Does this copperband look healthy?

[Nicolaj7913]

Hello

I was looking at this copperband at my LFS.

It eats frozen food from the hand, is interested in whats going on and acts what seems to be normal.

I cant see any signs of desease or parasites.

It probably ate around 10-15 peaces of frozen artemia.

The thing i am worried about is that it seems to be skinny right at the pectoral fin

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Looks a little skinny to me. I would probably wait until a better looking one showed up or order from a reputable QT fish seller.

 

[KrisReef]

Looks a little skinny to me. I would probably wait until a better looking one showed up or order from a reputable QT fish seller.

Agree with the weight loss, but I would buy it while it still has an appetite and feed it better foods and frequently until it gets used to captivity.

Hard pass on skinny fishes that are not showing interest in food, this one needs to be rescued, imo.

 

[OcellarisFish]

I watched a CBB eat frozen mysis at my LFS for two weeks before making the call to buy it.

It stopped eating for a week in my 150g system.

No aggressive tank mates, plenty of live bloodworms, clams, and 3D printed tubes, but it sadly passed from starvation.

I don’t think I’ll ever buy one again. Just my own thoughts!

 

[Nicolaj7913]

Agree with the weight loss, but I would buy it while it still has an appetite and feed it better foods and frequently until it gets used to captivity.

Hard pass on skinny fishes that are not showing interest in food, this one needs to be rescued, imo.

It has been in the LFS for at least a month.

But I don’t know if I have the cabability to rescue a copperband as it will be my first copperband.

I have kept a few longnosed butterfly, and I have made a lot of research about food and which individual fish to pick from the store.

But I don’t want to buy it and then it die in my aqaurium

 

[KrisReef]

It has been in the LFS for at least a month.

But I don’t know if I have the cabability to rescue a copperband as it will be my first copperband.

I have kept a few longnosed butterfly, and I have made a lot of research about food and which individual fish to pick from the store.

But I don’t want to buy it and then it die in my aqaurium

I don’t know what level of fish keeping you have but you are wise to investigate these things. Lots of people have reported significant difficulty getting copperbands to thrive in captivity.

Here’s what I see, now. The fish is slowly losing weight in captivity, but it’s still showing interest in eating (living) in captivity. The fish doesn’t have signs of disease presently, both of these things (losing weight but still eating) indicate to me, that in a healthy environment where proper nutrition and proper water quality are provided that the fish will survive and thrive.

If it stays in the LFS it is slowly losing weight, likely due to a nutrient deficient diet that lacks adequate variety of nutrient rich foods.

Frozen artemia isn’t a fresh chopped clam, it’s more analogous to popcorn .

If you’re not willing to provide this fish with a broad variety of fresh & Fresh frozen live foods until it starts gaining weight then I would not get a Copperband for your tank.

 

[UnnamedReef]

If it's already eating frozen it has a better shot than most. The skininess is concerning but it's not showing excessive lympho or anything and you say it has an active temperment.

I was in a similar situation with mine (it was undersized but acting OK). It stopped eating in QT for a few days but recovered nicely once I introduced it to live bloodworms. Now it eats anything in sight and runs the tank.

It's ultimately up to you, but I think if you made sure you had live food on hand and had the LFS feed heavy for a day or two prior to sale you'll be OK. Just have a strategy if it gets pickier when moved into your tank

 

[allof fish]

It has been in the LFS for at least a month.

But I don’t know if I have the cabability to rescue a copperband as it will be my first copperband.

I have kept a few longnosed butterfly, and I have made a lot of research about food and which individual fish to pick from the store.

But I don’t want to buy it and then it die in my aqaurium

If you get a copperband. Turn off all pumps to feed and hand feed it scallops or clams. Once they start eating that it’s much easier for everything else and less stressful on you to know if it’s eating or not

 

[Nicolaj7913]

I don’t know what level of fish keeping you have but you are wise to investigate these things. Lots of people have reported significant difficulty getting copperbands to thrive in captivity.

Here’s what I see, now. The fish is slowly losing weight in captivity, but it’s still showing interest in eating (living) in captivity. The fish doesn’t have signs of disease presently, both of these things (losing weight but still eating) indicate to me, that in a healthy environment where proper nutrition and proper water quality are provided that the fish will survive and thrive.

If it stays in the LFS it is slowly losing weight, likely due to a nutrient deficient diet that lacks adequate variety of nutrient rich foods.

Frozen artemia isn’t a fresh chopped clam, it’s more analogous to popcorn .

If you’re not willing to provide this fish with a broad variety of fresh & Fresh frozen live foods until it starts gaining weight then I would not get a Copperband for your tank.

I would do anything to save a fish - and I have done it before with mandarin gobies, I just know that this is a different level.

I make my own fish food so it would be no problem to also add in some clams and I have also read that Masstick in between the rocks have worked for some.

I am also looking in to getting some bloodworms if possible.

I just don’t want to try if it has a death sentence over its head already, but it sounds like there is a possibility of saving this fine fish.

 

[exnisstech]

Even though a CBB is eating at a store does not mean it will continue to eat when added to another tank. It's great if they are eating and really all you can look for other than malnutrition or signs of disease. I just mention it because often people assume because it's eating at the LFS that means it will eat in their tank but that isn't always the case so its best to be prepared with a variety of food. I've had best luck with live black worms as a first food if they're picky. I've had luck with mastic but my current one in observation isn't interested. I also like to keep an established tank running with live rock for them to graze on and I keep them in until they approach the glass begging for food when they see me. I think training them to eat from the water column is important to success if they are going to have to compete for food in the DT. Mine is currently eating frozen PE mysis and rods along with black worms. It also eats frozen blood worms but there really isn't much nutritional value. Mine hasn't shown interest in clams on a half shell so I'm going to try attaching some strips to a piece of rock. I actually buy mine not eating as long as they don't show signs of malnutrition. I'm confident I can do a better job training the fish to eat. At the store it eats or it doesn't, they don't have the time to work with individual fish. My current one is thriving but the two left at the store from the same order died several days after I bought mine so I guess I picked the right one.
I wish i could make my own food. I used to but the only store in my area that sold sea fresh seafood stopped selling it so i have nowhere to source ingredients.

 

[EnterName]

I would do anything to save a fish - and I have done it before with mandarin gobies, I just know that this is a different level.

I make my own fish food so it would be no problem to also add in some clams and I have also read that Masstick in between the rocks have worked for some.

I am also looking in to getting some bloodworms if possible.

I just don’t want to try if it has a death sentence over its head already, but it sounds like there is a possibility of saving this fine fish.

My Copperband loves ocean nutrition mysis and living brine shrimp. I've tried some brine shrimp paste but I'm not sure he is that much into it. The seller told me they also fed him Masstick which I will try next. He didn't touch bloodworms.