Grabbed this nice Copperband from the LFS today!

[JumboShrimp]

This Copperband Butterfly looked good, was inquisitive, and I saw him eat-- so knowing I had a cycled 32-gallon BioCube standing by at home as an observation tank, I went for this today.

I went to the LFS for fish food-- not to buy an "Expert" level fish, but I probably don't have explain myself to anyone reading this.

Anyway; if he does well for a week or two, I'll run General Cure, then he'll next go into a QT tank where I can run Copper, and finally join some buddies in a 150-gallon FOWLR. Here's hoping️

 

[mfinn]

Great looking fish.

 

[JGT]

Eating is the big hurdle with these guys. Sounds like you have a good head start. GL! Love my guy. You won’t have an Aptasia problem given your FOWLR but mine cleaned my tank of all of them.

 

[slingfox]

Looks great! I was lucky and my Copperband est well from the start, including from the water column. To get him to start eating I went to the local Asian market and bought a bunch of Manila clams which I froze for use. During QT I put in one clam every so often which encouraged the Copperband to feed. Even now I put in a clam once a week to ensure my Copperband has enough to eat. During the other days he eats out of the water Colin along with the other fish. The other fish are very aggressive eaters so I put in the clam once a week to make sure the Copperband stays well fed.

I tie the clam to a small piece of rock with the shall slightly open. If the clam was open wider then my wrasse, Yellow Tang and Hawkfish would it all before the Copperband had a chance.

I also used a Copperband feeder during QT and for the first month in my display tank but don’t use it anymore.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I did drop a frozen little neck clam in right away; no interest yet, but I'm not worried. I think being alone in this tank and getting my 100% attention should be good until really, really happy.

 

[Bck2hobby]

Great looking fish

 

[slingfox]

I did drop a frozen little neck clam in right away; no interest yet, but I'm not worried. I think being alone in this tank and getting my 100% attention should be good until really, really happy.

For Copperband it is recommend to black out 3 out of the 4 sides of the tank. Marine Collectors quarantines these and that is what they recommend to avoid potential snout damage during QT. The black sides seems to keep fish calm during QT so I have permanently left the blackout on my QT tank. I bought the glass blackout film from Amazon.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Very interesting!

 

[fishface NJ]

Good luck! She's pretty

 

[commod0re]

What a cool looking fish, nice find!

 

[LaloJ]

This Copperband Butterfly looked good, was inquisitive, and I saw him eat-- so knowing I had a cycled 32-gallon BioCube standing by at home as an observation tank, I went for this today.

I went to the LFS for fish food-- not to buy an "Expert" level fish, but I probably don't have explain myself to anyone reading this.

Anyway; if he does well for a week or two, I'll run General Cure, then he'll next go into a QT tank where I can run Copper, and finally join some buddies in a 150-gallon FOWLR. Here's hoping️

Congratulations, you've got a great looking fish, it looks happy and plump, and it also seems to be a good size. Best of luck.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

This Copperband Butterfly looked good, was inquisitive, and I saw him eat-- so knowing I had a cycled 32-gallon BioCube standing by at home as an observation tank, I went for this today.

I went to the LFS for fish food-- not to buy an "Expert" level fish, but I probably don't have explain myself to anyone reading this.

Anyway; if he does well for a week or two, I'll run General Cure, then he'll next go into a QT tank where I can run Copper, and finally join some buddies in a 150-gallon FOWLR. Here's hoping️

Excellent looking CB!

 

[PhilT]

what else is in your main display?

 

[JumboShrimp]

Thanks for asking:

150-gallon FOWLR #1:
Raccoon Butterfly
Threadfin Butterfly
Saddleback Butterfly
Yellow Longnose Butterfly
Speckled Butterfly
Dot Dash Butterfly
Pearlscale Butterfly
Flame Hawk
Longnose Hawk
Pygmy Angel

150-gallon FOWLR #2:
Vagabond Butterfly
Black & White Butterfly (Banner fish)
Pakistani Butterfly
Latticed Butterfly
Double Saddle Buterfly
Teardrop Butterfly (still in QT)
Sunburst Butterfly (still in QT)
Copperband Butterfly (still in QT)
Flame Hawk
Longnose Hawk
Flame Back Angel

NOTE: this is my likely my final stocking... the 'Liquid Hotel' is officially full.

 

[Seansea]

Holy butterflies!! Any left in the ocean? They are beautiful. Wish i could keep them but my reef would be decimated

 

[JumboShrimp]

Some of the Fellas... enough to give you an idea. (LOTS of swim-through holes )

 

[Seansea]

Are they all eating food you put in the tank?

 

[JumboShrimp]

Yes, all eat frozen like pigs... but no interest in pellets or flake. Nori each day. Multiple feedings each day.

 

[fish_collector]

Nice fish you have! I love my Copperband and have zero regrets with him, aiptasia are all gone as well lol. I do think he’s picking at a few of my small clams though…

This is just my opinion so tread lightly with it, I’d hold off on any meds with a Copperband until youve got him eating frozen foods very well. I think these fish are somewhat fragile and meds may knock their appetite back. FWIW I bought mine from a fellow reefer that had had him for a good while and was eating frozen like a champ. I put him through 30 days of observation and a good fattening up period in a separate tank and then into the display. IMO If a fish doesn’t come down with anything in 30 days you can usually consider them clean.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I agree that that is sounds advice-- I think 'knocking back' a good appetite could be the result of moving a Copperband into meds too quickly; it will test my patience, no?!