New Copperband feeding

[Virginia Reef]

I bought a copperband butterfly from UA last Friday. It seems to be going through the motions of feeding off my LR but only grabs an occassional morsel when I feed it. I've used both flake and frozen. The food stimulates its interest but no real feeding. The fish is in my fuge with LR and chaeto so there is no competition from other fish. There are a number of aptasia available but those haven't drawn its interest yet either.

Any thoughts on getting the new guy to eat better?

 

[jelwyoming]

You may have to just keep trying different things. Mine will only eat frozen enriched brine shrimp aside from the live stuff he finds. One I had years ago, would only tank the larger frozen reef plankton. They seem to be very particular.

 

[NbMaxx13]

From what I have heard , Garlic is an apetite stimulant. There is a Garlic Supp. that Kent makes I believe... also in the fuge there should be tons of stuff for it to forage on when you aren't looking.... How does it look health wise?

 

[Virginia Reef]

The fish looks great. I've just had it since Friday. I just want it feeding well before it goes into the tank.

I have several types of frozen as well as some "blender mush" that I made. I'll keep trying the variety approach.

 

[REEFY1]

Try Frozen Mysis- They always like that

 

[ade]

Copperbands are hit or miss IMO, best to see if they eat in the store before you buy. Try placing some frozen food in the aptaisa, kill two birds with one stone.

 

[george albert]

paul
i agree with ade i went through 3 before i got a good one after the first 3 i didnt buy 1 until i seen it eat and its been doing fine for several months now
good luck

 

[turbois300]

feeding

feeding

I have had good luck with the garlic additive to my foods. All the fish go crazy for it. My PBT wasn't eating at first so I got some Garlic Guard from UA and soaked some Nori in it. WOrked like a champ and now he is a nice and plump fish!!

The mush is a hit most of the time too due to the amount of different stuff in it.

 

[Virginia Reef]

Thanks for all the suggestions except Ade. Where were you before I bought it? LOL! I asked about it feeding and was assured that it was doing fine. There were lots of floating bags in the tanks from a new shipment of livestock. The copperband reacted well to the flake food dropped in but didn't actively feed.

I attributed the cautious feeding response to be a result of being spooked by all the bags floating around in the tank. Also, was impacted by the 1 hour drive each way to UA. Can't just pop in any old time.

 

[ade]

I am just a pnone call away Paul.
I am with you on the hour drive, back in th day I used to call PAW before I left the house to ask what they had in and how long they have had them.
I know it is hard to do but I would try not to buy a fish from a store if it had just come in. I would give it a week in the store, only then can they assure you it was doing fine.
To get the fish in one day and say it is fine the next is bad form.

 

[Conky]

From a former Hokie and Blacksburg LFS-employee (I'll give you two guesses)...I've had good luck with frozen clams and live brine. The PE mysids seem a bit big for that narrow rostrum to handle. Strangely enough, newly arrived CBs have fed on nori as well. Any amphipods you can strip from your liverock/macroalgae will probably be consumed as well.

IME, these guys don't do well barren quarantine tanks for long...I hate to say that. I'll get to the 29th day and they expire for no good reason!

 

[Virginia Reef]

Ade, it had been in for about a week and a half. Reportedly doing well.

Conky, the fish is in my fuge with LR, chaeto, and some yummy aptasia. I'll continue to try a variety of food. Tonight is blender mush. Does anyone carry live brine anymore or do you need to hatch your own?

 

[ServantSoldier]

Nobody around carries it.. however, if you want me to start a hatch friday I can do that.. it would be ready for your Sunday visit. Give me a ring Friday if you want me to do that for you. Also they have the cysts at UA for hatching.

 

[Virginia Reef]

Sam,

Thanks for the offer. Please get one started for me.

 

[ade]

Freshly hatched brine are going to be way too small IMO to feed the CB great for your corals. Does UA keep any of the live tiger pods anymore? That would be a better bet for me.

 

[ServantSoldier]

I'll have the brine going for you. If you want, you can grow them out fatter with a bit of phytoplankton. They grow extremely fast.