I get it, environment change and stressed out.
How is your Copperband doing? I hope he settled in over time!
Did you use chopped clams and target feed? On the half shell and drop in? How did the CBB get enough without the swarm of other fish pushing him away? Fresh or frozen clam?
I have 2 of them if different tanks and they are doing really well? They really are all different. My smaller copper took over a month to start eating aptasia. Larger one smoked them in 5 minutes. Smaller one is still a little shy , larger one is the first one to the food. I personally think it’s super important to not have these guys with aggressive fish. I know it’s possible as many have have had success, but the question is how many copper bands has one gone through to have one success. These guys can definitely hold their own but it’s really not good for them long term. I think tangs are the main issues. I removed all my tangs in both tanks and now both my copper bands run the show. Once these guys settle in they are not that difficult from what I can see. The only thing that I make a priority for these guys is feed PE Mysis. Both of mine go absolutely crazy and when I mix it with regular mysis they always go after the PE first. The other thing is I noticed there belly really got nice and round when I introduced PE mysis. Bellies always looked ok with mysis and spirulina brine but nothing like when I introduced PE. They truly are all different. A lot of people have success with getting them to start eating clams because it’s more natural. Both of mine can careless about clams. The only coral I had to removed from either tank so far is a Scoly. It’s funny though because there are only Scolys are on the of that one but shows no interest so far. I don’t mind if they pick on a couple of corals. These fish are truly amazing and saved me from hours of backbreaking bouts with the dreaded aptasia! One more thing. When people say these guys stare at food more so at first to try and get to eat, boy they aren’t wrong. Most copper bands going straight into a display tank with no established tank or full of aptasia at first will mainly not do well. I would recommend feed no less than twice a day. Remember, these guys if healthy hunt the rock work a lot. Good luck if you plan on trying one!
Thank you for providing a detailed update. It has been over a year since I added any new fish and it looks like my tank’s nutrients are getting low so I hope to add a Copperband whenever one of the LFS by me get one into stock. Going to research as much as I can in the interim!
Frozen on a half shelll. At the beggining the other fish was not that interested. Now they are, so I just drop in 2 clams. Usually the foxface grabs it outs of the shell and eats it in the water column, and the cleaner pecks at that, and the other one is free for the coppedband. I tried dropping in clams without oppening them, so they can gradualy open and at the early stages only the CB can access them, but sometime it did not open or the CB did not notice it, so now i just go the easy route :)
Oh and whole clams, i buy them frozen from a grocery shop. And i only have 2 other fish who are interested other than the CB so there is not that much of swarming there
