LF: Copperband feeder and a large acclimation box

[Alexander1312]

A little late to the party, but I really recommend High Tide. We got our CBB from him, and it eats just about everything we toss in the tank. We had CBBs from other vendors, tried to train them, gave them lots of pods and eventually they both died. The later may have been due to an ick outbreak. Our HT CBB though is going on over 2 months now, it is healthy, and is growing. Could be just ours, but our CBB is quite the aggressive eater, and has no problems with being in the "pack" during feeding time. Most of the day it hangs with our fox face, probably helps that our CBB and fox face are the two biggest fish in the tank right now.

Agree. I would probably not get that fish but if I wanted one, 100% only from Kenny / @under_water_ninja

I still do not understand why one would take the risk of buying fish off the street. Unless you are highly experienced in quarantine and love to go through the pain of quarantining.

 

[spuri87]

I still do not understand why one would take the risk of buying fish off the street. Unless you are highly experienced in quarantine and love to go through the pain of quarantining.

The one I am getting is apparently QTed and eating frozen as I said in the comments earlier.. but yeah no one can assure you that it will eat and live happily once they move to your tank.. probably odds are better with high tide, but at the end of the day it’s a finicky fish that can just stop eating and punish itself to death one fine day after looking all healthy.. I can only prepare myself to be ready with boxes and food and feeders

 

[Alexander1312]

The one I am getting is apparently QTed and eating frozen as I said in the comments earlier.. but yeah no one can assure you that it will eat and live happily once they move to your tank.. probably odds are better with high tide, but at the end of the day it’s a finicky fish that can just stop eating and punish itself to death one fine day after looking all healthy.. I can only prepare myself to be ready with boxes and food and feeders

Yes, understood. However, the word quarantine has a wide meaning, involves trust, and I prefer to rely on the pros to do this properly. The impact from failure is just too large for my risk appetite.

 

[spuri87]

Added Copperband to an acclimation box I got from Max (thanks again @popper) 3 days ago.. Was really uncomfortable the 1st day, constantly surfing the glass. Added a clam on half shell the 1st day and it was gone in 24 hours.. I never saw her pick at it, but assume it was consumed by her (unless it just broke off and went through the thin holes in the acc box).. Got Black liveworms from Neptune yesterday and she definitely took a bite at those live moving creatures.. Added masstick, she tried it but don't think she prefers it over other food.. Received CBB feeder today and added Masstick and 1 cube of frozen mysis to it and saw it munch at the Mysis.. it's always looking at the corners for food/copepods and not surfing the glass anymore, which looks like a good sign.. it's a popular corner of the reef tank right now, since I am feeding it all sort of food.. I saw snails climb all the way up to the box to take a bite of the frozen food.. 2 of my wrasses went into the acclimation box looking for food when I was adding the food

Here is my precious.. After reading warnings from Erin all the time that fish with names are the ones to leave you the fastest, I restrained myself and didn't name any of my fish.. but I break that rule for her.. We call her "Ms. Beaky Blinders"

I didnt have the right size PVC, so added a paper cup last night, but felt like she was more scared of the cup so I took it out.. will goto ACE hardware and get a PVC piece tonight.

I havn't seen any fish give it a flare thus far, but that might change pretty quickly.. I plan to release it this weekend (or sooner maybe) at night time after I see it comfortably eat from the feeder all by herself

Here is a small video of me training Ms. Beaky to eat from the feeder directly:

 

[Slingfox]

Great looking Copperband! I used a 10 gallon tank (with three sides blacked out) to quarantine and get my Copperband to eat. Thankfully it ate right away. My Copperband feeds aggressively from the water column like the other fish. To ensure it gets enough to eat once a week will either drop in a thawed Manila clam tied to a rock (I use a small shell a rubber bands to open the shell by a small amount so only the Copperband can access the meat), or I put one cube of frozen mysis or brine shrimp into a Copperband feeder late at night.

The supplemental feeding allows the Copperband to get a large serving of extra protein with less competition from the other fish. The other fish will still crowd around waiting for pieces of clam or frozen food to slip by. I do the feeding late at night since that is when my wrasse are hiding in the sand bed and the other fish generally are less active.

 

[spuri87]

Great looking Copperband! I used a 10 gallon tank (with three sides blacked out) to quarantine and get my Copperband to eat. Thankfully it ate right away. My Copperband feeds aggressively from the water column like the other fish. To ensure it gets enough to eat once a week will either drop in a thawed Manila clam tied to a rock (I use a small shell a rubber bands to open the shell by a small amount so only the Copperband can access the meat), or I put one cube of frozen mysis or brine shrimp into a Copperband feeder late at night.

The supplemental feeding allows the Copperband to get a large serving of extra protein with less competition from the other fish. The other fish will still crowd around waiting for pieces of clam or frozen food to slip by. I do the feeding late at night since that is when my wrasse are hiding in the sand bed and the other fish generally are less active.

great advice on feeding after lights go out.. Do you mind sharing where you get Manila Clam from? I see a lot of people feed cockle clam as well.. I got https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/frozen-clams-on-the-half-shell-8-oz-ocean-nutrition/, but unfortunately this wont work in the display, as the wrasses, tangs and the Marine Betta absolutely love this thing.. I need to find closed clams (otherwise will have to remove the clam manually from the half shell, thaw it with Mysis and Masstick and put them in the CBB feeder)

 

[Alexander1312]

you can use this one i made if you have a 3d printer. magnets are from two little fishies pouch feeder.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6733978

I have asked Matt from Octoaquatics if he can make this from acryclic, and with his encapsulated magnets. He confirmed he would be able to do it, but looks like the dimensions of this file are not clear (to him)? Not sure why not, but would you be able to provide the size of the holes?

 

[spuri87]

I have asked Matt from Octoaquatics if he can make this from acryclic, and with his encapsulated magnets. He confirmed he would be able to do it, but looks like the dimensions of this file are not clear (to him)? Not sure why not, but would you be able to provide the size of the holes?

FWIW, I ordered this https://fishofhex.com/products/magnetic-copperband-butterfly-feeder-lp .. Holes are slightly bigger than I would have liked, coz I am sure wrasses can still reach the food inside this feeder.. I am still using it only inside the acc box, so real test will happen next week.. will let you know

 

[Alexander1312]

FWIW, I ordered this https://fishofhex.com/products/magnetic-copperband-butterfly-feeder-lp .. Holes are slightly bigger than I would have liked, coz I am sure wrasses can still reach the food inside this feeder.. I am still using it only inside the acc box, so real test will happen next week.. will let you know

Thank you.

Yet, I am a bit confused. I watched the video on the product page and it looks like large tangs can still get the food?

 

[spuri87]

Thank you.

Yet, I am a bit confused. I watched the video on the product page and it looks like large tangs can still get the food?

Yeah thats what I am not comfortable with.. the holes are too big and cant be adjusted or partially closed.. I guess big fish can suck the food out of any hole, but wrasses can definitely reach it.. I haven't played around a lot with it, will be good to see how this works in the display.. I hvnt see my CBB eat from the eater column yet, it definitely picks from the feeder and on the floor of the acc box

 

[Alexander1312]

Added Copperband to an acclimation box I got from Max (thanks again @popper) 3 days ago.. Was really uncomfortable the 1st day, constantly surfing the glass. Added a clam on half shell the 1st day and it was gone in 24 hours.. I never saw her pick at it, but assume it was consumed by her (unless it just broke off and went through the thin holes in the acc box)..
__________

I had the same experience yesterday. Clam was wiped clean overnight - not sure who other than the CBB would have eaten it. I hope he ate it since we have not seen him eating anything else.

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Here is my precious.. After reading warnings from Erin all the time that fish with names are the ones to leave you the fastest, I restrained myself and didn't name any of my fish.. but I break that rule for her.. We call her "Ms. Beaky Blinders"
__________

Great name - ALL of our fish have names, without exception.

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I didnt have the right size PVC, so added a paper cup last night, but felt like she was more scared of the cup so I took it out.. will goto ACE hardware and get a PVC piece tonight.

_______
I always felt that these PVC pipes were useless but this was the first fish in the box who likes to occasionally hang out in them even though he barely fits in it.
________

 

[Alexander1312]

Yeah thats what I am not comfortable with.. the holes are too big and cant be adjusted or partially closed.. I guess big fish can suck the food out of any hole, but wrasses can definitely reach it.. I haven't played around a lot with it, will be good to see how this works in the display.. I hvnt see my CBB eat from the eater column yet, it definitely picks from the feeder and on the floor of the acc box

What a great topic to go down a rabbit hole.

So the question is now how large should the holes be so that they are optimized for the copper band (fully grown adult).

Gemini found this, meaning it should probably be around 8mm?

Maybe there are other considerations, but since Matt/Octoaquatics will hopefully be able to create this, providing optimal specs is preferred.

 

[spuri87]

What a great topic to go down a rabbit hole.

So the question is now how large should the holes be so that they are optimized for the copper band (fully grown adult).

Gemini found this, meaning it should probably be around 8mm?

Maybe there are other considerations, but since Matt/Octoaquatics will hopefully be able to create this, providing optimal specs is preferred.

View attachment 80866

thanks for sharing.. I just calculated and its indeed 8mm on the feeder I got from fish of hex.. FWIW, they have a 25% discount going on right now, so cost me $30 to get it shipped to California.

 

[Alexander1312]

thanks for sharing.. I just calculated and its indeed 8mm on the feeder I got from fish of hex.. FWIW, they have a 25% discount going on right now, so cost me $30 to get it shipped to California.

I coincidentally came across this one, which allows the holes to be smaller over time.

Copperband Butterfly Fish Feeder | Reef Racket

Shop Copperband Butterfly Fish Feeder from Reef Racket LLC. Quality reef aquarium products, livestock, gifts, and supplies for saltwater hobbyists.

www.reefracket.com

 

[PjFish]

Those feeders worked great at first until the cleaner shrimp learned how to access food. Once I placed it vertical on a frag rack or bottom only the cbb was able to get food..I havent seen a clear/frosted one sure someone could print one then could monitor food easier.