If you search this forum with the term "copper band butterfly" you will find several threads including one that started in 2009 and had its last post in early 2014. There is much to learn within.
I just purchased my first CB, a fish I have always wanted since the under-gravel filter days. I purchased it from a well known email supplier with one of the best reputations around. I have purchased livestock and hard goods before and will do so again. This purchase was a what you see is what you get purchase and listed the CB "net caught", 3 1/8" in size and was eating mysis and brine "very well". This company's reputation is so stellar, I fully believed the above description to be accurate. Although I believe this company's listing to be made in good faith and believed to have posted an accurate description, it was, unfortunately, not accurate. I travel for business every week and wanted a fish, not a project. I wanted a CB between 3"-4" because the little ones would have a more difficult time adjusting to my 120 gal. mixed reef community.
Anyway, when the fish arrived [the CB was securely and professionally packaged with ample 76.5 degree water], it proved to be less than 2.5"in size. After acclimation and several hours of adjusting, the little fellow was exploring the QT and appeared calm and friendly. I partitioned the 29 gal. tank because he was sharing the aquarium with a small yellow tang. My new CB was very active and did not hide when I approached. I keep my QT up between fish purchases and it is well cycled and properly filtered with a small power head providing current. I was disappointed that his belly was not fuller but it was not shrunken either. I was told the fish had been keep keep over a month at the supplier and had been fed Hikari mysis & Hikari brine. I had the exact products so, when the little guy, appearing to be properly settled in his new home, I fed him a little of both. No interest, not even a nibble. This was on a late Friday afternoon. "No problem, let's wait on the morning."
Well, there was no change Saturday. I had a perky fish that ignored every thing I had in the freezer. I tried PE Mysis, clam cubes, several types of Ocean Nutrition frozen cubes. Hikari combo cubes and, finally, Rod's Food. I called the seller. The customer service rep. was very nice but she had no personal knowledge about the fish's diet and there was no one in the fish farm area on the weekend. She volunteered to send the care staff an email and asking the exact foods fed to the CB. No help from this direction until Monday. Sunday, my guy still refused all I offered. I did see him eat one brine shrimp & mouth a couple of other shrimp and spit them out. A small step. I also noticed he continually was picking a the ceramic boulders that provide shelter and on the glass. I realized the CB was eating pods!. When I first put the Yellow tang in the tank, I put some caulerpia [SP?] in the QT for him to nibble. I had delayed the YT's QT because I wanted to introduce both fish together upon the CB's QT completion. Apparently, the pods came on the algae and multiplied over the 4 weeks. So by chance, at least he was eating something. But those pods were not enough to support even a small CB.
Monday am, before leaving for work, I did get the CB to take some few PE Cyclop-eeze. Guess he thought they were pods. Still no interest in brine or mysis.
I got an email stating the supplier had fed the Hikari mysis and Hikari Brine with spirulina. Okay, I ordered two flats next day air. I should tell you that my nearest LFS is 136 miles away. They might have mysis but usually not and they are good folks but have limited salt water stock. Almost my purchases are made through the internet/ phone. The trusted supplier did reply to my weekend inquiry. I had sent photos of the a tape measure stretched along the QT tank with a very accommodating CB swimming behind it proving his size. It's funny but when I told the customer service representative that although the fish appeared to be slightly under 2.5" [not 3 1/8"], that he was smaller yet due to water refraction. The rule is objects appear 1/4 to 1/3 larger than real size. The lady was completely unaware of this. They did agree the the fish was smaller than described and a significant error had been made. I suggested that my fish may had come from a grow-out tank and was not the fish advertised. "No", they replied, it was the proper fish. "a typo error" had been made with the internet posting.With Copper Bands it's hard to tell one from another, at least I can not do it. They offered a $20.00 credit or refund if I wanted to keep the fish or they would send a return authorization number and pay all costs for shipping the fish back and fully refund me the price for him. I decided the little guy had done enough traveling and I would take on the project I had tried to avoid. I used the $20.00 credit for a PARTIAL payment - just shipping costs actually- for the spirulina brine shrimp. The new brine shrimp arrived Wednesday and fed that evening. My copper band butterfly completely ignored it with never a nibble. By Thursday, the little guy appears to be getting smaller.....in the belly. He continued to peck at rocks/ glass eating pods and maybe eat one or two of the plain Hikari brine. He did not like the brine with spirulina and never touched it. Mysis was and still is ignored. Thursday, I ordered black worms from California 1/2 lb. with two storage trays cost $63.99 overnight shipping included. My CB even stopped eating the PE Clclop-eeze. If the black worms where a failure, my plan was to take a leap of faith and introduce in to the D. tank. No a good option but it's full of pods, feather worms some nuisance anemones and misc stuff.
Well the black worms arrived Friday afternoon. He suddenly became a black worm eating machine eating 10 to 15 at each meal. I think he would eat more but appears to loose interest once they stopped their salt water death throes.
He seems to be a little fuller as I write this and I think my first hurdle has been passed. I will condition him for a week, my wife who reluctantly feeds the main display flake & pellets, has volunteered to feed the worms when I am away. I will use prazipro on both the tang and the butterfly. I have also already dipped each for 1 hour with paraguard at the end of acclimation. Neither fish show any signs or symptoms of disease, both are active. About every other day, I lift the partition and let the fish swim together for awhile. The CB does not appear distressed and can back off the tang who simply is being a butthead tang, bossy & pushy. The CB ignores him using the opportunity to hunt for pods in new territory. I do return each to opposite ends of the tank as we have plenty of time. My idea is the YT will act as a distraction to a larger Yellow Eye Tang. Kind of hoping the YT and a couple of mirrors will allow my little CB settle in 4 or 5 weeks from now.
I wanted to tell my story to help others with ideas and tactics that may be of help. I STRONGLY suggest, If you have access to a local fish store with quality stock, buy such fish where you can see firsthand the size, behavior and eating habits of such difficult fish before you buy. I think my supplier is still a cut above most internet livestock providers. Unfortunately, because of my location such companies are my only choice for quality stock.
Sorry for such a long winded post but the OP wanted copper band stories. I hope others follow.
RJA
. They had two copperbands: one was there for a 2/3 weeks and I had actually reserved that one las week. But when I got there to pick him up they had this new one that was more than twice as large as that one ( this one is probably 6-7 inch long). I read several times that the larger ones tend to fare better and were usually hardier so I had the dilemma: bring the one that has been in the shop the longest or the bigger one? I ended up bringing the bigger one. I figured that he will probably have a bigger chance to survive with me taking care of him than if left at the LFS so am willing to take the risk.
