Copperband Butterfly Primer

eating red marine algae... with a big fat belly!

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Bladez said:
Mine CBB (almost 2 years in my tank) has never bothered my clams.
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What a pleasant suprise Bladez. My Long Nose Butterfly eats nori but my CB has never looked twice at any variety. And I would have really expected your guy to have a hard time with the all those tangs in your tank. But he seems to be very healthy.

Did you do anything unusual to get him eating from the algae clip or was he just inspired by the tangs?
 
Very interesting!! I wouldn't have thought it would eat algae like that! The blenny makes me LOL a bit too :)
 
Dakota Reef & SDguy thanks for the feedback.

The blenny is always on the lookout for scraps and will occasionally nip at the algae - mostly he's just there to watch.
 
He (or she?) has never had any issues with the Tangs but up till recently he has always been target fed with PE Mysis. About 6 weeks ago I got the Achilles and started feeding the Red Algae a couple times per day. In an attempt to prevent the algae sheet from being ripped to shreds I started folding a half sheet of algae into a roll of about 1" x 4" then I fold the roll in half and place it in the clip. I think the thing that triggered his eating response was the folds in the algae as he dives into those folds as if he is trying to pick at a clam in a shell "“ that's just a guess though. He doesn't touch the algae if there isn't a fold and he doesn't eat any of the free floating algae.

P.S. At first he was spitting the algae out but after about a week of this I noticed that he was actually consuming the algae. I have had this guy for a while now and with the PE Mysis only diet I never saw his belly full. But now he consistently has a belly bulge and I'm hoping to see his body fill out more.

I would be interested in to know if this would work for someone else... Report back if you try it.


Dakota Reef said:
What a pleasant suprise Bladez. My Long Nose Butterfly eats nori but my CB has never looked twice at any variety. And I would have really expected your guy to have a hard time with the all those tangs in your tank. But he seems to be very healthy.

Did you do anything unusual to get him eating from the algae clip or was he just inspired by the tangs?
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Anyone else gonna try this?

Bladez said:
In an attempt to prevent the algae sheet from being ripped to shreds I started folding a half sheet of algae into a roll of about 1" x 4" then I fold the roll in half and place it in the clip. I think the thing that triggered his eating response was the folds in the algae as he dives into those folds as if he is trying to pick at a clam in a shell "“ that's just a guess though. He doesn't touch the algae if there isn't a fold and he doesn't eat any of the free floating algae.


I would be interested in to know if this would work for someone else... Report back if you try it.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for the late response.... I'm using ocean nutrition red marine algae. I've tried the green algae but he will not accept it.

Right now I'm feeding Selcon soaked PE Mysis every 2-3 days and feeding red marine algae (which he attacks) two or more times per day. I was feeding PE Mysis every day (just for him) which severely interrupts my skimmer performance and adds a lot of un-wanted nutrients to the tank. So, in summary I'm feeding a better food product (IMO), creating less waste and getting better skimmer performance.

Only time will tell if this is a good feeding regimen.

SDguy said:
What brand is it? I have a marginalis and at least with nori, it's a no go.
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PS the Marginalis is a good looking fish - care to share some photos?

Bladez said:
Sorry for the late response.... I'm using ocean nutrition red marine algae. I've tried the green algae but he will not accept it.

Right now I'm feeding Selcon soaked PE Mysis every 2-3 days and feeding red marine algae (which he attacks) two or more times per day. I was feeding PE Mysis every day (just for him) which severely interrupts my skimmer performance and adds a lot of un-wanted nutrients to the tank. So, in summary I'm feeding a better food product (IMO), creating less waste and getting better skimmer performance.

Only time will tell if this is a good feeding regimen.
Click to expand...
 
Bladez said:
Right now I'm feeding Selcon soaked PE Mysis every 2-3 days and feeding red marine algae (which he attacks) two or more times per day. I was feeding PE Mysis every day (just for him) which severely interrupts my skimmer performance and adds a lot of un-wanted nutrients to the tank. So, in summary I'm feeding a better food product (IMO), creating less waste and getting better skimmer performance.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if CBB would be the same (assume so) as my marginalis, but mine goes nuts for long slices of diver scallop. I agree, I had the same issues with constant PE mysis feeding. The scallop is super clean.

Bladez said:
PS the Marginalis is a good looking fish - care to share some photos?
Click to expand...

I'll try to get some this weekend.
 
Point n shoot camera + T5's..ugh, tough to get good pics. Here are some with and without flash...
IMG_1559-1.jpg


IMG_1594-1.jpg


IMG_1588.jpg


IMG_1583-1.jpg
 
i added a CBB and the powder blue kept chasing after it and due to no feed it died 2 days later .

Any tips ?
 
If it died in 2 days, either the pbt killed it or it came in diseased (probably a combination of both as the fish likely was weakened from capture and transport and stress from the pbt was the last straw). CBBs are bad shippers and often caught and transported in a manner that leaves them near death. Many die in the first couple of days in home tanks, and many more die within the next 30-60 days. Thus, you should only buy from really good sources and see the fish eating before you buy it if it is from a lfs.

Quarantine all of your fish before putting them in your dt. In addition to treating for disease, it lets you get the fish eating before it has to deal with other fish in your tank.

CBBs are picky eaters, so even healthy ones can take a week to 10 days to start eating and then only eat a limited menu of foods. Many only eat live blackworms for a long time.

It can be difficult to add other fish to a tank with an established pbt. They seem to accept some fish and not others without any real reason. You might want to try using an acclimation box or removing the pbt from the dt for a while when you add new fish.
 
My copperband loves whiteworms. Very easy to culture in mass quantities and wriggle around in saltwater for up to 3 hours for me so I think stimulate a strong feeding response. Blackworms die within minutes of hitting saltwater so unless they get eaten up fast, they stop wriggling and the copperband loses interest.

He pretty much refuses everything else I have tried to feed, including fresh mussels, clams and oysters, frozen mysis, and brine shrimp.

Without the worms, I think my copperband would be long gone.
 
I will continue trying the clam/mussel approach as that would give him a nice volume of nutritious food to fill his belly.

It took him about one day for him to get accustomed to eating the white worms, but now he chows down on them with verve! :).
 
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