Copperband feeding help

aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help#post_3301072
 
 
 
YEAH :( I have to think there may have been something else wrong...maybe I just didn't get a healthy one...5 days is kinda short for one to starve
and besides the YCG being mean to it, it showed no marks....
 
I know the 54G is a good tank, cause I have not lost anything in there (yikes.....knock on wood) and it is well over 2 years old too....
 
 
Maybe I made a mistake by requesting a smaller one......
 
5 days is long for a Butterfly. They are a slender fish, with not much in the way of fat reserves. If he was smaller (how small again?) that compounds the situation, as smaller fish have even less reserves and need feed more often. In addition it likely wasn't just 5 days without food, but he probably hasn't eaten since it left the ocean over a week and a half ago.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by AquaKnight http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help/20#post_3301077
5 days is long for a Butterfly. They are a slender fish, with not much in the way of fat reserves. If he was smaller (how small again?) that compounds the situation, as smaller fish have even less reserves and need feed more often. In addition it likely wasn't just 5 days without food, but he probably hasn't eaten since it left the ocean over a week and a half ago.
 
 
About 2" from beak to tail......So I guess it was a mistake to ask for a small one

 
for some reason I thought it would be easier to train

 
If I were to try again should I go medium....or large even???
 
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
OMG Meowzer sorry to hear about the copperband
Makes me sad, just remember you did all you could for it, so don't beat yourself up. I would say if you decided to go for another maybe you should go with a bigger one..
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott T http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help/20#post_3301088
OMG Meowzer sorry to hear about the copperband
Makes me sad, just remember you did all you could for it, so don't beat yourself up. I would say if you decided to go for another maybe you should go with a bigger one..
Yeah,,,,sounds that way :( For some dumb reason I thought if I got the smaller one I could train it easier
 
next time I'll get the 3-5" one I guess......maybe in a week or 2....IDK
 
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
Yeah well sometimes it doesn't work out the way we think.. In the past when I had FW tanks I thought the same thing and it was not so. Just keep your chin up. Yeah I would say go with that size one if you decided that you are going to. I was reading about them and they say it can be hard to get them to eat and if they are stressed it makes it worse. I know you can accomplish it if you really want one for your tank. :)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
LOL...I just can't believe a teeny yellow clown goby antagonized it.....of all things...haha
 
Oh well.....maybe next time
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
Yeah who would have thought that a small fish could do that. I had a Tiger Barb in one of my FW tanks and it was maybe was not an Inch long and would just beat up on all the bigger fish I had in there. I think it killed like 2 fish. So even though they are small they can be mean...
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help/20#post_3301078
 
 
About 2" from beak to tail......So I guess it was a mistake to ask for a small one

 
for some reason I thought it would be easier to train

 
If I were to try again should I go medium....or large even???
 
Well you are correct. Smaller fish are usually easier to train then adults. The issue at hand is that the typical collection process (from the diver that collects the fish, it then goes to the exporter, then to the distributor, to the vendor/LFS, then to your door) takes it toll much harder on the younger fish, as they need more frequent feedings. If the fish wasn't eating for you, then it wasn't eating for the vendor, or anywhere down that collection chain.
 
When attempting to keeping delicate/finicky fish, one of the absolutely key fundamentals is to "be ready." You generally have a short window get the fish eating, so you need to be prepared. That means having live adult brine shrimp and live clams on hand (or knowing that a local place has them for sure). You really can't have the fish arrive and then wait and wait days for stuff he'll eat, after he turns down the general food. Generally speaking if a fish turns down either live adult brine or fresh clam, they aren't longed for this world. I have found that almost all the Butterflies I've kept, have eventually taken to blended scallops. Using a blender, add a cup of water and 2 or 4 thawed scallops and give it a couple pulses. Dump contents into a fish net to strain, then dump that into a container.
 
 
In addition, when an Austrailian variety of a fish is available, I strongly encourage it over a general "Indo-Pacific" fish. Australian Copperbands have a much higher success rate then Indo-Pacific CBB's. If you want to try a CBB again, definitely recommend looking for an Aussie.
 
plastercracker

plastercracker

Member
ya meowzer your right it was just stressed out the number one killer off salt water. butterflies should be left in the ocean. i had a customer that had one for six years and when it died he went thru 4 of them before he gave up. your best luck of keeping one is to have a well established reef tank with lots of co pods. mine always took rite to mysis. they do stress out real easy. when he hovered around the power head was the sign of wasting away.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,
 
I had no trouble with the copperbands I have had over the years. The first one I gave away when I got divorced and the last one got stung to death by my pink tube anemone. I always thought they were a hardy fish. I'm so sorry he/she didn't make it. I really like them.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Well that I do have...the tank is a few years old.....and has many many copepods and amphipods. I really wanted the copperband for the aptasia control though. I use to have peppermint shrimp which did great, but when I got my flame hawk...well the peppermints disappeared...LOL...
 
So now ...once again...I am on the fence about the Copperband :(
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help/20#post_3301745
Well that I do have...the tank is a few years old.....and has many many copepods and amphipods. I really wanted the copperband for the aptasia control though. I use to have peppermint shrimp which did great, but when I got my flame hawk...well the peppermints disappeared...LOL...
 
So now ...once again...I am on the fence about the Copperband :(
Hi,
 
 
Everyone I talk to tells me that if a copperband will eat aiptasia, it will nip coral, if it leaves the coral alone, it will not bother to eat aiptasia either...either way you lose.

I got rid of all my aiptasia when I shocked my corals to death with a bad heater. It was the only good that came from the incident. All kidding aside, you will have to choose between the Peppermint shrimp or a flame hawk because I don't think the copperband is a good choice for aiptasia control. My .02
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Luckily, when someone irks me, I take it out on the aiptasia. The kids laugh when they see me with my syringe and want to know who's on the crap list. Really theraputic.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Flower...don;t you remember how long I waited for the Flame Hawk...LOL...over 6 months
 
The only bad thing about Joe's Juice is that it dries up :(
 
BUT IT DOES WORK :)
 
I'm not putting pickled anything in my tank...LOL
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/379681/copperband-feeding-help/20#post_3301770
Flower...don;t you remember how long I waited for the Flame Hawk...LOL...over 6 months
 
The only bad thing about Joe's Juice is that it dries up :(
 
BUT IT DOES WORK :)
 
I'm not putting pickled anything in my tank...LOL
Hi,
 
 
LOL...Do you remember how long I waited for my copperband that the anemone killed? ONE SOLID YEAR! Finally, finally I found one, it lived it's time in a QT, it ate mysis and loved brine shrimp..I carefully acclimated him to his new home, all joyful that after so long a time I had me another copperband...when I returned home from work the very next morning, there he was, caught in the anemone...what really burned my butt was the anemone didn't eat him, just stung it to death and let it float away.
 
 
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