Copperband Butterfly Primer

[huig]

Looking at how finicky they were in the beginning, nibbling very carefully at some mysis, I was really surprised when accidentally a large worm fell into the tank (feeding another fish) and she swallowed it whole.

But in 2-3 days all the feather duster worms were all gone.

 

[Paul B]

Almost any worms are a great food for fish, expecially copperband and long nosed butterflies. When the saltwater hobby first started there was no salt water aquarium food so I would often collect worms to feed the fish.

 

[ptan]

@Sdguy: I' ve been feeding earthworms for several years without ill effects.

I just rinse the earthworms in a glass of tap water and feed them with tweezers.

The really big ones (over 6-7) cm i cut in pieces. But my CBBb prefers them if not too large (so max 6-7 cm) it's a guess off course as I' ve never measured a worm

Try with small worms in the beginning.

@Ptan: Indeed it are those kind of worms.

thanks huig... will definitely try that... our community have earthworms/nightcrawlers farm... will ask for a sample... thanks again...

 

[SDguy]

@Sdguy: I' ve been feeding earthworms for several years without ill effects.

I figured that, since you are posting it

My concern is for people digging up random worms, without knowing what's in the soil. Washing them thoroughly won't remove the earth inside them, unless you actually squeeze that out, correct?

 

[huig]

@SDguy:

If the worms don' t come from a polluted area there really is no problem.
If you' re not going to dig worms in lets say Love Canal New York or Times beach Missouri, worms are safe.

There is actually more 'bioaccumulated' pollution in marine organisms.

To give just one example: Most bivalves (mussle, oyesters) are filter feeders and are indiscriminate (only size matters) , if it rains lots of sediment containing runoff gets into the sea, and these particles are coated with a lot of persistent organic pollutants.

BTW looking at pollution patterns is a part of what I do for a living.

 

[SDguy]

I was thinking more in terms of fetilizer in a backyard.

I think it was PaulB, correct me if I'm wrong, that commented about squeezing the inside out of the worms. Does anyone do this prior to feeding? I am of course unsure of the pros/cons of doing this (ie removing good and bad things).

 

[Paul B]

That would be for large worms like nightcrawlers, it would be too hard for small worms but those could just be kept for a few days and few clean dead leaves to purge their systems

 

[DallasSVT]

No, blackworms are real worms not mosqueto larval, those are sold as blood worms but not really mosqueto larval but another type of insect and not a good food for saltwater fish.

Blood Worms are NOT good for saltwater fish???


Dallas

 

[Monkeyfish]

They're really not that great for any fish.

 

[loglew]

My copperband has now been in the display tank for a year:rollface: I have had this fish for 1 year 3 months as he spent 3 months in QT learning how to eat.(Time well spent!) By far my favorite fish. He actively eats and competes for all types of frozen Mysis, brine, bloodworms, krill, ex"¦ has been observed sampling flake but I'm not convinced he has eaten any. Won't give pellets the time of day, swims away from any drifting nori, but when I can get them (only about twice a year) will get devourer black warms.:dance:

 

[reefmusic]

I have read much of this thread with interest, but it's long and I may have missed bits. I am interested in people's thoughts on a baby CBB I caught yesterday. I don't think he'd quite make 1 inch

He is swimming perkily around the QT this morning, nibbling and the live rock, but I suspect there aren't many pods in there as the QT was used for hypo treatment of ich a few months back, and only water changes since then would have introduced any plankton etc.

As well as nibbling the rock he has eaten a few particles of fine flake that I added (and was just circulating in the flow). So, looks like he will adapt to eating in his new environment. My other concern is his size when I finally move him to the display tank.

 

[reefmusic]

Here's a couple of snaps of the baby CBB I was talking about. I am assuming the difference in colours are juvenile colourations, but maybe he's a slightly different species?

 

[Monkeyfish]

Nice find. Try feeding him cut up black worms - since he's so small I'd cut the blackworms so that they are no longer than an inch.

 

[reefmusic]

Nice find. Try feeding him cut up black worms - since he's so small I'd cut the blackworms so that they are no longer than an inch.

Yes, I'll need to make a trip to the lfs and get some.

 

[serpentman]

I just picked up 2 small CBB's. After several failures I've decided these guys are going to do a 3 month stint in QT with no competition. So far they are gobbling up frozen angelfish/butterfly diet. I've put an aptasia rock in there as well and will eventually train them to eat from a feeder. Fingers crossed..

 

[tcmfish]

That tiny copperband is amazing! Not a different species, but very cool! That might be the smallest one I've seen, even though its just a pic.

 

[jdieck]

Ok so when they arrive remove them to a rubbermaid container after rinsing them off. Weekly rinse them and add just enough water to cover all the worms

I rinse them more often and the more worms the more often I need to rinse, every three to four days as a minimum and change their water using RO/DI.

 

[Perched Urchin]

Question about chosing "the right" fish.
I have an opportunity to pick up a rather large Aussie CB from an LFS (6"). It is a magnificent fish! It came in last week and is aggressively eating brine out of the water column. Haven't seen it eat mysis or anything else yet. There is also a smaller specimen from the Phillipines that they have had in the store for over 30 days and it is eating well too.
I am assuming the larger fish may be heartier, and I have really wanted an Aussie CBB; however, I am curious if being older, larger and more experienced in the wild, could this be potentially problematic for adaptation to aquarium life? Also, although I know it is completely a fish-to-fish thing, could this also lead to a propensity to being less reef compatible than perhaps a smaller fish that has been "trained' to eat the foods we provide at a much earlier stage in life?
As you can imagine, there is a large price difference between a small (3") Phillipines-caught fish and the large Aussie fish, so I really want to make sure I am not asking for more problems than I am avoiding by getting the larger fish.

 

[Paul B]

In your tank I would get the smaller one, but make sure it will eat what "you" will be feeding it. Brine shrimp do not count.

 

[zukharla]

I have a CBB that I've had for about a year now. I have him in with a Navarchus Angel and a Harlequin Tuskfish and he is far from intimidated by them! He will often steal food right out of their mouths and is a very boisterous fish. He will eat everything and anything I put in the tank but his favourites are mussels and mysis shrimp. I make sure to give him a very varied diet with lots and lots of protein as they have a huge protein requirement and I believe this is why a lot of eating CBBs dont last long in captivity.
He is in a reef tank and does not pick at any of the corals. He's a great fish.