High Tide Aquatics

Copperband Butterfly

A_Lee

A_Lee

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I've recently acquired a Copperband butterfly.
I am curious to know what the citizens of BAR might recommend feeding it, considering the beak like mouth of the fish. I've read some people having luck with PE Mysis, and the like, but PE mysis sound like they may be a bit big considering my Copperband is roughly 2.5" long. I've had it now for two days, and it is already out swimming and looking for food. It has eaten some small pieces of Hikari mysis ... sometimes it takes in bigger pieces and spits them back out. But the fish definitely wants to eat.
Would frozen brine shrimp be worth giving a try? Any other suggestions, besides rods food?
Thanks
 
Jon, tank is aiptasia free :)

Thanks Gregory, come to think of it, I may have some arctipods in the fridge I can give a try. However the only problem (for me) with arctipods or rods food is the cost of the food in the long term.

Kensington -This is a fish only tank, so no need to worry about corals.

Gonzo -I'll give cyclops a try, thanks!
 
I've always wondered John ... is it okay to feed frozen bloodworms to marine fish? How does it provide nutritionally?
How big is your cbb in order for it to be able to down PE mysis?
 
I've read online that it's ok to feed frozen bloodworms. Not much nutrition in them but if you buy them make sure to buy the Hikari brand instead of the SF Bay brand. The Hikari has vitamins in it. He's about 2.5" - 3" and he'll slurp the pe mysis right up. He's grown quite a bit from when I purchased him a few months ago. I feed him bloodworms twice a day.
 
Hm, good to know John. Being that my cbb is the about the same size as yours, maybe it isn't the size of the hikari mysis I am feeding it. I'll keep trying, thanks! I'll give hikari bloodworms and brine shrimp a try later this week.
 
I believe I tried black worms with CBB before - very hit and miss. The black worms seemed to foul the tank faster.

Frozen mysid and bloodworms seem to be a better option and then weaning them off to dry foods.

Fwiw - I can't say I've had any success with keeping CBB alive. I am hoping the fish works out for you - they are beautiful fish!
 
Raddogz said:
I believe I tried black worms with CBB before - very hit and miss. The black worms seemed to foul the tank faster.

Frozen mysid and bloodworms seem to be a better option and then weaning them off to dry foods.

Fwiw - I can't say I've had any success with keeping CBB alive. I am hoping the fish works out for you - they are beautiful fish!
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Yes, I am aware that these fish don't do all that well in the long term, and can be finicky eaters. This being my first tank with fish only, I figured I might give one a try and see how it goes. I've selected one that was picking at mysis at the LFS, but even now that I've had it for a couple of days, things are still looking promising. The CBB definitely wants to eat (and it does, a little), so hopefully this pans out well :)
I'll stick to frozen mysis, bloodworms, and brine shrimp (all Hikari) for now. I'd be really happy if the CBB eats pellets!
Thanks Eileen!
 
If it's attempting to eat the hikari mysis - try sticking with that for a few days. Most fish that eat+spit that stuff at first will eventually just learn to eat the darn things and you'll be all set with no weird-feeding-regimen hassles.

If you start to get worried, feed 50/50 mini mysis and frozen enriched brine shrimp. Usually fussy fish will at LEAST learn to run the gauntlet of the mini mysis and pick out all the brine shrimp. That'll buy you some time to try weaning him onto your preferred foods later on.

And of course, there's the live blackworms, which my butterfly likes so much (and the rest of the fish too at this point) that I haven't had the heart to try weaning him onto the mini-mysis. Four months of dealing with live foods and counting... ;)
 
What I've had luck with:

Live blackworms and live enriched brine. These are nearly surefire foods to start with. Feed it 6-8 times a day if it will eat it. After it seems "comfy" in the tank, chop up shrimp into a paste, and then smash it into a small piece of broccoli. Rubber band the broccoli to a rock, add to tank. Just watch and wait, and they'll typically go after it. You can do this as often as you like to get your fish fat. After several weeks these guys should take chopped up prawn, clam, mysis, whatever.

I've gotten 9/10 CBBs through QT here at CAS over the last few years...just sayin'. ;)
 
h20player101 said:
Broccoli, it's what Copperbanded Butterflyfish crave?
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Nah, they ignore the broccoli, it's the pieces of shrimp in between they crave. ;) The broccoli just looks to them like something that deserves close inspection. These guys make their living poking around in nooks and crannies, not searching the water column for food. You can use an old dead coral skeleton just as easily, Pocillopora works fine for this purpose.
 
What else you got Matt?
Not really into CBB necessarily, but take us through your whole procedure.
Did you catch them yourself??
 
Matt_Wandell said:
h20player101 said:
Broccoli, it's what Copperbanded Butterflyfish crave?
Click to expand...

Nah, they ignore the broccoli, it's the pieces of shrimp in between they crave. ;) The broccoli just looks to them like something that deserves close inspection. These guys make their living poking around in nooks and crannies, not searching the water column for food. You can use an old dead coral skeleton just as easily, Pocillopora works fine for this purpose.
Click to expand...

Matt, my CBB comes to the front of the tank and to the surface of the water looking for food when I am standing in front of the tank. When I pour a bit of thawed mysis into the tank the CBB grab a piece, "chews" (for lack of better words) it, and spits out some small bits of mysis ... I can't tell if the fish is still eating some of the mysis. That said, there are other instances when my CBB eats pieces of mysis whole and doesn't spit anything out.
Are they super particular about the size of the food they eat?
Considering I've only had the fish for going on four days tomorrow, I think good progress is being had, no?
 
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