Copperband Butterfly Reconnaissance, and Research help..

mony97

mony97

Member
I am thinking of getting one of these and have begun to research them, I have found some good information but it all seems to be the same, they provide good stats, and a couple of tips but no real substance.. So I am looking to all of you for any hands on knowledge, or any good advice/things I should know.. What has worked? What to expect? etc..
Also the main question is if I can keep one in the first place? Here are my tank stats..
- Tank is 65g FOWLR and has been up and running for 10 months
- Have had no issues with water quality and do frequent water changes
- Tankmates include.. Pair of Ocellaris Clowns
Two Spot Hogfish (not the least bit aggressive)
Potters Angel (very slightly aggressive)
Flame Hawk
LMB
Let me know what you think and any advice and or knowledge..
Thx
 
S

saxman

Guest
Are you wanting the CBB for Aiptasia control, or simply because you like them?
Altho there are definitely exceptions, most CBB's from the IO and Indo-Pacific will eat appies, at least to some degree. However, these fish tend to be rather difficult to wean onto prepared foods and may starve in the absence of appies or another polyp-type food source.
CBB's from Australia tend to be very poor appie-eaters, but will accept alternate foods much more readily. These fish tend to fare much better in the long run, but are pricy if you can find one.
I kept an Aussie CBB for several years and I only saw it nibble on appies once. It did, however eat frozen mysis, BS+, enriched live BS, and live blackworms with gusto.
IME, live blackworms are a great food to entice CBB's with, but you need to be careful not to overfeed as they don't live long in SW.
I really don't see an issue with your current stock and a CBB.
HTH
 
mony97

mony97

Member
Thank you for the quick response saxman, I am looking to get one because I like them, I haven't really had any issues with aiptasia so no need for control.. If I am able to find an Aussi CBB what are somethings I can do to entice it to eat in the beginning or is it more of their choice? You mentioned live blackworms, what else may work? and what should I have on hand just in case?
thx
 
S

saxman

Guest
Enriched live Artemia are another good enticement. You can also try smearing gel-type food into a piece of coral skeleton, which may encourage the fish to browse. My CBB used to LOVE robbing my Tubastrea of the mysis I squirted into its polyps. It would also try to suck the mysis from a turkey baster.
 
S

smartorl

Guest
I bought a small copperband about a month ago. She is so small and thin, I really didn't think she would survive.
Fast forward a month and millions of sea monkeys later and she is leaving QT today going into my 40 breeder for a while. I want to keep her in the smaller tank to just make sure that she is eating and there is less competition.
She has done amazingly well and will nibble on pellets but primarily pounds the bbs.
Pictures to follow this afternoon!
 
mony97

mony97

Member
bbs? And that is good to hear, I am still very nervous to get one of these guys but they are so beautiful so may try?!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I have one from Indonesia. I quarantined it much longer than I have any other fish to truly make sure it was eating a variety of foods and wasn't picking at corals before I added it to my reef.
Mine started by only eating mysis that was resting on coral skeletons in my QT. Then it started eating Arctipods. I then tried live baby brine, and it refused. To this day, I still can't get it to eat brine, live or frozen. After the failed brine, I went back to mysis in the coral and articpods and then after about two more weeks of that, it started eating mysis free floating in the water.
Mine does not touch aiptasia at all.
They really do make a great addition to a tank. Mine was very shy once I added it to my DT and reverted back to just picking from rocks. After about 10 days, it finally started eating free floating food again.
 
mony97

mony97

Member
Hmm, that's quite interesting and helpful BTLD! It sounds like adding a variety of foods to coral skeletons seems to help greatly. I have also found that allowing or helping worms grow on your LR can help or at least keep them fed until they decide to make the switch?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by mony97 http:///forum/thread/381278/copperband-butterfly-reconnaissance-and-research-help#post_3322608
Hmm, that's quite interesting and helpful BTLD! It sounds like adding a variety of foods to coral skeletons seems to help greatly. I have also found that allowing or helping worms grow on your LR can help or at least keep them fed until they decide to make the switch?
Yes. I haven't confirmed this, but I'm fairly certain that it picks at pods at night and eats baby bristleworms.
 
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