fish stocking Q

[Kigs]

few questions about 2 type of fish.

- copperband butterfly,
will they attack a hawaiian featherduster? i plan on getting one for aiptasia control.

- anthias
which is an easy anthias species that is hardy? if i want to form a group, how many do i need and what is a good tank size for them?

 

[Blown 346]

Yes they can, They can also be very hard to get to eat, in the wild they eat pods,worms etc that are in crevices of liverock.

I like the square back Antias and the Lyrtail Anthias.
Most Anthias require the minimum of 70 to 125 gallons tanks depending on the Anthias at hand. If yu want a schol of them You will need a tank of atleast 300 gallons.

 

[michaeldaly]

A few months back I got a copperband, he hasn't touched any of my coral, but first thing he did was attack my feather duster. I managed to get him to feed within 2 days, I was probably lucky.

 

[JENnKerry]

All of the above about the copperband. What kind of other fish would you keep with him? They need tankmates that will not bother them.
I also agree about the Lyrtail Anthias. Probably the hardiest of the Anthias and very beautiful.

 

[Kigs]

Oh so you mean, unless I get him to eat prepared food, it will attack the featherduster?

I don't think I can afford to keep a Lyrtail Anthias, tank size wise. I read on liveaquaria.com that if kept singly, they don't require a huge tank, is that true?

 

[Blown 346]

Th tank size all depends, some like the Lyretail and square back need alot of room and a larger tank. Even keep alone they need a decent sized tank.

The copperband might and might not show interest in your feather dusters, that all depends on the fish. But most will go for them since that is what they eat in the wild.
Even with the copperband eating prepard foods which most will do over a period of time your dusters can still be on their snacking menu.

 

[Kigs]

It looks like I'll be stuck with aiptasia forever. I never should've bought LR from Petland Discount. They had such coraline rich LR but covered with aiptasia, I figured... hey, I'll get rid of it, how hard can it be. Nothing freaken works on these monsters. :mad2:

 

[Joshthenosh]

ive heard CCB are hard to keep in captivity , maybe somthing in there diet, though ive herad peopel with aptasia do better than others maybe thats what they need

 

[Kigs]

that gives me hope i think i'll give it a try.

 

[Blown 346]

Copperband butterflys are herd to keep in captivity, they are very picky eaters and many starve to death.

For your aipstasia problem I would take the rock out, scrub it in water change water, really scrub where the aipstasia grow, and rinse it.

 

[Kigs]

I've heard people even leaving the aiptasia infested rock in the sun for a day and still had them making a comeback. Not to mention having to take apart my entire tank, just to do this. I want to have a livestock that will be able to control it. Believe me, I care about the health of my livestock. If I do go ahead and get one, and see that it is not doing well, I'll return it to the LFS or see if anyone from my local reef club might want it. I still have to figure out what to do with my hawaiian featherduster. I've grown fond of it since I've had it ever since the beginning.

 

[michaeldaly]

Oh so you mean, unless I get him to eat prepared food, it will attack the featherduster?

Mine was eating prepared food and still attacked the feather duster