copperband butterfly

[molotov]

I have yet to purchase any fish and would like a community tank. I know I want a copperband butterfly and understand they are a challenging fish. I'm thinking I might need to introduce this particular fish first. While I quarantine it for 6 weeks I will try to get it to eat a variety of food and try to keep the stress levels low. This should insure success when I introduce it into the display. With no other fish in the display I'm hoping he won't need to compete for food and become stressed by other fish.

I would also like to add clown fish, angel fish, tangs. Also this will be a reef tank.

Is this a sound approach or should I try a different method?

 

[rssjsb]

How big is your tank? You're on the right track putting the butterfly in first, but I would approach this fish with caution.

Unfortunately, there's no way to ensure that it will thrive long-term. Some never eat, and some will eat and just turn up dead after a few months.

At a minimum, I would advise waiting until you find a copperband that's eating and looks fat and healthy at the LFS. Still, it's a risk. You may get lucky, but you may also need to feed it live blackworms for a long while (and maybe always) to keep its body weight up. I would avoid aggressive tangs and angels as tankmates. A yellow tang, for example, while it is ordinarily fine in a reef tank, can be tough on a copperband.

 

[Woodstock]

+1 on the live blackworms!

I'm on week three with my CBB in QT.

He wouldn't eat any thing for the first week and a half,
Thought he was a goner for sure.

Then got some live blackworms,
He slowly came around to eating.

Now he is eating frozen Mysis & Brine shrimp.

He is still very shy and easily spooked.

 

[Rapide]

I once got a big, healthy well eating Copperband. I acclimated it well, and it got along with all of the fishes I already had, even the Yellow tang.
The Copperband ate well, and it was really healthy for so long.
Then one day it started to lose weight. It ate mysis, krill, brine, shrimp, mollusks - basically everything. This went on for a week, and by that time it was so skinny that on the last day it couldn't stand up, and I decided to put it to rest. The day before it still ate like a pig...
Haven't had the guts to get a new one yet. I feel really bad for that amazing fish. It was the FIRST I ever lost, excluding the gobies that have jumped out of the tank...
A little warning - it may die! Soon...
If you have experience with butterflies then go ahead, but if not don't beat yourself up if it does not make it...
Also, might be a good thing to have other calm fishes there too. They tend to do better with friends. The pack creates a feeling of security. Alone it might be scared all the time and stress... My advise would be other "easy-to-keep-butterflies" (if such exists), such as the Hemitaurichthys zoster or polylepis, Forcipiger flavissimus or any other fish with similar feeding habits so you don't have to feed all sorts of different foods and add the load on your system.

 

[Triton_Z]

Rapide,

I wonder if your CBB had worms or some internal parasite given the healthy appetite, but lack of body mass and final demise over time. You would be surprised how many fish need to be de-wormed.

Your point is still well made, CBB are delicate and most are difficult to acclimate to captive life. There are other hardy choices available and should be considered.

Molotov, your approach is sound and acquiring a healthy and eating specimen with sufficient body mass should help your odds. I would QT and de-worm with prazipro or praziquantel no matter which fish you decide to stock.

 

[A sea K]

The one I got was eating well at the LFS but refused to eat for a little over a week and would stay hidden whenever I approached the tank.. My tank had plenty of aptasia and I knew he was eating them so that helped give me a little extra time. He finally started to take PE mysys and now he follows me around like a little dog at feeding time. If I could hold one of those little pieces by hand I'm sure he would eat right out of my fingers.
I did do 2 Prazi treatment's for the whole tank as a preventive measure, He's only been around just short of a month but things look pretty good.

 

[Rapide]

Triton, that is what is think too... It just went so fast that there was nothing I could do
Now I have a Forcipiger longirostris and I'm going slipping of my mind with him! It gets so much TLC that my other fishes are getting jealous
Well, that is the only fish that I have to "feed", the others just eat... I hava so hungry fishes that I really have to make sure he gets his share of mysis...
I will eventually get a new Copperband, but not yet.
Yesterday I placed an order for a Chaetodon mitratus! Why do I do this to myself?! Haha!!
A sea K, mine did eat from my hand! I have a video of him eating on YouTube!
Just watch my channel, my username is Kakkakettu in YouTube. There is some videos from my old tank, and maybe 2 or 3 from my new tank... Nice shots of my Copperband hunting

 

[molotov]

Thanks for all the advise. I know they are sensitive but if I take the approach I've outlined hopefully I'll have some success.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've had several CBB's over the years, some lived for years while others didn't seem to last long. If you can, put some good LR in your QT that has plenty of pods and such living in them. This will give him a natural food source.

The longest surviving CBB I had was eating pellets. He "learned" this by watching my other fish eat them The only fish that I ever had a problem with him was when I intriduced my Moorish Idol. Up until that point, my CBB never paid attention to anyone. But I beleive because of the similar body shape, he saw the MI as a competitor for food. But they soon became buddies and were often seen swimming together foraging for food.

 

[A sea K]

Yesterday I placed an order for a Chaetodon mitratus! Why do I do this to myself?! Haha!!

Outstanding!!! My dream fish. I've always wanted one right from my start in the hobby by just cant justify the cost on one fish. From what I understand they are much easier to acclimate to a captive environment than most BF's. Even still wish you the best of luck with your new acquisition. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Rapide]

I will... I bet that these local hobbyists are also a bit interested, for what I know there has not been a single mitratus imported to Finland... You know, small country and not that many people in this hobby, everyone knows everyone And you bet they know me...

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I once got a big, healthy well eating Copperband. I acclimated it well, and it got along with all of the fishes I already had, even the Yellow tang.
The Copperband ate well, and it was really healthy for so long.
Then one day it started to lose weight. It ate mysis, krill, brine, shrimp, mollusks - basically everything. This went on for a week, and by that time it was so skinny that on the last day it couldn't stand up, and I decided to put it to rest. The day before it still ate like a pig...
Haven't had the guts to get a new one yet. I feel really bad for that amazing fish. It was the FIRST I ever lost, excluding the gobies that have jumped out of the tank...
A little warning - it may die! Soon...
If you have experience with butterflies then go ahead, but if not don't beat yourself up if it does not make it...
Also, might be a good thing to have other calm fishes there too. They tend to do better with friends. The pack creates a feeling of security. Alone it might be scared all the time and stress... My advise would be other "easy-to-keep-butterflies" (if such exists), such as the Hemitaurichthys zoster or polylepis, Forcipiger flavissimus or any other fish with similar feeding habits so you don't have to feed all sorts of different foods and add the load on your system.

How long did you have the fish? If it died within the first 60-90 days after eating so well (common), I would suspect damage in capture or transport. As noted, flukes also are a possibility.

 

[Rapide]

I had it for 5 months, and my LFS kept it for 2-3 months before that. It was actually ordered in my another aquarist, but he never came to pick it up.
I saw how good and healthy specimen it was (so it seemed) and told that if the person who ordered it (whom I know well) doesn't pick it up, then I'll take it.

The sad sad thing is, that yesterday after I had fed my fishes and left the house, my fiance called me in panic and said that the "snout fish" (Forcipiger longirostris) is in the powerhead!
I told to get it off, and watch what is going on!
Later I got a call that the "whisker crabs" (Lysmata amboinensis) are eating it alive!

I haven't seen the fish yet, I was collecting shrimps at the Baltic sea at the moment and I have to wait till tonite...

There is 3 possible things that could have happened:
1. Mysis went in to a stream and the fish chased it in. This has almost happened before!
2. Zebra lionfish sting.
3. A tang attack! (Sohal, yellow, kole, powder blue, hippo) Sohal is the only one capable to kill...