CopperBand Butterfly

D

dodger1v

New member
I just received a beautiful Copperbanded Butterfly from liveaquaria.com this past Friday. I have a few questions. I've been planning on getting this fish for my newer tank(90 gallon) for a while and now that my tank is ready to go (it's been up and running for 3 months cycled with rock etc.) I've got a few fish. The CBB being the sort of show fish for the tank. He won't come out from hiding behind the rocks except for very briefly. His forays are getting more frequent but still 90% of the time he's behind the rock work or in a cave.

So here's what I'm wondering. I have PE mysis that I've been trying to feed him the past few days. The first day I think he may have eaten 2. Beyond that the rest of the feedings so far he's shown no interest. My tank parameters are perfect and the clowns and goby I have are feeding aggresively and show no signs of stress. How long should I expect he'll keep himself hidden for most the time? When should I start trying to feed him mussels/clam? I have a few small clams I picked up from the store. Should I try giving him some finely chopped up bits first? Or should I just boil the clam. Then put it directly in the tank? Liveaquaria said he was eating mysis. So I'm wondering if his shyness will disipate and he'll just start eating the mysis again once he's comfortable with his surroundings.

Any help here is of course much appreciated.
 
So how do you go about feeding him? I got a few live clams that I froze. Should I take the meety part out and chop it up? Or should I like boil it first then chill it a while then put the whole clam in? Just curious how I should buy the stuff. In the shell or get the meat already chopped and frozen.
 
You got lucky, I have tried two that wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t eat. I tried every food and trick. I had one for a year that ate tube worms and aptasias. Once they were gone the fish starved to death. I wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t try another one unless it will eat everything at the store. I havenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t ever seen one that would do this yet. Good luck.
 
I'm assuming this is totally fresh uncooked clam you put in those tongs? I'll have to try that later today. I'll let you know how it works out.
 
Yes fresh clam from the grocery store. You can put the clam in the shells so it can pick it out off the bottom. A fish that is new to a tank may be afraid of you at first.
 
Attempt #1 with the fresh clam. No response.

Gonna try again later when it's closer to lights out. I might even try after the lights go out since it doesn't mind swimming around at that point.
 
I hope it works out for you. I'm planning on setting up a 94g. and a CBB is hopefully gonna call it home. Good Luck!!
 
Copperbands are notoriously hard to feed.
A quick search here at RC would have shown you that fact.
Liveaquaria will tell you anything to make a sale in my opinion.
One time a LFS here in town had a pair of nice CBB's that ate frozen food. They lived there for years until the LFS finally sold them.....and for a hefty price (because it is so rare to see CBB's eat frozen like that)
I have always wanted one too because they are beautiful fish, but I did some research here on RC and found that yes....once in a while you hear about one that eats just about anything and does well in captivity, but that is the exception...NOT the rule.

Do the species a favor and DONT buy them.
 
Attempt #2 failed again. We're making progress though. This time he checked out the clame repeatedly but didn't actually eat the food. I'm gonna grab some scallops and oysters on my way home tomorrow and try again.

He's getting more comfortable with the aquarium now too. Spending much more time out and about.

Thanks for your support guys.
 
Keep working with him dodger..... if hes getting interested... eventually hunger will get the best of him and he will feed. Patience is the key.
 
Yep yep! I'll stick with it I'm sure he'll start eating eventually. I'm pretty sure I've seen him eat a few mysis but it's hard to tell when he's doing it behind the rockwork. Thanks for the encouragment.
 
Mine eats mysis, brine shrimp and krill. She only seems to go after the pieces with eyeballs. Dunno why.
She's now the friendliest fish I have, always swims between my fingers when I put my hand in the tank.
I got her really small, she was only about 1" long. She's at least doubled in size since June 4th.
 
Just thought I'd give a little update. So my CBB is finally starting to feel more comfortable in the tank. He's started swimming out in front but only for short spans of time. I'm guessing this will pick up as time goes on. He's been picking at the rocks during his forays around the tank. Probably eating aiptasia or featherdusters both of which I have plenty for him to snack on.

Prepaired foods and even live clams are not proving to be very interesting to him as of yet. I've definitely seen him eat 1 maybe 2 mysis or a chunk of that Ocean Nutrition stuff but nothing like what my tiny clown fish do. Did anyone notice this sort of behavior? Where they eat but only a little bit at a feeding then hopefully building up to where she's out front eating more then just a few bites?

I've been trying the clams/mussels/scallops. Last night I sat and watched her for an hour as she continually checked out the live clam I placed in the tank. At various times she even had her nose in the darn thing but I didn't see her take a bite.

Oh and probably the most frustrating is that I can't be anywhere within 5 feet of the tank for him to do anything more then hide. He practically comes out and shows of for my GF and her friends but me he runs like a rabbit from a wolf. lol
 
SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :beer: :beer: :celeb2: :celeb2:
:celeb1: :celeb1::celeb1: :celeb1::celeb1: :celeb1:

Yes finally last night I got him to eat frozen mysis and eat ALOT of them. Here's what I did in case you're wondering. I've been watching him like a hawk at feeding times. All he would do is look intently at the food as it went by or eat like one mysis and watch the rest. I have watched him the last 3 nights after my tank's lights go off and keep my room light on so there's some ambient light in the room coming into the tank. Well as soon as the lights go out he'd be out and about looking around the tank swimming doing w/e.

I've been trying clams, live, chopped up, put mysis in the clam shell pretty much everything I could think of. Nothing worked. So last night right after lights went out I took some thawed PE mysis and put it in the tank like I would at normal feeding time. HE WENT CRAZY ON THE STUFF! He finished off what was half a cube rather fast then was frantically looking around for more. So I took a few little chunks of some ocean nutrition VHP and some Hikari Mysis to see if he'd eat that too. Yes he did and ate like a pig. Oh I was so happy. lol I'm hoping this is just because he's still not totally comfortable with his new home yet. If it turns out this is the only way he'll eat then dawn and dusk feedings for her and I'll be a happy camper and so will my beautiful fish.

I just thought I'd share to give people yet another example of a different approach to getting this beautiful fish to eat. Lord knows I did try everything I had read here.
 
I've had mine for about 4 or 5 years now. It used to only eat my homemade mush. Now, with a Tomini tang as a tankmate, it actually started to eat(vigorously) flake food! The CB attacks it as soon as it hits the water.
 
So he won't eat with with me there with the tank lights on, but he's eating his mysis from his lair in the back. He's also spending alot more time swimming out and about.

He still gets really scared sometimes and scratched himself on his side just a bit. It sucks cause not eating worried me now he's got himself a few scratches on himself that are worrying me. lol If it's not one thing it's another. ;;
 
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