but I also bought a healthy specimen and took the feeding challenge on head first. From my experience if you do the research and understand what you are getting into then you have the highest chance of success. From what Ive read and talked to other folks about, they are about the most sure animal to eat aiptasia, a tad more likely than peppermints.

Granted I am sure there are plenty of reefers who disagree with me, but mine eating aiptasia was just a side gig because I wanted the fish to have the fish lol.

Edit: They are HUGE fans of things that resemble worms.

 

[Andresnyc93]

They don’t always eat Aiptasia and mine never touched a bristle worm. He loves feather dusters and spaghetti worms. I bet the bristles are too big and spikey.

They can be difficult as you need to find a healthy specimen, preferably eating, that isn’t damaged in anyway. They are fragile and can get internal damage in transport. They also often show up skinny with pinched heads and stomach and may not recover.


They can be targets by bully tangs or angelfish. Sometimes they nip at fleshy corals.

They’re still at the small stage I’ve just started to see them more often and I feed 2-3x daily so I worry they’ll get out of hand sometime in the future. I also don’t like seeing them in my system. Do you think a wrasse would be a better choice? Just for the worms

 

[Tamberav]

You should look up white worms and culture them before you buy the fish. This will give you a great advantage in successfully keeping one.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Your best weapon to encourage feeding in the beginning is live black worms. They literally cannot resist them.

 

[Andresnyc93]

I have had mine for a little over a month and so far so good. Mine has converted completely to prepared foods and is doing quite well and has put on a good bit of mass since I got him. Within the first 72 hours he decimated all the aiptasia I had in my tank, and I basically had all very small ones, none any taller than 2 cm. Has not bothered any of my corals or my RFA's. Overall the process was slow but I also bought a healthy specimen and took the feeding challenge on head first. From my experience if you do the research and understand what you are getting into then you have the highest chance of success. From what Ive read and talked to other folks about, they are about the most sure animal to eat aiptasia, a tad more likely than peppermints.

Granted I am sure there are plenty of reefers who disagree with me, but mine eating aiptasia was just a side gig because I wanted the fish to have the fish lol.

Edit: They are HUGE fans of things that resemble worms.

This is very helpful! Do you mind sharing your process on feeding and acclimation? I understand the challenges they bring but they’re a beautiful fish I’ve always wondered about

 

[Andresnyc93]

You should look up white worms and culture them before you buy the fish. This will give you a great advantage in successfully keeping one.

Will do, thanks so much!

 

[Andresnyc93]

Your best weapon to encourage feeding in the beginning is live black worms. They literally cannot resist them.

Luckily my LFS has them in stock constantly so will pick up some when I get one

 

[Bucs20fan]

So I did a super slow acclimation, took about 2.5 hours. I did everything in my power to keep stress at a minimum. To start feeding I bought live black worms and fed only those for 3 days while in quarantine. On the fourth day I mixed in frozen blood worms. Day 6 on I used less and less black worms, On day 9 or 10 I mixed in mysis with the frozen blood worms. He grew to LOVE mysis shrimp. Also I fed clams on a half shell wedged into live rock.

 

[Andresnyc93]

So I did a super slow acclimation, took about 2.5 hours. I did everything in my power to keep stress at a minimum. To start feeding I bought live black worms and fed only those for 3 days while in quarantine. On the fourth day I mixed in frozen blood worms. Day 6 on I used less and less black worms, On day 9 or 10 I mixed in mysis with the frozen blood worms. He grew to LOVE mysis shrimp. Also I fed clams on a half shell wedged into live rock.

Awesome will follow this and try to find the healthiest one available in my LFS.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Besides mysis and clams, the other favorite food of my CBB is definitely Frozen angel and butterfly food. I believe the company is San Fransisco bay. But my CBB gobbles it up. Twice a week I Soak the frozen in garlic to help build up the immune system as these fish can be very prone to diseases.

 

[dvgyfresh]

So far mine hasn’t ate prepared foods , had a bit over 2 weeks now. Tried clams , scallops , mysis , blood worms , brine shrimp, pellets. It has ate all my feather dusters / aptasia tho

 

[Andresnyc93]

Besides mysis and clams, the other favorite food of my CBB is definitely Frozen angel and butterfly food. I believe the company is San Fransisco bay. But my CBB gobbles it up. Twice a week I Soak the frozen in garlic to help build up the immune system as these fish can be very prone to diseases.

Will also pick up one of these, I believe my LFS has an Angelfish mix similar to the one you mentioned

 

[Bucs20fan]

So far mine hasn’t ate prepared foods , had a bit over 2 weeks now. Tried clams , scallops , mysis , blood worms , brine shrimp, pellets. It has ate all my feather dusters / aptasia tho

Have you been able to try live black worms or white worms? what are the tankmates? I have found that the other fish in my tank encouraging a feeding response has helped immensely.

Another note, I have pretty high flow in certain areas, and the high flow makes the mysis "wiggle" alot and my CBB chases them all over the tank like a missile to get them all.

 

[Andresnyc93]

So far mine hasn’t ate prepared foods , had a bit over 2 weeks now. Tried clams , scallops , mysis , blood worms , brine shrimp, pellets. It has ate all my feather dusters / aptasia tho

Hmm interesting I guess they al acclimate differently. Do you also have a tang or angelfish? My biggest fear is having the new guy getting bullied around

 

[Bucs20fan]

Hmm interesting I guess they al acclimate differently. Do you also have a tang or angelfish? My biggest fear is having the new guy getting bullied around

My best guess would be your royal gramma will be the biggest boss to it. Mine was for sure, but what helps alot is the CBB is usually bigger and size has helped, at least as far as my gramma was concerned.

I also just read again that you are actively feeding live BBS? Thats gonna be a game changer for sure, most LFS try to get them to eat live brine first, before live black worms due to cost.

 

[Andresnyc93]

My best guess would be your royal gramma will be the biggest boss to it. Mine was for sure, but what helps alot is the CBB is usually bigger and size has helped, at least as far as my gramma was concerned.

Yeah my gramma is a grumpy old man and when I introduced the tang he tried to bully him on day one and the tang fought back and the gramma forever left him alone. I think they’re mostly all bark and no teeth.