Copperband Butterfly Advice

[CoralFanaticDano]

Hi Guys,
I wanted to see if you could share your experience with Copperbands. I tried juvenile from Liveaquaria for Aiptasia a few months ago and never was able to get him to eat prepared food in my 75g display. He only ate pods off of the rocks. Eventually I felt like he was starting to wither away, so I scooped him up and threw him in my 25g frag to try and get him to eat. This wasn't a good idea and didn't end well to say the least.

Liveaquaria has CBB's from Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and Philippines. Based off your experience which country would give me my best chances of success and should I go with a small, med, or large size? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Snoopy 67]

Copperbands are difficult to say the least. I finally got a good one from a friend breaking down.
HOWEVER, he only eats mysis by HIkari. I would try the Australian one myself.
There is one specific to that country, same shape but coloring is not the same & I think smaller would be better.

 

[Schnizzle]

I’ve seen this discussion a few times and the consensus is absolutely getting one from Australia will give you the best chances from “healthy” collection practices. I’m about to join you in this effort, that’s why I’ve been looking.

 

[Scurvy]

Ive seen a few people having luck getting CBB’s eating using Mastic stuck on glass with some other stuff mixed in with it such as mysis or brine shrimp. It can take them a while to go after Aiptasia from what Ive seen but they usually do eventually.

 

[Montiman]

Having kept these in the past and worked at an LFS that would get 20 or so at a time. I would say I have been able to get at least 80% to eat frozen food. The two foods copper bands seem to like in my experience are frozen Blood Worms and Clams on the Half Shell. It is best to purchase the fish locally where you can confirm the fish is eating and then feed the same food you see the fish eating. I truly do not believe copper bands are as difficult as people make them out to be.

 

[CoralFanaticDano]

Thanks fellas, all good advice. I think they also just like really large systems. I feel like if if I had a 300g aquarium he'd probably eat lol! In reality my 75g 4ft reefer 350 just isn't quite big enough for them. Which is why I too figure a smaller specimen is the way to go for the long run. Although I know some kinds of juvenile fish can be difficult to get to start eating.

You guys think quarantine is the way to go for me to try to get him to eat frozen or will they not eat in a tank that small? I may need to increase the size of my quarantine from the 20g long to something like a 40g breeder...

 

[CoralFanaticDano]

I’ve seen this discussion a few times and the consensus is absolutely getting one from Australia will give you the best chances from “healthy” collection practices. I’m about to join you in this effort, that’s why I’ve been looking.

I agree Australia is probably the safest options. Just crazy how they are 4 times more expensive than the other countries. Thanks

 

[Schnizzle]

I think the QT should be based on the specimen size. I QTd my foxface in a 10g. It was only 3” then. Now it would take a 40b.

 

[Hal3134]

I've usually had better luck getting the medium sized ones through quarantine. Which is to say the small ones, not so much. I never had an Australian version.

My current CBB is about 2 years old (in my tank) with no issues. I QT in a 20long.

Feeding has never really been an issue. Live blackworms are the best food for getting them to eat. I never tried live whiteworms. Clams in the half shell (just split open and drop in tank, or freeze, then thaw, split open and drop in tank) is another good food for them. Usually PE mysis is the next best food for getting them to eat, in my experience. Mine eats pretty much any frozen food I drop in. I can't say whether it eats flake or pellets as its too difficult to see with the food flying all over due to currents.