Copperband Buttterfly Eating from wate column

Sean Norman · Jan 24, 2026

So my Aptasia issue is not being handled by my Filefish. He picks at it and seems to be eating some of it… but not very much. I decided to try a CB. Went to my LFS they had a bout 4-5. I went in on 12/30 and this particular fish had been there since 12/9. He was not thin and the only one who displayed any feeding response to the staff putting food in the tank. I followed the advice I had seen on YT and started him with some mussels in the shell. I let the CB get acclimated to the QT and I did have some rock in there with some Aptasia( which he seems to have eaten). I then started introducing Myesis. He does not seem to see it when it enters the tank, but once it blows around he chases it and eats it. Once he has eaten all of it, he gets a mussel for about an hour to pick at.
I decided on a basic observation QT rather than TTM which I usually use.
I am on 16 days of him eating, he looks healthy. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how long I should keep up with this style feeding before he is ready to go into the larger tank. The tank has aggressive eaters.. but no real aggressive fish. My plan is to give him a mussel every few days once he is in the 180 and then scale back to once a week to keep him fat and happy.

New2Reefing22 · Jan 24, 2026

I have a copperband in a 75. I just put him in right away. Started him on the mussel. As soon as he recognized that mysis was food he ate it right away. Never had any issues with him not getting enough.

mfinn · Jan 25, 2026

I would concentrate on feeding it the main food you use for the display tank.
He is eating now so stick to the main food and you won't have to worry about it later.

exnisstech · Jan 25, 2026

When I added my male after observation and training to eat In places it in an acclimation box and I fed the box. There were openings large enough for the food to pass through and all the tangs going after that food gave the illusion the CBB was competing for the food. I used a modified reptile carrier and left him in for a week before I released him. Neither of mine had any problems competing for food.

Daniel Doherty · Jan 25, 2026

exnisstech said:
When I added my male after observation and training to eat In places it in an acclimation box and I fed the box. There were openings large enough for the food to pass through and all the tangs going after that food gave the illusion the CBB was competing for the food. I used a modified reptile carrier and left him in for a week before I released him. Neither of mine had any problems competing for food.

I love your pair. I really want to do it with mine. I’ve seen the thread on it but I want someone to double check the sex of mine before I proceed with it. Would you be able to check ?