how to get a finicky copperband butterfly to start feeding?

[PaxRoma]

I purchased a copperband butterfly 1 month ago and so far he has been ignoring everything I offered. I have tried frozen brine+ spirulina, frozen mysis, frozen clam on half shelf, frozen cyclops, blood worm. I even add garlic juice sometimes to no vail. I'm basically out of idea. Besides from live stuff, is there anything else I should try?
All other fishes eat like maniac.

 

[shaggy14]

good luck is all i can say. i had to get mine to eat live brine first, then he went on to frozen mysis, then he just died. was eating the night before, then gone. for me copperbands have been the hardest fish for me to try and keep alive.

 

[snorvich]

Black worms.

 

[falconut]

2nd Live Blackworms. But, some just refuse to eat and die. Did it eat at the LFS?

 

[sedor]

Maybe hes still chowing down on all the live stuff in your tank? They will go through and eat aiptasia, feather dusters, worms and other critters in your rock work and probably not seem very interested in boring old frozen food until they've gone through that stock and are hungry. How does the fish look, skinny?

 

[snorvich]

They will go through and eat aiptasia ...

Actually, they may or may not eat aiptasia.

 

[SDguy]

Yup, live blackworms are an almost certain bet.

 

[lukinrats]

Actually, they may or may not eat aiptasia.

I agree. I have a Copperband that is certainly healthy, but she has not touched any of the aptaisia in my tank

I was told by someone very knowledgable that you should get some live muscles or oysters. Open one up, and pull the meat out. Then put the meat in a veggi clip, and put it close to where the fish is chilling out.

He says they love that, and it is the best way to keep them healthy. I have not tried it, cause I dont live by any sort of live seafood place

 

[jason2459]

Keep trying different things. Go for those live blackworms. He may also be really nervous around all the other fish. I got some egg create and sectioned off a part of my tank when I first got my CBB. Really helped him get more comfortable in the tank. Took me around a week maybe slightly longer but finally found live mussels from the seafood section in the grocery store is what he wanted in my case. After about another week of him eating very aggressively I removed the eggcrate.

 

[jason2459]

I agree. I have a Copperband that is certainly healthy, but she has not touched any of the aptaisia in my tank

I was told by someone very knowledgable that you should get some live muscles or oysters. Open one up, and pull the meat out. Then put the meat in a veggi clip, and put it close to where the fish is chilling out.

He says they love that, and it is the best way to keep them healthy. I have not tried it, cause I dont live by any sort of live seafood place

Mine didn't touch the aptaisia either. Didn't like oysters either but loved the live muscles. Check your local grocery stores if they have a meat department they may have some seafood they import in as well. Mine did.

I would buy a bunch of live muscles at a time and freeze them. When needed I'd thaw them out and crack them open then put the shell and everything in the tank. He would eat it right out of my hands.

 

[LargeAngels]

Yes, live black worms or freshly opened clams. Is it picking at the rocks at all? Does it look healthy still? Any scratching? Unfortunately you may just have one that won't eat or was caught/handled improperly.

 

[tylorarm]

same as above, live blackworms, live clams on half shell and won't touch aptasia. I would add that i put half clam shell with meat still attached in a 1" end cap with some bird netting over top held on by cable ties or elastic band. This allows the rather unaggressive CBB to pick at the clam at his own pace as none of his greedy friends have long enough noses to reach the clam in the endcap.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

Besides live worms, I also feed live mysis and live adult Artemia.

One simple trick is this: Grab a frozen prawn and chop it up very very fine. It becomes like a paste if you chop it up enough. Take a small coral skeleton (Pocillopora works well), or even a small head of broccoli, and smear the shrimp into the crevices, it should spread like peanut butter. Now attach this with a zip tie or rubber band firmly to a chunk of live rock.

I've used this to quickly fatten up CBBs. They seem more curious about new foods when they are on rock rather than floating in the water. They aren't zooplanktivores in the wild so it shouldn't be too surprising that most stuff in the water just floats right by them.

 

[PaxRoma]

he does pick off the rock, is a little skinny but otherwise acting normally.
Where can I get live black worm?

 

[64Ivy]

http://www.aquaticfoods.com/Blackworms.html

 

[zoohoot]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I wanted to get some opinions regarding my CBB. I've had him for about 2-3 months. When I first put him in my tank he devoured all my aiptasia and would readily eat mysis. Now, for the last two weeks all he does is pick off my rocks and ignores any food I put in the tank.

He looks healthy and acts normal. Stomach may be a little pinched. I am going to try the live black worms but just wanted to see if others have had this type of experience.