Copper Banded Butterfly!!!

[joshd123]

I got him 2 days ago and my Tang picked on him a bit at first but is not now. From day 1 he has not eaten anything that I have seen. What could I do to get him to eat? I have tryed mysis, Flake food and some other food. What is the best way to get him moving around and eating? I do have another tank. If I could cetch this guy should I move him? I have about 300 # of Live Rock in this tank so I don't think I could cetch him. Thanks

 

[fernando s]

I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with such a beautiful fish but i don't know if moving him will make a big difference. Butterfly Fish have a tendency to starv themselves to death. We also had the same problem he would not eat at all we also attempted to move him but it did not help. Maybe you can try calling the pet store where you purchased the fish maybe they can give you some ideas. Sorry i could not be more help hopefully you can get this problem resolved without losing your fish.

 

[dogstar]

CBBF, like most BF are difficult to get to feed. They primarily feed by forageing from healthy live rock dwellers, small pods, larvas and worms, ect.
Try to feed it LIVE brine shrimp to get it eating and then add in mysis in the mix. Hopefully it should begin to eat the mysis after a while.

 

[ginarox]

i have one,,and before my marine bioliogist brought him out to me ,,, he made sure that he was eating good there at the store,,if not he told me he wasnt going to get him..which was fine....i have heard they are very hard to take care of,,,i have 90 lbs of lr and i have had him since july and so far so good,,,keep us posted josh,,,,i hope it all turns out well....i feed him kril, mysis shrimp, etc...have a good day...

 

[wodave]

I had the same problem when I got mine. I gave him some brine shrimp and he started eating. Since then I feed him with frozen mysis shrimp.

 

[jam1e]

add garlic to the butterfly's diet .. try Brine shrimp to initiate feeding but once he starts, switch to a more nutritious diet .. I've had mine for about 2 months but whenI got him I had the same problem you have .. teh way I initiated feeding was I went to publix and got a live clam and broke him open and placed it into the tank .. the butterfly went for it (since clam is their natural diet) and he's been eating ever since

 

[geckopsu]

Joshd, I'm having the exact same problem with my CBB that I bought a week ago. He doesn't want to eat anything I feed him (even brine & mysis with garlic) and now he's being incredibly destructive. Yesterday he ate all of my mushrooms - 10 red flame shrooms and 5 green metallic. I have a 90 gallon reef with 90# of LR and I've found him impossible to catch. The LRS near me rents traps. I think I'm going to have to try that route and sell the

[hr]
. Too bad, they're beautiful fish. hope you can catch him.