Copperband Butterfly

renato120 · Apr 4, 2016

Everytime I go to a lfs, I want it to buy a Copperband Butterfly. Some people keep them successfully. I know they are hard to make it to eat. But my question is..... Anyone here have them without them nipping at corals? Are they just like a flame angel, hit or miss?
If you have one please share your experience.
Thank you.

Bdog4u2 · Apr 4, 2016

Their mouth is shaped for sucking out polyps it's in their dna

renato120 · Apr 4, 2016

Bdog4u2 said:
Their mouth is shaped for sucking out polyps it's in their dna

Thats too bad! I wish I could keep one in my tank

Reef Junky150 · Apr 4, 2016

I've had mine for a year. I keep mostly sps. I feed little neck clams a couple of times a week so I know clams are not an option. I also keep a queen Angel. With these two fish I don't try acans clams polyps etc. I personally don't want a mixed reef again so this start over will be sps only so I'm also able to keep these two amazing fish. Neither mess with sps. Getting a cbb to eat is a choir but I have found getting a large yields a better chance. I used these clams from the grocery and did normal feeding until naturally it became interested in other foods. A couple months mine was all it took for mine to eat anything I throw in.

WVReefJunkie · Apr 4, 2016

I have a Copperband for about a year and a half. The only things I have seen him eat at besides mysis I feed is hermit crabs, snails and aptasia. He is in a 220 Gallon system.

Reef Junky150 · Apr 4, 2016

WVReefJunkie said:
I have a Copperband for about a year and a half. The only things I have seen him eat at besides mysis I feed is hermit crabs, snails and aptasia. He is in a 220 Gallon system.

That's crazy. Mine leaves shrimp, crabs, and snails alone.

renato120 · Apr 4, 2016

Reef Junky150 said:
I've had mine for a year. I keep mostly sps. I feed little neck clams a couple of times a week so I know clams are not an option. I also keep a queen Angel. With these two fish I don't try acans clams polyps etc. I personally don't want a mixed reef again so this start over will be sps only so I'm also able to keep these two amazing fish. Neither mess with sps. Getting a cbb to eat is a choir but I have found getting a large yields a better chance. I used these clams from the grocery and did normal feeding until naturally it became interested in other foods. A couple months mine was all it took for mine to eat anything I throw in.

Beautiful fish! I have a c0llection Of acans, and some zoas... I dont think it would be a good idea....

Reef Junky150 · Apr 4, 2016

Thank you. I know mine and my Angel would just make a meal of those.

Triggreef · Apr 4, 2016

renato120 said:
Beautiful fish! I have a c0llection Of acans, and some zoas... I dont think it would be a good idea....

I have a very mixed tank, my copperband doesn't bother anything but clams.

I have caught my yellow longnose picking some stylo polyps here and there but I have a ton of stylo and the occasional pick is not even noticeable.

renato120 · Apr 4, 2016

Triggreef said:
I have a very mixed tank, my copperband doesn't bother anything but clams.

I have caught my yellow longnose picking some stylo polyps here and there but I have a ton of stylo and the occasional pick is not even noticeable.

I have a blue maxima clam too. My problem would be my acans. I have some high end ones. 25 different ones. I would hate to see them getting eat it lol.

tweeter · Apr 6, 2016

Triggreef said:
I have a very mixed tank, my copperband doesn't bother anything but clams.

I have caught my yellow longnose picking some stylo polyps here and there but I have a ton of stylo and the occasional pick is not even noticeable.

Nice tank!

Browner20 · Apr 6, 2016

I had a Copper Band for @ 8 months and originally purchased him to eradicate an aptasia problem with the intention of offering him up for free to another hobbiest with an ap issue and/or someone who wanted to provide for his unique food requirements. He made quick work of the aptasia (probably 30, I could see about 15-20 of various sizes and some pretty large) in about three months. During that time I thought I had him acclimated to frozen misis and grew very found of him so decided to keep him. He never clipped any of my SPS that I noticed and left the few zoas that I had alone. The only annoyance was his propensity to clip the antenae off of new snails added to the tank.

But for whatever reason he showed up dead one day and I am not sure why. All of the other fish in the tank are originals, 4+ years, with no die off except for an occasional jumper or sump seeker. Maybe I needed to include some other nutrient source like clams or maybe one of the reef frenzy products for finicky eaters, IDK?