Feeding a Copperband

duke4130 · Oct 24, 2014

Alright guys what special tricks do you have up your sleeves to get a copperband to eat??? He was doing ok on the last batch of PE mysis but the new package I just got he will not eat

LPS Hunter · Oct 24, 2014

Mine eats frozen brine (regular and spirulina) along with mysis...although he has found an acan colony recently that has sparked his interest.

Eckolancer · Oct 24, 2014

Mine loves mysis and freaks out if I walk near the tank. He thinks it's feeding time all the time. I used to add a couple drops of garlic on the food which helped.

duke4130 · Oct 24, 2014

Yea I did the garlic and that is when he was eating better.... I have noticed the Mysis in this pack are a little larger than the other ones. What brand are you guys feeding

ritter6788 · Oct 24, 2014

Try fish eggs. Mine tore up Rods fish eggs but I haven't been able to find them lately. Nutramar Ova would be a good choice to try if you can get it quick.

Paul B feeds his live black worms of you can get a hold of those too.

Lesley · Oct 24, 2014

I have had a very healthy copperband for about 6 months now. I researched and found that even after being in an established tank for a long time they still have problems catching/chasing food with such a long narrow mouth. Mine is fine now but I still put a netted seaweed clip in every so often to make sure he is eating. It has just big enough holes in the net for him & the yellow tangs. He loves it. I hang it down a crack in the rock work and he has to underneath and peck to eat. Loves it. Might be worth

getting one. as this is their natural feeding position. They can eat and chase but don't usually get there fair share with such a narrow snout ! I put mysis and brine in for him. He loves it .

hybridazn · Oct 24, 2014

I was going to recommend live black worms. They always do the trick. There are a few places that sell them online if you can't find any local to you

Lesley · Oct 24, 2014

Once again with their long nose chasing foods is not something they do naturally. They pick & peck the rocks & sand. So he may once again have difficulty catching live worms. !!

ritter6788 · Oct 24, 2014

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116280
Paul B might have more input on the worms. I've never tried it. Seems they die in saltwater quickly so it's not something they have to chase.

hybridazn · Oct 24, 2014

ritter6788 said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116280
Paul B might have more input on the worms. I've never tried it. Seems they die in saltwater quickly so it's not something they have to chase.

Exactly, they die within 5-10 seconds after being put into the water. Just long enough to get the attention of any fish to come eat them.

Lesley · Oct 24, 2014

Well that may work then. If enough hit the rocks. And depending On Other tank mates. Nothing hits the rocks in my tank with 6 hungry tangs. ! Lol.

duke4130 · Oct 25, 2014

Interesting stuff... I like the net idea... You are saying to put meaty foods in the net right???

I will also look into the black worms

Lesley · Oct 25, 2014

duke4130 said:
Interesting stuff... I like the net idea... You are saying to put meaty foods in the net right???

I will also look into the black worms

yes we started with mysis & brine frozen cubes. you will notice that the CB stalks the underneath of the rocks, if he has a favourite place to hunt try and place it on those rocks some how. We were lucky and had a hole in the rock so just the net part was poking out. He found it straight away.

duke4130 · Oct 25, 2014

Lesley said:
yes we started with mysis & brine frozen cubes. you will notice that the CB stalks the underneath of the rocks, if he has a favourite place to hunt try and place it on those rocks some how. We were lucky and had a hole in the rock so just the net part was poking out. He found it straight away.

Cool... Thanks for the advice

cmantis · Oct 25, 2014

I feed black worms to any new ones I get.

Eric81 · Oct 25, 2014

Mine loves black worms....can't recommend them enough for copper bands!

Paul B · Oct 25, 2014

I have been keping copperbands since the 70s and they were made to eat worms. I have also spent time with them in the sea and thats what they eat. Here is a video of mine eating worms. All my fish get live wormws every day and every fish in this video is spawning exceot the copperband (I wish) This one grew from the size of a quarter to about 5"

ReefFrenzy · Oct 28, 2014

I see that you live in San Diego. Do you by chance shop with Will at Aqua SD?

Many folks have success with our blends for copperbands if you cannot find black worms locally. We have fresh clams and other fresh morsels that seem to work well for finicky eaters. We get video submissions sent to us frequently from customers who were excited their fish started eating again so it might be worth a try in your case. Here a few videos with copperbands, and good luck!

This video was on Aquanerd a few weeks back:

[video=youtube_share;tUkaApfVenM]http://youtu.be/tUkaApfVenM[/video]

Another from the same customer but it is upside down..LOL. Lrs - YouTube

Another from a FB fan.... LRS REEF FRENZY / Copperband Butterfly - YouTube

Paul B · Oct 28, 2014

ReefFrenzy, here is a proposition for you. Sell tiny frozen whole salt water fish. I can get tiny mackerel about 1/4" long but they are freeze dried and have the consistency of wood. This hobby needs tiny, whole fish. That is the best food for most fish but it is not available in that size.
Like the fry in this picture from the Florida Keys.

duke4130 · Oct 28, 2014

ReefFrenzy said:
I see that you live in San Diego. Do you by chance shop with Will at Aqua SD?

Many folks have success with our blends for copperbands if you cannot find black worms locally. We have fresh clams and other fresh morsels that seem to work well for finicky eaters. We get video submissions sent to us frequently from customers who were excited their fish started eating again so it might be worth a try in your case. Here a few videos with copperbands, and good luck!

This video was on Aquanerd a few weeks back:

[video=youtube_share;tUkaApfVenM]http://youtu.be/tUkaApfVenM[/video]

Another from the same customer but it is upside down..LOL. Lrs - YouTube

Another from a FB fan.... LRS REEF FRENZY / Copperband Butterfly - YouTube

Yea I shop at ASD all the time. I am the one that talked to him about bringing your product in.... Lol... I tried the reef frenzy and he wouldn't eat it. Unfortunately a couple of days after I posted this the fish died. I think there was something else wrong with him. I know copperbands are prone to disease