How to feed a Copperband when other tankmates are more eager to eat?

[AC-WEB]

I'm sure there are other threads on this, but I cant find it. I have a Copperband Butterly in a 100g 48x24 ree tank with around 120lbs of live rock. I feel I'm kind of lucky because he eats frozen mysis, but like many copperbands, he's a very slow eater. Because of this, the other fish go crazy on the mysis, and while the butterly does eat, it is much less than his buddies. Has anybody found a creative way to place food so that only the Copperband's long beak can reach? Any help would be greatly appreaciated.

 

[blennielove]

I tried to copy and paste it for you here but it is not working.
I found something on Copperband Primer around page 15..., someone else made a similar contraption but is see through and I believe I saw that on LemonLemon's "Butterflies in Reef" thread.

 

[Palvyre]

I have heard of a PVC pipe about 3/4 " being used with a cap on each end. They drilled holes in multiple places just larger than the butterfly's snout. I wish mine would eat mysis. All he eats is live clams.

 

[aquaph8]

I've stuffed food into cracks in rocks, thawed frozen foods, poured into clam shells and refroze and my muelleri I hand feed. I made a feeder but it got really nasty so I stopped using it.

 

[gjk]

Order live blackworms and you are on your way to getting important fatty acids in your cbb diet which will lead to health and its ability and willingness to expand it's diet as you offer.
blackworms.com they are cheap for what quality food you get and they reall work for cbb. I am currently using them on a Leopard Wrasse and it has graduated to frozen blackworms. Care of the worms is reall not that hard. As me here or by pm if I can give you more details of how this worked for me.

 

[aquaph8]

+1 on the black worms

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

Any sort of tube with holes drilled in it. I have used one of those medicine measuring tubes with a spoon on one end, drilled holes that are big enough for the cbb to put its beak in but not big enough for the other fish to put their mouths in, and then filled the tube with some food that the cbb eats. I hang it in the tank with fishing line or clip the tube to a veggie clip. The holes are drilled almost to the bottom of the tube but not quite, so the cbb can reach down and pick at the food.

As noted, people have made similar but more elaborate arrangements with pvc tubes and endcaps and holes drilled in them that permit the cbb, but not the other fish, to get at the food.

 

[Dakota Reef]

You might want to try something like this.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1985511

I've used a version of a feeder like this for many years for my Longnose Butterfly and my Copperband just passed the two year mark in the tank.

If you can get your CB to eat Rogger's Frozen Food, it works very well in a mesh or grid type feeder.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

The live blackworms suggestions also are good because CBBs tend to eat them much more aggressively that most other foods. It is distasteful to have a container of live blackworms in your refrigerator, but your CBB will really like them.

I feed my tank a lot of live blackworms as half of the morning meal and the yellow longnose and the CBB both eat a lot of them and charge into the fray to get their share. In the case of other food, they take only a couple of bites before the other fish finish it off.

The other thing I do is first feed something the other fish will eat but the yln and cbb won't, like pellets or flakes. I use NLS pellets. I then put the live blackworms or other food in the the yln and cbb will eat in the tank. This way, the other fish aren't quite as hungry because they had the chance to fill up on the other food and the yln and cbb are hungry and will be comparatively better competitors for the food they like.

 

[AC-WEB]

Great responses. i have a lot of ideas i can try. my lfs has live black worms. i will also try the pvc tube.

 

[duke62]

what i do is shut all my powerheads off and feed.i leave the reurn pump on though.the pe mysis that float around are eaten right away by the aggressive feeders and alot fall to the ground and get caught up on the coral.the copperband is my only fish that eats off the rocks so he has the rock pickens.also blackworm but rinse them real good.all worms carry parasite.i let them sit in a net in salt water to try and rid the worms of the parasites.they are freshwater worms

 

[btb72]

I used a tea bag holder thing... metal and opens up I just barely open it enough and the CB comes up and eats all he wants and then I let the mysis go for everyone else...
this thing http://compare.ebay.com/like/390311123359?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y
not advertising or my account fyi sorry if not suppose to post stuff from ebay couldnt find another picture of it anywhere..

 

[milkman55]

I made this simple feeder from two PVC caps. Put mysis, brine, blackworms, etc in the cap and screw it on. Place it on the sandbed.

 

[humaguy]

I used a sprinkler bar for an eheim...bought it at a lfs...just enlarged the holes a bit...used the suction cups to stick it to the glass...worked well...

 

[humaguy]

milkman 55...love that feeder! very smart...