copperband butterfly reef safe?

[4FordFamily]

I got a filefish to do the job big mistake after the aphasia it kills my rock anemone

This is why you need to be diligent to remove them as soon as they’re done. It’s a risk, but the odds have always worked in my favor (some 7-8 times now). That said, not all of them have eaten parasitic anemones. Probably half of them

 

[Kmsutows]

I plan on keeping one in a separate tank prior to introducing it to other tankmates. liveaquaria has them eating prior to shipping. I'm hoping these steps provide a good attempt to keeping them

I'd advise against a separate tank... they need an established tank it really helps them acclimate. They graze all say long looking for worms and other foods in the live rock. They need to be trained to take from the water column as it's not natural for them

 

[Michael pugh]

I'd advise against a separate tank... they need an established tank it really helps them acclimate. They graze all say long looking for worms and other foods in the live rock. They need to be trained to take from the water column as it's not natural for them

the system it would be in has been up for a year. it's the frag tank. plenty of sponges, worm, and sadly aptasia

 

[jd371]

Mine hasn't touched any of the corals in my mixed 75g. Did a great job on the Aptasia at first but has since stopped eating them, I guess due to the fact that he's like a pig and is well fed now.

 

[BigJohnny]

Matted filefish or berghia nudibranchs would be much better options to just get rid of aiptasia in a 50g frag. Berghias did nothing for me for a month and then boom took everything out in about 2 weeks. Matted Filefish are hardy and more likely to eat aiptasia ime. Copperband should not just be purchased as a utility fish due to expert nature, also a 50g is too small for one.

Btw, my copperband nipped acro growth tips for the first month or so, also a chalice. It doesn't bother anything anymore, and definitely one of my favorite fish, but its a roll of the dice in many ways. Proper qt and feeding are a must as well imo. They are very prone to bacterial infections and not eating most foods. Mine needs to eat an insane amount of food to stay plump. I feed heavy 4x a day, primarily live blackworms and lrs. Mine would have probably died in qt without live blackworms.

Good luck

 

[Mark Gray]

Matted filefish or berghia nudibranchs would be much better options to just get rid of aiptasia in a 50g frag. Berghias did nothing for me for a month and then boom took everything out in about 2 weeks. Matted Filefish are hardy and more likely to eat aiptasia ime. Copperband should not just be purchased as a utility fish due to expert nature, also a 50g is too small for one.

Btw, my copperband nipped acro growth tips for the first month or so, also a chalice. It doesn't bother anything anymore, and definitely one of my favorite fish, but its a roll of the dice in many ways. Proper qt and feeding are a must as well imo. They are very prone to bacterial infections and not eating most foods. Mine needs to eat an insane amount of food to stay plump. I feed heavy 4x a day, primarily live blackworms and lrs. Mine would have probably died in qt without live blackworms.

Good luck

Thanks for the info I am a long way off from getting one like a year or more, I still am not sure though I like my SPS lol

 

[BigJohnny]

Thanks for the info I am a long way off from getting one like a year or more, I still am not sure though I like my SPS lol

It didn't even really bother the acros. Probably only stalled growth on those tips for a few days. With any butterfly or angel, feeding heavy several times a day is crucial if you want to try and prevent coral nipping.

 

[Mark Gray]

It didn't even really bother the acros. Probably only stalled growth on those tips for a few days. With any butterfly or angel, feeding heavy several times a day is crucial if you want to try and prevent coral nipping.

Thanks I currently have black worms and white worms I try to keep my fish well fed

 

[RobertN]

what are some other options? I've tried peppermint shrimp with no luck. I also have a wrasse so I dont want to try those nudies

I've had great luck with Mottled Filefish and it hasn't bothered any corals, though I would guess it might mess with feather dusters if I had them (I don't).

 

[Sealion]

My copperband has not done anything to my corals. He's currently wanting the cleaner shrimp to give him a once over. I also made a feeder for him, nothing fancy, just pcv pipe with holes and caps. Stuff it with food and let it sink .

 

[Chrispaul]

I've had a one that hasn't touched anything but my last one picked at my sps pulled the head off my feather duster and picked at my Kenya! Bye bye fish!

 

[doughboy]

Right after I took this picture, I saw it tear the flesh off the acan. So they are not reef safe. You can keep it as long as you don’t have corals it thinks is free food.

 

[Michael pugh]

you think getting a small one is a good idea?

 

[Kmsutows]

I've had a one that hasn't touched anything but my last one picked at my sps pulled the head off my feather duster and picked at my Kenya! Bye bye fish!

I wish mine ate my Kenya trees. And of course it ate your feather duster. . They are worm eaters, that's their natural food source.

 

[Coralville]

Mine ate all the aiptasia and didn’t bother anything else. I kept him well fed with black worms after he polished off the aiptasia. YMMV

 

[pcon]

you think getting a small one is a good idea?

If you are asking this question of the random people on this forum(no offense to my fellow forum members) then no it isn't a good idea.

Here is a good checklist to decide if it is a good idea:

• I have an established conditioning/quarantine tank, with pods, sponges, micro algae, for the CBB to munch on.
• My display tank is well established with all kinds of microfauna for the CBB to graze.
• I am familiar with and have a treatment plan for the common diseases that they come in with, Ich, Flukes, Velvet, bacterial infections.
• I have a dozen+ different varieties of food to attempt to find what the butterfly prefers, including multiple brands of common staples. These fish are very picky eaters, if you don't, can't or wont have this large of a collection of foods then this fish is not for you.
  
• I am prepared to feed my tank 2-3 times per day, with the specific foods and conditions preferred by the CBB. (Mine wont eat without all pumps on, so I have to heavily over feed the tank 2+ times per day)
• I have no aggressive or boisterous fish in the tank.
• I will not add any aggressive or boisterous fish.
• I don't have any specialized pod hunters like Mandarins that the CBB must compete with while grazing.
• I don't care if it does or does not eat pest anemones.
• I don't have any feather dusters that I plan on keeping with the fish.
• I am willing to sacrifice any of my corals to this fish.
• I am willing to select all future corals with regard to the potential coral eater.
• I am willing to go above and beyond the average care levels for this fish.

If you cannot confidently make each of the above statements then a CBB is not a "good" idea. Will it work out if I don't meet all the above criteria? Sometimes, plenty of people with some success with these fish don't. But is not a good idea to attempt an expert fish without meeting all its care needs.

We as a community should not condone and advise the purchase of living creatures without meeting the highest level of preparation.

 

[JasPR]

This whole subject of using fish that are known or have been 'seen to' eat undesirable invertebrates is one of those truths " when you focus narrowly". It would be wholly foolish to think that if a species eats certain inverts and his highly successful at doing this-- that if that food source is exhausted, that the species will not turn to other live food. Aptaisia is an anemone. Rock flower anemone are anemone. Baby rock flowers would stand a chance. So logic tells us that this approach ( to introduce a wild food chain) in an aquarium to remove a link in the chain is to suggest that the well adapted eradicator plump species will happily starve to death when the target species is gone. There is no easy commercial answer here. Just determination, quarantine and maintenance. IMHO