Copperband Butterfly Primer

[aandfsoccr04]

My copperband I picked up a few weeks ago:

 

[SDguy]

Looks good! Notice how nice and filled out he is around the forehead.

 

[Paul B]

Paul, your advice about blackworms was especially helpful. I kept resisting them for no good reason. They prompt a great feeding response and I've quickly noticed some improvements in the health/coloration with all my fishes.

Copperbands were designed to eat worms and that is what they eat in the sea as I have dove with them. Blackworms are the secret to this hobby and I have been using them for fifty years. All of my paired fish are spawning, about 6 pairs.

Does anyone enrich the live blackworms? Or is that not necessary. And if so, with what products and concentrations?
Thanks.

That is not necessary. I also feed white worms that I breed and I enrich those with fish oil as they live in soil and it is easy to enrich and breed them.

 

[knight2255]

Finally got mine eating both selcon gut loaded grindal and white worms. He still has a bit of lymphocytis but that will hopefully go away this week as he eats regularly now.

 

[widebody]

where do you get the white worms ?

 

[SDguy]

My aussie specimen has settled in nicely!

 

[owenspackman]

I got mine this past weekend in Orlando. She drove 6 1/2 hours home with me. She has been greedily eating black works and taken a few pieces of mysis too.

She will be in quarantine for 6 weeks minimum. She is currently undergoing cupermine treatment. She has a slight mark above her right eye which she keeps scratching, I'm hoping this is just a small wound suffered during capture/transport and will heal soon. Fingers crossed!

 

[SDguy]

One more shot of my guy... really gives a good idea of how much brighter the orange is on the aussie specimens.

 

[H.reidi.MN]

What are your guy's thoughts on treating with copper? I read a cbb might not do well with it? I have 2 fish in QT in observation mode right now and i might add a copperband but only if it can go under the same treatment as my tang and angel?

Thanks

 

[SDguy]

I ran all 3 Chelmon species through cupramine without issue.

 

[rlpardue]

I wanted to share what I use to feed my copperband. Its a simple PVC end cap and adapter to plug it off. I drilled some small holes in it for him to get to the food. The great thing is he is the only fish that can get to it.

Hope this helps out some of you with picky eaters.

Hella

Wow, I'd like to thank this poster for the awesome post (from a long time ago). I bought an Asian CBB the other day and used this idea to make sure she gets plenty to eat.

I have a blue-throat trigger that eats like a starving puppy, and the CBB seems like a more deliberate and thoughtful feeder. This was the first time I've seen a visibly healthy CBB specimen that readily accepts mysis in the LFS. While it's not Aussie, I pulled the trigger anyway.

In a modification of the older poster's feeding station idea, I used two threaded PVC pieces - one endcap and one plug. They screw together, leaving a hollow area in the middle. I drilled some holes around the sides and on the front of the plug, then used small zipties to attach the PVC contraption to an old Koralia magnet.

It took the CBB about 3-4 minutes to figure out where the bits of mysis were coming from. She parks downstream of the feeding station and snips up the bits of Hikari mysis that drift out of the PVC. Later that evening I saw her sticking her snout into the holes and eating directly from the station. (Woot!)

 

[Tracey2]

I have 3 copperbands, all in seperate tanks, the one in my mixed reef is picking on my donut coral so I would like to move her. My question is, if I move her it would have to be to my 270g with another copperband, what are my chances of them getting along, anyone keep more than one together?

 

[Paul B]

I have had them together and they got along as long as they were the same size, the last two I put together, the larger one almost killed the small one in 5 minutes and I had to remove him. Maybe two males fight but you can't tell the difference.

 

[SDguy]

You can try it but have a backup plan if things go south. IME when butterflies start fighting it can get really vicious really fast.

 

[Tracey2]

Thanks guys, I think I will catch to coral eater in my trap and put him in a box in the other tank to observe for a awhile.

PaulB, I think you are right about the male/female thing, I have always wondered if thats why some people have luck putting tangs/angels etc together while others have no luck, I wish we could tell the difference.

 

[zombot]

I currently have a marginalis butterfly around 2 inches long as well as a copperband around the same size for a month now. Both of them took to frozen mysis immediately in quarantine tank and continue to do so with prazi and cupramine. NO aggression. I guess in Australia we have the luxury of getting the hardier kind.

 

[SDguy]

I guess in Australia we have the luxury of getting the hardier kind.

We get them here too, they are just expensive

 

[Hella]

Wow, I'd like to thank this poster for the awesome post (from a long time ago). I bought an Asian CBB the other day and used this idea to make sure she gets plenty to eat.

I have a blue-throat trigger that eats like a starving puppy, and the CBB seems like a more deliberate and thoughtful feeder. This was the first time I've seen a visibly healthy CBB specimen that readily accepts mysis in the LFS. While it's not Aussie, I pulled the trigger anyway.

In a modification of the older poster's feeding station idea, I used two threaded PVC pieces - one endcap and one plug. They screw together, leaving a hollow area in the middle. I drilled some holes around the sides and on the front of the plug, then used small zipties to attach the PVC contraption to an old Koralia magnet.

It took the CBB about 3-4 minutes to figure out where the bits of mysis were coming from. She parks downstream of the feeding station and snips up the bits of Hikari mysis that drift out of the PVC. Later that evening I saw her sticking her snout into the holes and eating directly from the station. (Woot!)

Howdy! Glad to see that all these years later that it's still helping!

 

[zombot]

We get them here too, they are just expensive

Haha yeah i forget that. I was at LFS the other day and saw a bunch of 1.5inch lennardi wrasse for 30 bucks each and remember reading that they're a couple of 100 where you guys are. Though, we too pay premiums for common fish that you guys have.

Trying to get the two butterflies on some clams. Any tips?

 

[SDguy]

Try various seafood meats... freeze then, then cut them into long thin strips (easier to do when frozen). This has worked for me, especially with large diver sea scallops.