Copperband Butterfly Attempt #1

[jackalexander]

So this should be interesting... I’m going to have my attempt with the infamous Copperband Butterfly within the next few weeks and I want things to be prepared because I really want this fish to survive. I was planning on getting a brine hatchery and feeding live brine daily and eventually mixing frozen brine into the live brine. How long would you drip acclimate this guy and obviously QT is not an option so how do I prevent disease? Are there any suggestions of what I could do to increase its chances of survival?

 

[Montiman]

I have kept many for years and never needed to feed live food. Pick one that is eating from the store and feed it what it is eating. My experience is that they like worms so blood worms are a good go to. Working at the LFS and starting with frozen food at least 80% of copper band butterflyfish would eat.

I really feel this fish is way easier than people make it out to be.

 

[jackalexander]

I have kept many for years and never needed to feed live food. Pick one that is eating from the store and feed it what it is eating. My experience is that they like worms so blood worms are a good go to. Working at the LFS and starting with frozen food at least 80% of copper band butterflyfish would eat.

I really feel this fish is way easier than people make it out to be.

That’s how I feel but I didn’t want to be cocky about it.. lol

 

[Glenner’sreef]

So you’ve chosen one of the most beautiful marine fish available. Montiman’s advise was spot on. Make sure he’s eating at the lfs. But please take these two suggestions to the bank. Feed your CBB at least twice a day. And keep an eye on the flow in your tank. Tangs have a much more aggressive eating style than CBBs. They move at lightning speed with their mouth open and before you know it all the food is gone. They feed this way even with a lot of flow. CBBs are decent eaters but a bit more careful than Tangs. So the flow in your tank should not be too strong or other fish will capture more brine shrimp, Mysis etc. than your Butterfly. So many of us have Tangs that’s why I used them to illustrate. Count how many pieces of food your fish eats. 20-30 pieces morning and night should keep this classy fish living long. Good luck bud.

 

[Gtinnel]

Why is quarantining not an option? From my understand it's sometimes better to quarantine cbb to make sure they're eating without competition since they're generally timid eaters.
I bought one over a month or so ago that I was told was eating frozen, I stupidly didn't ask to see it eat. I get home and put it in my tank and for a few weeks it won't eat anything ( I tried clam, mussel, mysis, brine, blood worms, live white worms, pieces of shrimp, and pellets). After about 3 weeks it started eating, it ate my duncan coral and it's favorite was hammer coral. So into my qt tank it went. I was finally able to see it eat a few white worms but it was too little too late and it died a few days ago.

I'm not saying you can't have success with them many people do, but don't go in with the attitude that it'll necessarily be easy. I strongly recommend setting up a white worm culture before you get it. I now have 4 plastic containers of white worm cultures and I wish I would've done that before getting my cbb.

Good luck

 

[jackalexander]

Why is quarantining not an option? From my understand it's sometimes better to quarantine cbb to make sure they're eating without competition since they're generally timid eaters.
I bought one over a month or so ago that I was told was eating frozen, I stupidly didn't ask to see it eat. I get home and put it in my tank and for a few weeks it won't eat anything ( I tried clam, mussel, mysis, brine, blood worms, live white worms, pieces of shrimp, and pellets). After about 3 weeks it started eating, it ate my duncan coral and it's favorite was hammer coral. So into my qt tank it went. I was finally able to see it eat a few white worms but it was too little too late and it died a few days ago.

I'm not saying you can't have success with them many people do, but don't go in with the attitude that it'll necessarily be easy. I strongly recommend setting up a white worm culture before you get it. I now have 4 plastic containers of white worm cultures and I wish I would've done that before getting my cbb.

Good luck

Hopefully this isn’t my case... would a brine hatchery be beneficial?

 

[jackalexander]

So you’ve chosen one of the most beautiful marine fish available. Montiman’s advise was spot on. Make sure he’s eating at the lfs. But please take these two suggestions to the bank. Feed your CBB at least twice a day. And keep an eye on the flow in your tank. Tangs have a much more aggressive eating style than CBBs. They move at lightning speed with their mouth open and before you know it all the food is gone. They feed this way even with a lot of flow. CBBs are decent eaters but a bit more careful than Tangs. So the flow in your tank should not be too strong or other fish will capture more brine shrimp, Mysis etc. than your Butterfly. So many of us have Tangs that’s why I used them to illustrate. Count how many pieces of food your fish eats. 20-30 pieces morning and night should keep this classy fish living long. Good luck bud.

Sounds good! luckily I’ve only got a pair of clowns for now and they aren’t aggressive eaters... Would you recommend putting the cbb directly into the tank or quarantining it?

 

[lkc]

I quarantined mine for 30 says using copper power. Threw in half a live oyster from the grocery store. Makes a mess but he loved it!

 

[Tamberav]

So this should be interesting... I’m going to have my attempt with the infamous Copperband Butterfly within the next few weeks and I want things to be prepared because I really want this fish to survive. I was planning on getting a brine hatchery and feeding live brine daily and eventually mixing frozen brine into the live brine. How long would you drip acclimate this guy and obviously QT is not an option so how do I prevent disease? Are there any suggestions of what I could do to increase its chances of survival?

Instead of live brine you should be getting live worms and live clams (buy live then freeze them). Clams on half shell will not do.

Mine will not touch freshly hatched brine or any food too small. Likes chunks of clams/LRS and live worms.

I quarantined mine. I didn’t find them particularly stressed by QT.

NFG dip and peroxide dip (1.25ml per cup) for 30 min (separate dips) is helpful before entering the QT or DT.

 

[Gtinnel]

Sounds good! luckily I’ve only got a pair of clowns for now and they aren’t aggressive eaters... Would you recommend putting the cbb directly into the tank or quarantining it?

I've always heard the brine shrimp don't provide enough nutrition to be their only food source, but I don't know. I know if you can't get it to eat anything then brine shrimp would be better than nothing.
As for quarantining if your only other fish aren't aggressive eaters then I'd just do it however you would any other fish.

I think the most important thing is like already said make sure you watch it eat in the store and then buy some of the exact same food they fed it.

I don't know how much of my advice you should take, don't forget I had mine die a few days ago.

 

[ApoIsland]

Sounds good! luckily I’ve only got a pair of clowns for now and they aren’t aggressive eaters... Would you recommend putting the cbb directly into the tank or quarantining it?

They are easy to keep if you can dedicate yourself to providing enough food.

With your lightly stocked display I would not quarantine this fish if you don't have a very good way of maintaining quality water. Should have no problem getting him food with those clowns. The CBB needs a lot of food and brine shrimp will not make a dent in the nutritional needs. PE Mysis every day for mine.

I failed in my first attempt by putting it in a quarantine tank not properly cycled. All of the others have fared very well once I stopped quarantining.

 

[PanchoG]

PaulB recommends frozen clams.

 

[sp1187]

if your tank has the tiny feather dusters CBB will devour all of them.
mine eats frozen mysis , black worms and brine. feed with a turkey baster so you can spot feed.

 

[ApoIsland]

if your tank has the tiny feather dusters CBB will devour all of them.
mine eats frozen mysis , black worms and brine. feed with a turkey baster so you can spot feed.

Along with feather dusters you may also have to forget about rock flower anemone as well. I have had 4 CBB in my display at various different times and some go for the nems within a few months, and some take a year, but they eventually all went for the nems. Possibly because I don't feed enough....

 

[jackalexander]

A lot of helpful tips! thank you guys, I will be sure to update this thread once I find the right one!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Sounds good! luckily I’ve only got a pair of clowns for now and they aren’t aggressive eaters... Would you recommend putting the cbb directly into the tank or quarantining it?

So this is one of those “potential” catch 22 subjects. If you quarantine, you add undue stress to an already stressed fish. If you put him directly into your display tank you run the risk of undue harm to some or all of the fish in your tank. You’ve got 2 options. I have chosen over the years not to quarantine any fish. I do dip corals every time I purchase one. But fish, I observe closely and the lfs. I then acclimate them carefully at home. Place them in the tank and watch them carefully for days until they look comfortable and blemish, spot or parasite free. If I notice anything, I remove them. I purchased a beautiful Blonde Naso Tang last year. It was quarantined at the store. Good right? It took about 2 days fir it to develop a dark spot on its side. And it began to get weak, then very weak. I got it out of the tank. It died shortly after that. I personally feel safe doing it that way. I’ve never had a tank wide ich outbreak. Although once I purchased a fish, (Powder Blue Tang) that did bring ich into my tank. I only lost one other fish and that Tang. I keep my tank inhabitants immunity as high as I can. And it works in cases like that to protect the majority. Quarantine is not a guarantee, it’s stressful to the fish, it’s an added expense to the hobbyist but on the other hand it may just save your new fish life. Totally your choice.

 

[jackalexander]

So this is one of those “potential” catch 22 subjects. If you quarantine, you add undue stress to an already stressed fish. If you put him directly into your display tank you run the risk of undue harm to some or all of the fish in your tank. You’ve got 2 options. I have chosen over the years not to quarantine any fish. I do dip corals every time I purchase one. But fish, I observe closely and the lfs. I then acclimate them carefully at home. Place them in the tank and watch them carefully for days until they look comfortable and blemish, spot or parasite free. If I notice anything, I remove them. I purchased a beautiful Blonde Naso Tang last year. It was quarantined at the store. Good right? It took about 2 days fir it to develop a dark spot on its side. And it began to get weak, then very weak. I got it out of the tank. It died shortly after that. I personally feel safe doing it that way. I’ve never had a tank wide ich outbreak. Although once I purchased a fish, (Powder Blue Tang) that did bring ich into my tank. I only lost one other fish and that Tang. I keep my tank inhabitants immunity as high as I can. And it works in cases like that to protect the majority. Quarantine is not a guarantee, it’s stressful to the fish, it’s an added expense to the hobbyist but on the other hand it may just save your new fish life. Totally your choice.

Very good insight, I’m sorry about your fishes losses! it always sucks when a fish dies on your watch.. I think for this guy I will put him directly into the tank. I know they don’t like sterile tanks and tend to be quite hardy. Would a 2 hour drip be good or longer? I’ve seen people drip for 3+ hours..

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Very good insight, I’m sorry about your fishes losses! it always sucks when a fish dies on your watch.. I think for this guy I will put him directly into the tank. I know they don’t like sterile tanks and tend to be quite hardy. Would a 2 hour drip be good or longer? I’ve seen people drip for 3+ hours..

As much time as you have. But 2-3 hours should be fine. I alway have my digital thermometer and refractometer handy to test both my tank water then the acclimated container and repeat until they match.

 

[Paul B]

Hopefully this isn’t my case... would a brine hatchery be beneficial?

No. A copperband a little larger than a nickel won't even see baby brine shrimp and adult shrimp would be useless.
Feed it small pieces of clam. Not clam that you get in a LFS but real clam from a sea food market or supermarket where you buy them live.

Live worms are the absolute best food for these fish and if I couldn't get or raise worms, I would not be in this hobby.
I find copperbands to live about 10 years (In my tank anyway, they probably can live a lit longer) and I am not sure why so many people have so many problems with them.
But I definitely would not quarantine a copperband. Of course I wouldn't quarantine anything but thats just ,me.

 

[Arcadiareef]

I find live blackworms to be the best food to get most fish to start eating, at first they my refuse, but once they acquire a taste they go nuts, with butterfly’s I call it the depression phase, where they just don’t want anything to do with eating regular fare, after a while on worms they will start eating everything, including corals sometimes lol,