CBB experiences

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

Andresnyc93 said:
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.

My gramma was exactly the same, as soon as something looks to fight back, never saw aggression from the gramma again. It did chase my CBB at first and the CBB never fought back but it too, is a very fast fish and would turn and flare its fins at the gramma and that certainly did the trick.

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

One final note of caution. CBB have a very very delicate snout. And it will spaz out when frightened like any fish but they have a much higher potential to slam into a rock or the tank glass nose first and damage their snout. This is almost always a death sentence. Ive never really heard much on it, but without a doubt it is my most personable fish. It recognizes me and swims right up to the front panel and eagerly awaits food. Never in the back of the tank when im sitting watching. Always pacing back in forth vying for my attention.

Andresnyc93 · Apr 13, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
My gramma was exactly the same, as soon as something looks to fight back, never saw aggression from the gramma again. It did chase my CBB at first and the CBB never fought back but it too, is a very fast fish and would turn and flare its fins at the gramma and that certainly did the trick.

Do you have any LPS on your system btw?

Andresnyc93 · Apr 13, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
One final note of caution. CBB have a very very delicate snout. And it will spaz out when frightened like any fish but they have a much higher potential to slam into a rock or the tank glass nose first and damage their snout. This is almost always a death sentence. Ive never really heard much on it, but without a doubt it is my most personable fish. It recognizes me and swims right up to the front panel and eagerly awaits food. Never in the back of the tank when im sitting watching. Always pacing back in forth vying for my attention.

Love me a fish that wants this much attention, this is pretty much my tang and he’s always coming up to my hand to eat some nori

dvgyfresh · Apr 13, 2022

Andresnyc93 said:
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

I bought him at the same time as two tangs, they are all best buds and follow each other , no one bullies

Andresnyc93 · Apr 13, 2022

dvgyfresh said:
I bought him at the same time as two tangs, they are all best buds and follow each other , no one bullies

Gorgeous looking fish! Thanks for sharing

dvgyfresh · Apr 13, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
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.

Cannot find any live black worms at lfs sadly or white worms. I do place mysis inside an old clam shell and it has picked at it once lol

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

dvgyfresh said:
Cannot find any live black worms at lfs sadly or white worms. I do place mysis inside an old clam shell and it has picked at it once lol

I dont know if this is Convenient for you, but I had to buy mine online.

LosReef · Apr 13, 2022

Andresnyc93 said:
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

dvgyfresh said:
Cannot find any live black worms at lfs sadly or white worms. I do place mysis inside an old clam shell and it has picked at it once lol

I started CBB with big amphipods from Rusalty.com. It started eating frozen mysis shortly after. Aptasia eating nudibranch are also an option if the CBB doesn't take care of your aptasia problem. As long as you don't get wrasse also.

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

Andresnyc93 said:
Do you have any LPS on your system btw?

The only thing, I have in my tank is Zoas and Some gsp. Leaves those alone like a good little CBB

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

dvgyfresh said:
Cannot find any live black worms at lfs sadly or white worms. I do place mysis inside an old clam shell and it has picked at it once lol

How is your flow in your tank with the CBB?

Auflyfish · Apr 13, 2022

I have had a few but my “winner” ended up being at the LFS for 3 weeks before I decided to give him a try. I had sworn off of them tried 3 times before would make it weeks if not months then one day would stop eating. The one I have now and have had for a while was housed in a tank with a 5 inch purple tang and 7 inch Naso and was out competing those two for food. That was the deal maker for me. Each individual cbb is different as others have said. Mine doesn’t mess with coral at all but is a clam killer, where as others I have had before left them alone. He made short work of a 7 inch maxima

the only positive of that has been when he decides to go on the occasional hunger strike I can seem to correct that easily with some live clam from Publix at .59 a piece. Over all I have wanted one of these guys for years and have struggled, I loved having my clam too but if I have to choose one I’ll take the CBB. They are rewarding and graceful additions to the hobby. I keep my guy in a tank with a gem and Naso as well as a few smaller fish like cardinals

Auflyfish · Apr 13, 2022

One other thing of note, I haven’t noticed flow being an issue I have mine in my tank using 2 MP40’s at 50% no issue

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

I was asking about flow only for a feeding purpose, Flow makes food mimic looking like a worm. Especially mysis. I know that sounds crazy, but I dont think mine would have gotten onto frozen foods if not for moderate/ high flow in some areas.

dvgyfresh · Apr 13, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
How is your flow in your tank with the CBB?

Pretty high but nothing crazy , CBB swims fine and inspects every rock

Auflyfish · Apr 13, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
I was asking about flow only for a feeding purpose, Flow makes food mimic looking like a worm. Especially mysis. I know that sounds crazy, but I dont think mine would have gotten onto frozen foods if not for moderate/ high flow in some areas.

Ah gotchya, I agree. I have seen some people say the fish doesn’t do well in flow and IMO I think that, that isn’t the issue it’s more or less one of the things that get blamed for a finicky fish not eating.

Bucs20fan · Apr 13, 2022

Parts of my tank definitely have high flow and my CBB has no issues with it while feeding or otherwise. So I agree it may be a blame for non feeding reasons. But in my case I swear it has helped lol.

Andresnyc93 · Apr 13, 2022

Auflyfish said:
I have had a few but my “winner” ended up being at the LFS for 3 weeks before I decided to give him a try. I had sworn off of them tried 3 times before would make it weeks if not months then one day would stop eating. The one I have now and have had for a while was housed in a tank with a 5 inch purple tang and 7 inch Naso and was out competing those two for food. That was the deal maker for me. Each individual cbb is different as others have said. Mine doesn’t mess with coral at all but is a clam killer, where as others I have had before left them alone. He made short work of a 7 inch maxima the only positive of that has been when he decides to go on the occasional hunger strike I can seem to correct that easily with some live clam from Publix at .59 a piece. Over all I have wanted one of these guys for years and have struggled, I loved having my clam too but if I have to choose one I’ll take the CBB. They are rewarding and graceful additions to the hobby. I keep my guy in a tank with a gem and Naso as well as a few smaller fish like cardinals

I was planning to get a clam at some point but if I had to chose between the two I’m leaning more towards the CBB. Did you get your fish store to train them?

Auflyfish · Apr 13, 2022

Andresnyc93 said:
I was planning to get a clam at some point but if I had to chose between the two I’m leaning more towards the CBB. Did you get your fish store to train them?

No, literally he was there a few days I saw him and told myself no. I knew how the story of me and CBB ends so I was not looking to get him. Fast forward three weeks he was still there and kicking the purple tang and Naso tangs butt and out eating them. That’s when I decided to give this one more try. I think having a CBB that’s able to hold their ground is half the battle. If it’s too shy it doesn’t even try to compete for food in my past experience