Copper Banded Butterflies

[Weege]

I would like to get a copper banded butterfly, but I've heard horor stories about them. I've heard that they are very hard to get home, and keep alive. I've also been told that if they live for the first few weeks, you're probably fine. Can anyone offer any insight into this? Where's the best place to buy one? I have a medium sized tube anemone. Will the copper banded bother it?

Any suggestions???

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Double-J]

I think the main problem with CBB are they don't eat. I have had one die in the past. The one I have now is going on about 4 months. He eats mysis all day long. I suggest going to a LFS and have them feed it. It might mess with the tube anemone, It definitely eats aptasia!

 

[glaspie69]

I think copperbands are hit and miss, some do just fine and some just don't. We've had three and the longest we kept one alive was about 2 months or so, I've seen others keep them alive for years. I'm not sure that the copperband would bother the anemone as much as the anemone would bother the copperband. I'm thinking the anemone would stress the copperband out quite a bit and that will probably kill it. But I can't make you any guarantees

 

[waverz]

I heard what Jason said........hit or miss.

 

[Fishy1]

Hi,

My daughter works at Iowa Pet and brought one home about a year ago. She had fed him at work and knew he was eating when she purchased him. He also would come right up to her and look at her when she peered in the tank. Very personable He went into quarantine and then in to her 135 gallon reef. He was fine in it for several months and then started in eating her LPS.......candycanes and acan lords. Would nip the feeding tentacles right out. She had a tube anemone and it never bothered it or was bothered by it. Not to say that you would have the same experience, but in her case it was fine. She removed him from her 135 and I "inherited" him He's been in my care for over 6 months and I just love him. I have him in my 120 and he's a perfect gentlemen with my corals. I have no LPS so hopefully he will continue to be my favorite fish He will eat mysis, brine, and prime reef out of my hand. Extremely layed back fish in my opinion. I was only feeding him once a day and he looked a bit thin. I now feed him 2 to 3 times a day and he is putting on weight and growing. They do not seem to grow very fast which is nice. He gets along with all of my other fish too. I second the fact that you need to see it eating before you buy it.........also don't buy one that has bright "orange peel" colored bands. The first one I bought ate like a pig but died anyway a few days after purchase.......always thought it might have been cyanide caught. The one I have now is more gold colored in it's banding. Hope you find this info helpful........they are a beautiful exotic looking fish, that's for sure!

Janey

 

[Coralfreak]

Hey Dan,

Agree 100% with them being hit or miss, also if you have the ability to see one at a local store you would want to see that it is at least eating mysis, its very easy to get them started on this. If, like me, you dont have much access to a local store, you may have to go with ordering online. I would go through Drs Foster and Smith(Liveaquaria.com), mainly because they offer a 14day guarantee. You've got two choices, order one hope it lives or do what I did, order 2 or 3 and hope one lives, I know that sounds bad but its not easy to get one that will do well. If you do go the route of getting more than one, you'll need to keep them seperated as they will fight and this will certainly not help their chances. If they arent going to make it, it will most likely happen in the first few days, which sucks, but you can at least get a refund on your purchase price, keep in mind that you cannot get a refund on the shipping which is why I went with more than one. If they make it through the first couple weeks and you get them eating mysis, you should be good to go. I am assuming you have some aiptasia in your tank you are trying to get rid of? It would actually be the best if you did as they are going to go after those much faster than any food you give them, you need something to help get them started. If you get really lucky and more than one makes it, I dont think you'd have much problem finding someone to take it. That is just my $.02. Good luck, they are cool fish and will rid your tank of aiptasia, but they are not an easy fish to care for.

Allen

 

[Weege]

Yes...I have a fair bit of aptasia in the tank, and I have tried and tried to get rid of it, but nothing works. The largest problem is that a the majority of it is unreachable with my fat hands, and if I can't kill all if it, it'll never go away. So...since I really like the Coper Banded it's a great potential solution, but I don't really want to have to buy 3 of them to get a live one.

Dan

 

[Diablitaroja]

I'm sure it's an option you've already considered and maybe tried, but I've had fantastic luck with them -- peppermint shrimp.

Some places sell groups of five which for pretty cheap and that would be a pretty fair amount for a 75. They're really quite hardy they'll eat anything you put in the tank so they'll never starve even after the aiptasia is gone. They also spawn pretty regularly if your tank is healthy (every two weeks or so) which is interesting and good for feeding corals and other animals. Copperbands are beautiful, but maybe peppermints are a safer option if you're worried about having bad luck finding a healthy/eating copperband.

Best of luck
Rachael

 

[Weege]

Thanks for the input, Rachael. I have tried pepermints, but I only had 2. They didn't seem to do anything to the aptasia. Did I just not have enough of them?

 

[Fishy1]

Was at Iowa Pet this morning (daughter works there) and she pointed out a Copperband that is eating mysis Only thing, it does have one spot of lympho on it's tail.......I've heard it can be removed with your fingernail sometimes.......no guarantee that this is a good fish, but it IS eating and seemed personable..... like mine Just thought I'd let you know..........didn't ask how much is was..............

Janey

 

[Weege]

Hey Janey,

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately I live about 3.5 hours away from DM, so I don't think I will be stopping in to take a look. But I appreciate the info.

Dan

 

[VikeBron]

I will give you mine if you can get him out of the tank. I am currently trying to catch him and get him out. He is picking and eating everything in sight. Brains, polyps, zoos, acans, clams etc.
I am considering a speargun soon.