Would you quarantine a Copperband Butterfly by itself?

abossi2 · Feb 8, 2017

I recently had a marine velvet outbreak and lost several fish. I pulled the remaining out of DT into a QT tank for treatment and did a long fallow period in my DT. From here on out I plan to QT all fish. I plan to buy several fish to restock and would like to QT several at the same time (in a 20 gallon). One of the fish I have always wanted is a Copperband. I know that they can be tricky to get eating. Would it be best to have the Copperband in QT by itself so that it has a better chance of eating OR would it be ok to QT him with other smaller peaceful fish (I am thinking of 2 occ clowns and maybe a goby or blenny). The Copperband would be the largest fish I am buying. So QT by itself or would it be ok with a few other small fish in QT?

saltyhog · Feb 8, 2017

I vote by itself. You may have to experiement with different foods to get him to eat. This would be more difficult with competing fish and would increase the bioload/ammonia difficulties.

dbl · Feb 8, 2017

saltyhog said:
I vote by itself. You may have to experiement with different foods to get him to eat. This would be more difficult with competing fish and would increase the bioload/ammonia difficulties.

I would vote the same way. I will also add, if you're getting your CBB locally, make them show you that it's eating prior to purchase. Obviously not possible if you're ordering. Just food for thought (pun intended)!

wkscott · Feb 8, 2017

By himself. As saltyhog says too much competition for the food. Also even though he is a bigger fish, they are shy and skiddish. Two clowns in a 20 gallon can become territorial and aggressive and can become bullies.

Chet Kaviratne · Feb 8, 2017

I've had a copper band for over a year. If your going to QT him have some rock. It is a hunter who looks through rocks and eats little critters. I trained mine by rubbing mysis shrimp cube on a rock. Good luck!