Copperband Butterfly

[TrojanScott]

Okay fellow reefers, looking for advice and tips.

I've never really had luck with Copperbands. I want to try one again, but wondering if I should bother.

My tank is 300 gallons, plenty of live rock and hiding spots, etc. I do have some aggressive fish however, including two small yellow tangs, a small purple, and a 15 year old blue tang who at times can be a jerk.

My thought is even getting a healthy Copperband who is eating, might be tough do to the aggression of the other fish.

I don't know too many people who keep these successfully, but I know it's been done.

Thoughts?

 

[solitude127]

I think the trick is getting them to eat early. If they eat, I think they might have a better chance. But I'm definitely not the guru on CBB, I'm 0-3

 

[fixmgood]

Just got one on Tuesday. I decided to set up a qt tank,got it in there and have been feeding frozen brine shrimp and black worms and am pleased to see it eating. I also have 2 wrasses and 2 goat fish in there all are eating. In the past I have just acclimated the fish and into the tank they go. I decided to change my evil ways as qt is the cheaper way to go.


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[duyhuynh]

I have tried this before and it worked.

First you need to get a healthy one to start with. Go to 405 tropical since I got mine there. They treat all of there fishes, so you can call them to see if they have one for you. Price is very good.

Then it comes to feeding. I buy frozen shrimp and chop it off into smaller pieces. I feed all my fishes and they love it. The copperband would eat at first, but the 3rd or 4th day, it started eating. I had it for about 10 months before I sold it because my blue tang was beefing up the copperband.

Keep in mind that I do have chaeto and pods in my sump, so there s unlimited sources of food. It might go after your acan, scoly, or some other LPS corals if they feel hungry.

Good luck and let me know how it goes. Thanks

 

[dodgerblew]

I bought a wild one, 2 1/2 inches, 3-4 weeks ago. They love live blackworms. I started it on this and live brine shrimps, then started freezing the live worms and it went for that no problem and now I mix the frozen blackworms with reef frenzy and it looks for the worms and starting to pick on the frenzy. Hoping in time it'll be more interested in the RF but it's eating good, weights good too.

 

[duyhuynh]

I bought a wild one, 2 1/2 inches, 3-4 weeks ago. They love live blackworms. I started it on this and live brine shrimps, then started freezing the live worms and it went for that no problem and now I mix the frozen blackworms with reef frenzy and it looks for the worms and starting to pick on the frenzy. Hoping in time it'll be more interested in the RF but it's eating good, weights good too.

Nice score. Too bad the one I sold you nipped on your corals. Hahaha

 

[benibarra23]

Dominate tangs have always been a problem for me and Coppers. They just arent strong enough to defend themselves from them.

 

[dodgerblew]

Nice score. Too bad the one I sold you nipped on your corals. Hahaha

Yours was amazing Duy but it was to big. This ones 1.5" smaller and fits the tank much better. Yours went to a great home

 

[ycnibrc]

Before u put it in your main tank u need to teach them eating first. I go to Asian market and buy some small clam they will eat that readyly. Then u can supplement with pe mysis until they eat mysis. The only problem is if u go on vacation u need someone feed the mysis or it will starve. When they eat n gaining weight then u can put it in the main tank.

 

[All Delight]

I have the Marginalis Copperband Butterfly. I got 2 to start, both put into separate tanks. One died within a few days, never ate. The other ate within a couple days and is still doing well after several months. I did 2 orders of 1000 copepods for the first 2 weeks to ensure there was natural food it could find on it's own. That may have helped and I would definitely go that route again.

 

[m0nkie]

mine only eats acans, scoly, live pods and clams. when all else fails, try clams on half shell. big ones are fine so they can pick on it for awhile

 

[jd371]

Tried twice. The first got a bacterial infection the second day in the qt and died the next day. The second one I started off with antibiotics from day one in the qt. Although I saw him eat at the lfs he wouldn't eat anything I tried. Heard about live Black worms so I gave them a chance and he took to them right away and that's all he was eating for most of the time in the qt. I'd mix it up with other foods and eventually he started eating Mysis and BS.
I've had the CBB for almost 2 years now and he's eating just about everything the other fish eat and isn't afraid to get in the mix of things during feeding, not timid at all.