Reef nutrition

Elos 120 (liter)

I've always loved looking at CBs and other butterfly fish in the wild and always resisted trying to keep them. The most remarkable thing about this t this guy/gal is it's disposition. It really stands it's ground around the aggressive fish in the tank. It flairs and wards them off. Even my little naked per was nipping at it when at it when got too close to "it's" duncan colony. I see it cruising the reef and really inspecting it and it's nose is sure built for action. I can hardly wait to see it dedicating itself to picking off aptasia. I may do a HD video and link a Youtube version to this thread if I get that lucky.....................
 
Good luck with that.
I have no aptasia but would love to keep one of those some day.
Nice fish!

From
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/copperband.htm

"Reef Suitability: The Copperbanded is a very attractive fish and a great addition to a reef tank. Butterflyfish in general tend to be viewed as potential coral eaters, but Copperband butterflyfish are generally reef safe. They will tend to deplete the tank of any small fan worms however. They are sometimes used in the control of the pest aiptasia anemone. This is a hit and miss affair . Some specimens will eat them and some do not. A visitor to the ReefCorner has had success with teaching his Copperbanded to eat aiptasia by putting chunks of food he like to eat into the aiptasia. As the Copperbanded went for the food it would also get a taste of the aiptasia. Eventually it learned to eat them without this prompt. Seems like a good thing to try if you find yourself in this position.

Disposition: Very non-aggressive fish. It can be bullied by more aggressive fish, so be on the lookout for this when introducing a new fish. Only one should be kept per tank to prevent fighting.

Feeding: The Copperbanded will get part of its nutrition from feeding on the small life forms found on live rock. It is especially fond of small fan worms. They will also usually take smallish meaty foods such as frozen brine shrimp or blood worms and sometimes mysid shrimp. Keep in mind that they have very small mouths and will usually not attempt to eat the larger foods that are offered. Getting them to feed on a nutritionally balanced diet is often the most difficult part of being successful with this fish. Stubborn fish may accept live foods or opened clams. Copperbanded butterflyfish may compete for food with other live rock foragers such as Mandarins.

Hardiness: The Copperbanded can be a somewhat delicate fish, but once successfully acclimated, seems to do well. Good nutrition is key.

Temperature: Does well within normal reef tank temperature ranges of 75-84°F.

Size: Copperbanded butterflyfish can get up to 8 in., but are usually found at about 1/2 that size in the home tank. Minimum tank size should be about 55 gallons to provide for its live rock grazing."
 
Thanks for the great blurb on CBs, Jon. I already learned something........one per tank suggested. I'm glad I only brought one home.........besides, that does it for adding any fish to this tank and it was driven by my need for an aptasia solution. I hope it's a "win-win".
 
Hey John see what I got on Friday after talking to you, not as pretty as yours but I have been always want to try one in my tank. Good luck to all of us!

IMG_2097_crop.jpg


BTW hope you don't mind I post picture in your thread.
 
Update: My CB is still very active, gets along well with the other fish and fit's into the community great. It does lots of reef inspecting and a little pecking but I've never seen it eat with the other fish. It's not wasting away but I'm concerned about the slow eating acclimation. I've feeding a huge variety of food every day including Tigger Pods (once) Artic Pods, Mysis Feast, Rod's food and some very good tiny pellet food. The other fish go ravenous when I feed but this dude just hangs back.

Great picture, Ryan. Keep an eye on the slight white blotches on it's tail. I've noticed it on mine and it may be nothing or it may be a sign of the start of an infection. Keep us posted on how he does.
 
John after I bought mine there was only one remaining.

My CBB did knock out few big aiptasias, but he is having serious infections on body and looks very week, hope he can make it, god bless such a beautiful fish.

BTW he did use the cleaner shrimp earlier but now I guess there are something on him that the cleaner can not help.
 
Sorry to hear that. The slight cloudiness that mine had on it's tail seems to have cleared. He constantly patrols the reef and pecks at things too small for me to see. I've yet to see it eating any of my offerings. Rods Food, Articpods, Mysis Freast, Tiggerpods, tiny Elos pellets, you name it....it just watches the bits pass by. Of course, it would not have survived this long unless it was taking in nutrition so I'm continuing my cautious optimism for a fish with a lousy history of longevity. The story I hear is that it's very "iffy" to hope for one to aclimate, however, once aclimated, they tend to be pretty hearty and grow to "hand size". I'm hoping as this is just subjective information gathered at the LFS when I purchased him. I've always been told in the past that it's not a good risk to take one on. :|
 
News is not good. I never witnessed normal feeding behavior regardless of what I offered. The only thing I didn't offer was live brine shrimp. The CB butterfly has been displaying very abnormal behavior and becoming more reclusive. It began to succumb to infections on it's tail and moving to it's body. This morning it had become about 75% unresponsive and had marked lesions on it's body. I chose to euthanize it placing it a bag of tank water and then into the freezer. Sorry to see it go, I was hopeful.
RIP little beauty.
 
screebo said:
News is not good. I never witnessed normal feeding behavior regardless of what I offered. The only thing I didn't offer was live brine shrimp. The CB butterfly has been displaying very abnormal behavior and becoming more reclusive. It began to succumb to infections on it's tail and moving to it's body. This morning it had become about 75% unresponsive and had marked lesions on it's body. I chose to euthanize it placing it a bag of tank water and then into the freezer. Sorry to see it go, I was hopeful.
RIP little beauty.
Click to expand...


That sucks. Sorry for the loss.
 
John sorry to hear this. It really sucks.

My CBB also did not make it, passed away two days ago.

Same symptom, infection move from tail to body. In his last few days, he stay close to the surface & stick the long nose out of water to breath. It was heartbreaking to see it struggling. I should have done the same as you to make him easier.

RIP.
 
Ah man, that sucks. Sorry to hear that John and Ryan. Lucky Ocean had 2 CBB's that looked healthy that I was tempted to buy but I passed. RIP to your CBB's. :((
 
My best guess is that what I observed was absolutely true, it just wasn't eating. Even live Tigger Pods didn't entice it. I'm wishing I tried live brine shrimp before it was too late. Well, enough agonizing and shudda wudda............
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top