Copperband Barely Eating

[Tamberav]

Anybody have any luck with freeze dried blackworms? I've had my CBB for about 11 days now, still haven't actually seen him eat. I'm giving him mysis, brine and clams but not sure if he's eating. He's swimming around and looks good, maybe a bit thin. After this amount of time he has to have been eating something, right? Or could he last this long without eating?

They can last that long without eating.

Freeze fried blackworms will not work long term imo. They make frozen blood worms you could try but what you really want to do is culture live white worms but that is something a person needs to plan months ahead as they take time to get a good culture going. This is for people who don't have access to live black worms.

If you are using clams on the halfshell.. then get something better, LIVE clams from a Asian grocery store or fish market.

This is a fish that you want to buy when you have a source for live foods beforehand.

 

[Nicoseth]

Freeze dried no good. They prefer live or meaty. Be careful trying to force feed it as your parameter levels will become elevated will will cause further problems. If it is grazing- thats a good start. These are not instant feeders and are often busy grazing while also watching persons at the tank. Try walking away and see if it will attempt to eat.
Mine started slow and will is a 5" eating machine.

Thanks - Yeah, he's in my 30G QT and I'm changing the water 20% every couple of days to keep the quality good. He's very lively, that tells me that he's eating at least a little hopefully.

 

[Nicoseth]

They can last that long without eating.

Freeze fried blackworms will not work long term imo. They make frozen blood worms you could try but what you really want to do is culture live white worms but that is something a person needs to plan months ahead as they take time to get a good culture going. This is for people who don't have access to live black worms.

If you are using clams on the halfshell.. then get something better, LIVE clams from a Asian grocery store or fish market.

This is a fish that you want to buy when you have a source for live foods beforehand.

Thanks, good to know - will definitely be on the lookout for some live clams. Can't seem to source blackworms locally.

 

[Tamberav]

Thanks, good to know - will definitely be on the lookout for some live clams. Can't seem to source blackworms locally.

No problem, basically I put the live clams in the freezer. Then pry them open. They must taste 100x better then those old clam on the halfshell ones. You can buy whiteworms on ebay to culture for the future. it is easy, just water, potting soil, and bread or cat/dog food.

 

[Nicoseth]

No problem, basically I put the live clams in the freezer. Then pry them open. They must taste 100x better then those old clam on the halfshell ones. You can buy whiteworms on ebay to culture for the future. it is easy, just water, potting soil, and bread or cat/dog food.

Will definitely check those out on ebay! Gonna check out my local Asian market too for clams - great info!

 

[Paul B]

Healthy copperbands are very aggressive eaters and there should be no reason to have him eat from a feeder unless there are a bunch of larger aggressive feeders in the tank. They can take care of themselves. They don't do well in quarantine (and I don't think they or any fish should be quarantined) but they should not be fed brine shrimp, pellets or flakes as they won't eat that.

In the sea copperbands eat worms, any kind of worms including feather dusters. In a tank they also should be given worms. Your blackworms will only last a few days so they won't help much.

You need whiteworms. Whiteworms live in soil and are very cheap and very easy to cultivate. I have a batch going for probably 15 years so they are basically free. They also live in salt water for 5 days where as blackworms live in salt water about 15 seconds.

Once the coperband eats whiteworms it should also be fed clams. Buy them live and freeze them yourself.

Copperbands should live about 12 or 15 years. They need a tank that is not new. At least a few years old with lots of hiding places. The older the better with a lot of growth in them. If you can see the fish, he can see you and he doesn't like you.

People have trouble with them because they buy them without researching their needs as they are not a hard fish, they just need different care them most fish.

Mine here is about 10 years old. I have been keeping them since the 70s and are my favorite fish.

 

[ReefHog]

Your blackworms will only last a few days so they won't help much.

I buy enough blackworms to last 4-6 weeks. I keep them in a plastic Tupperware bin in the fridge. I change water with RO water every other day or two and they are just as active on day 30 as they are on day one. So if you get enough live black worms and keep the water fresh, they could last long enough for you to get a white worm culture going. Mine ate frozen blood worms when I first got him. He doesn’t touch them now but you could try that

 

[Adamantium]

Healthy copperbands are very aggressive eaters and there should be no reason to have him eat from a feeder unless there are a bunch of larger aggressive feeders in the tank. They can take care of themselves. They don't do well in quarantine (and I don't think they or any fish should be quarantined) but they should not be fed brine shrimp, pellets or flakes as they won't eat that.

In the sea copperbands eat worms, any kind of worms including feather dusters. In a tank they also should be given worms. Your blackworms will only last a few days so they won't help much.

You need whiteworms. Whiteworms live in soil and are very cheap and very easy to cultivate. I have a batch going for probably 15 years so they are basically free. They also live in salt water for 5 days where as blackworms live in salt water about 15 seconds.

Once the coperband eats whiteworms it should also be fed clams. Buy them live and freeze them yourself.

Copperbands should live about 12 or 15 years. They need a tank that is not new. At least a few years old with lots of hiding places. The older the better with a lot of growth in them. If you can see the fish, he can see you and he doesn't like you.

People have trouble with them because they buy them without researching their needs as they are not a hard fish, they just need different care them most fish.

Mine here is about 10 years old. I have been keeping them since the 70s and are my favorite fish.

Thank you so much. That’s a stunning Copperband, and it’s age is impressive. Something to be proud of, for sure.

Given that white worms live in soil, how do you clean them for feeding?

 

[Nicoseth]

Fantastic info

Healthy copperbands are very aggressive eaters and there should be no reason to have him eat from a feeder unless there are a bunch of larger aggressive feeders in the tank. They can take care of themselves. They don't do well in quarantine (and I don't think they or any fish should be quarantined) but they should not be fed brine shrimp, pellets or flakes as they won't eat that.

In the sea copperbands eat worms, any kind of worms including feather dusters. In a tank they also should be given worms. Your blackworms will only last a few days so they won't help much.

You need whiteworms. Whiteworms live in soil and are very cheap and very easy to cultivate. I have a batch going for probably 15 years so they are basically free. They also live in salt water for 5 days where as blackworms live in salt water about 15 seconds.

Once the coperband eats whiteworms it should also be fed clams. Buy them live and freeze them yourself.

Copperbands should live about 12 or 15 years. They need a tank that is not new. At least a few years old with lots of hiding places. The older the better with a lot of growth in them. If you can see the fish, he can see you and he doesn't like you.

People have trouble with them because they buy them without researching their needs as they are not a hard fish, they just need different care them most fish.

Mine here is about 10 years old. I have been keeping them since the 70s and are my favorite fish.

Fantastic info - thanks!

 

[Paul B]

After you get a good culture going they crawl up on the side of the box and you can just scrape them off. Don't worry about the dirt. Dirt is good and I make sure I collect the worms with some dirt on them for the bacteria.
The bacteria is why my fish don't need quarantine and only die of old age like all fish should. But you have a lot of reading to do.
Good Luck

 

[Nicoseth]

Healthy copperbands are very aggressive eaters and there should be no reason to have him eat from a feeder unless there are a bunch of larger aggressive feeders in the tank. They can take care of themselves. They don't do well in quarantine (and I don't think they or any fish should be quarantined) but they should not be fed brine shrimp, pellets or flakes as they won't eat that.

In the sea copperbands eat worms, any kind of worms including feather dusters. In a tank they also should be given worms. Your blackworms will only last a few days so they won't help much.

You need whiteworms. Whiteworms live in soil and are very cheap and very easy to cultivate. I have a batch going for probably 15 years so they are basically free. They also live in salt water for 5 days where as blackworms live in salt water about 15 seconds.

Once the coperband eats whiteworms it should also be fed clams. Buy them live and freeze them yourself.

Copperbands should live about 12 or 15 years. They need a tank that is not new. At least a few years old with lots of hiding places. The older the better with a lot of growth in them. If you can see the fish, he can see you and he doesn't like you.

People have trouble with them because they buy them without researching their needs as they are not a hard fish, they just need different care them most fish.

Mine here is about 10 years old. I have been keeping them since the 70s and are my favorite fish.

Out of curiosity, why do you believe they don't do well in QT?

 

[Paul B]

I wrote volumes on this and it is not just copperbands. Quarantine by nature keeps the fish in a clean condition away from bacteria and parasites. Fish need bacteria in their food and water constantly because it is the bacteria and pathogens that allow the fishes immune system to recognize diseases so the fish can make antibodies to them.

The longer you keep fish (or us) away from pathogens, the weaker their immunity will be. Thats why you don't find any very old quarantined systems.
Healthy, not quarantined fish eating the correct food will never get sick and should die of old age. Fish are very robust and don't need coddling, they just need the correct living conditions including bacteria and parasites. Healthy female fish are also always pregnant.

My tank just reached 50 years old, some of the fish are 30 and none of them have ever been quarantined, sick or medicated including copperbands and mandarins.
Here are some articles or threads that I posted if you are interested. Of course my ideas are controversial.

A Huge Problem IMO as to why tanks crash and we have so many problems with just about everything.

I am not the smartest fish keeper in the world, but I am probably one of the oldest. Being one of the oldest, I have also had more time to study this stuff and more time to make mistakes. Mistakes are one way we learn. A very good way. It's actually how they train you in basic training in the...

www.reef2reef.com

The Other Way to Run a Reef Tank (no Quarantine)

The other way to run a reef tank (No Quarantine) I was asked by my friend Humblefish to start a thread on my practices of running a tank with no quarantine, hospital tanks, medications, dipping or almost anything else. It is "not" just to take a fish from a store and drop it in your reef...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[N.Sreefer]

Wish I could find some live black worms, but no LFS near me carries them. Might order some online.

Culture some vinegar eels. I use them for my dartfrogs and my fish! So easy to "culture" they live in vinegar!

 

[Adamantium]

Are mussels a decent food source? I’m at the store now, and they’re like 1/4 the cost of clams.

 

[346700984]

When we got our copper band, he ate at the store but then when he came home he wouldn’t eat for like 3 days. We tried it all. Clams on a half shell, bloodworms, our normal Hikari frozen spirulina/brine, the flakes etc. We tried spot feeding him with the pumps etc off, knowing they like to forage for food out of rocks we let the shrimps fall to the rocks for him to pick and in the water near him. Nothing. But he was always looking for food it seemed. Then, we tried live brine shrimp and he ate!! Then on he became an aggressive eater and started eating everything that we had tried before that he declined. Everything. We felt lucky because we knew it was hard to get one that ate so well. But then it started eating too well. It got a taste for our acan garden and wouldn’t leave them alone. We ended up returning him with heavy hearts because we knew it would just be a problem. :-( But our fish store was understanding and will place him with the right owner. Man did he end up eating brine shrimps like a piggy though. Crazy.

 

[Paul B]

Are mussels a decent food source? I’m at the store now, and they’re like 1/4 the cost of clams.

Yes. Mussels are one of the best foods.

 

[Adamantium]

Yes. Mussels are one of the best foods.

Fabulous. Thank you for your insights, Paul. I have some mussels in the freezer right now, and will feed one as soon as they are good and frozen.

 

[Nicoseth]

I wrote volumes on this and it is not just copperbands. Quarantine by nature keeps the fish in a clean condition away from bacteria and parasites. Fish need bacteria in their food and water constantly because it is the bacteria and pathogens that allow the fishes immune system to recognize diseases so the fish can make antibodies to them.

The longer you keep fish (or us) away from pathogens, the weaker their immunity will be. Thats why you don't find any very old quarantined systems.
Healthy, not quarantined fish eating the correct food will never get sick and should die of old age. Fish are very robust and don't need coddling, they just need the correct living conditions including bacteria and parasites. Healthy female fish are also always pregnant.

My tank just reached 50 years old, some of the fish are 30 and none of them have ever been quarantined, sick or medicated including copperbands and mandarins.
Here are some articles or threads that I posted if you are interested. Of course my ideas are controversial.

A Huge Problem IMO as to why tanks crash and we have so many problems with just about everything.

I am not the smartest fish keeper in the world, but I am probably one of the oldest. Being one of the oldest, I have also had more time to study this stuff and more time to make mistakes. Mistakes are one way we learn. A very good way. It's actually how they train you in basic training in the...

www.reef2reef.com

The Other Way to Run a Reef Tank (no Quarantine)

The other way to run a reef tank (No Quarantine) I was asked by my friend Humblefish to start a thread on my practices of running a tank with no quarantine, hospital tanks, medications, dipping or almost anything else. It is "not" just to take a fish from a store and drop it in your reef...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks, Paul - very interesting, and yes, I bet you get some doubters! Obviously seems to be working for you though - thanks for sharing.

 

[Paul B]

Oh yeah, plenty of doubters over many years. But the vast majority of them already left the hobby and are running the French Fry cooker at McDonalds.

 

[Nicoseth]

Good news, finally got my CBB eating. Stopped by my local convenience store yesterday and picked up some fresh mussels - immediately he went for it and ate it for the rest of the day. Stoked!