EAT Copperband EAT

deeze

deeze

Member
I recently purchased a Copperband Butterfly and he won’t seem to eat. I see him picking off the reef every once in a while but he won't take anything I give him. Does anyone have any ideas about how to get him going? My water is excellent and he seems very happy swimming around, just ignores food. He looks very healthy and swims very strong. I've tried Brine, fresh shrimp, fresh scallops and every flavor from my frozen "variety pack" fish food. I figure he’d like live food but I'm not sure how to get my hands on that or what kind to get. Thanks for any info.
 
gati

gati

Member
try live brine. it isn't that healthy, but should stimulate the appetite. if you can't find any live brine from a lfs, then try to soak the food in some garlic. you can get it at the fish store. fish go crazy over it.
copperbands are not a beginner fish for this reason, they are very finiky and often starve to death.
I always make the people at the fishstore show me that the fish i want eats frozen before i will buy it. just a tip for the next fishy you get.
good luck
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Do you actually have a reef tank or just live rock?
I think there was some "seaworm" frozen diet at one point. Heck maybe even a smidge of bloodworms thought generally I don't like feeding them in saltwater. Getting these guys to eat is always the challenge. Is this a young tank?
I suppose if it is not a reef you could always try some sacrificial polyps or find some aiptasia and see if that would be of interest.
 
eel

eel

Member
i had the same problem,i picked up some live brine and he went crazy.now he eats the frozen and starting to eat the shrimp flake good luck
 
deeze

deeze

Member
Where did you find your live brine? I checked at one of my LFS and they didn't have any. I probably just need to order some off the net
 
eel

eel

Member
i dont know where you live but there is got to be some fs around that sells them keep looking quick
 
T

tizzo

Guest
This may sound nuts but have you tried the garlic thing?? When I first got mine, he wanted to be finiky but after I soaked the mysid shrimp in garlic and put it in the tank, he feasted. Most of the time I turn the PH's off via a wavemaker, I wanted my copperband to think the food was live, so I left them on and he chased it down and ate it.
Good luck with yours!!
 
deeze

deeze

Member
That was a great idea about leaving the pumps on and I did the whole soaking it in garlic thing... I'll try again tomorrow... bummer
 
cjeffrey77

cjeffrey77

Member
any luck yet? i'm just a beginner also, I love the copperbands though, i'm thinking maybe in a couple of years when I feel a lot more confident i'm gonna get one they are soo pretty!!I wish you the best of luck with yours!!! Pic's we need to see pic's!
 
jjlittle

jjlittle

Member
Copperbands are notorious for doing this and just dieing off in few days I had one he started to eat I was doing the garlic drops and mixing it with the brine he lasted 14 day
 
jjlittle

jjlittle

Member
I had been doing my reef tank for a year or so all of the lfs except one tells me to stay away for your setting yourself up for disappointment. I thought i had made it on day 9 they said they never saw one get past day5 whenday 14 came around he was just laying on the bottom and all water peramiters were perfect & day 13 he was looking great I thought I beat the odds it just the nature of keeping a hard to keep fish.
 
deeze

deeze

Member
jeeze... I guess my copperband decided to never eat... he must have been picking stuff off the reef because he lived quite some time (4 weeks) without ever witnessing him eat. However tonight is his final night I think? He's fluttering and barely alive in a small bowl full of EVERY type of food known to man (Mysis, brine, bloodworms, everything from my frozen Varity pack). I guess my question at this point is how to put the poor little guy out of his misery?!? Should I guillotine him or something... I REALLY hate to see him like this and feel like it would be best to just do something quick... ugg
 
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