Help get my spotfin butterfly to eat

[c_johns89]

Hey all,
Anyone have any luck getting a wild-caught spotfin butterfly to eat?

Things I've tried so far:
1. Frozen mysis
2. Frozen bloodworms
3. Live brine shrimp
4. Mixture of live brine shrimp and frozen mysis shrimp

Anything else I should try?

Cheers

 

[dennis romano]

I find that the Atlantic butterflies are some of the toughest to get to eat. The two foods that seem to work are live blackworms and frozen clams on the half shell. Good luck!

 

[nereefpat]

Those are 2 good suggestions

 

[vetteguy53081]

These are hit and miss with feeding and will need to be enticed with live fods

 

[lion king]

Yes live black worms is worth try as different types of worms are in their natural diet. Internal parasites also contribute to not eating, have you noticed any lethargy, stringy poo, cloudy eyes, or sunken stomach. Amphipods would also be a great offering.

 

[c_johns89]

Yea I’ve read these guys are pains in the butt to get eating. This spotfin is one of the most spunky I’ve seen, very active, swims all over the place, no signs of any disease.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a try as well. Anyone have a good vendor for live black worms?

 

[lion king]

Yea I’ve read these guys are pains in the butt to get eating. This spotfin is one of the most spunky I’ve seen, very active, swims all over the place, no signs of any disease.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a try as well. Anyone have a good vendor for live black worms?

Check with freshwater lfs in your area, they are a popular food for freshwater hobbyist.

 

[dennis romano]

Yea I’ve read these guys are pains in the butt to get eating. This spotfin is one of the most spunky I’ve seen, very active, swims all over the place, no signs of any disease.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a try as well. Anyone have a good vendor for live black worms?

Check on the site Aquabid.com. It is like Ebay but for tropical fish. They usually have a good section for buying live food.

 

[c_johns89]

Found some black worms at the LFS and I'll update with some observations later.

 

[Bucs20fan]

So these fish are a tad more difficult than a CBB but the process is more or less the same. Heres what ive done successfully to get a CBB to eat and should be very helpful.

Here is what has worked for me twice to get them onto frozen:

I will tell you what has worked for me both times Ive had a CBB to get it eating.

Step one. You have its interest in food, now you have to convince it to eat. They love wiggly food worms are part of their natural diet, along with anemones of course. Blood worms are a good place to start, with high flow going to push them around. If you HAVE to get it to eat something Live Brine almost always works.

Step two. Once it is actually eating something, even live brine shrimp, you are getting somewhere. Start to mix in some bloodworms or even better, mysis shrimp with live brine. This will help getting it to attempt to peck at mysis. This could take several days. A community feeding response is best to get it to eat the mysis. CBB are voracious eaters when they are comfy and happy, and they legit get jealous when the see all the other fish eating what you put in. This feeding response has been crucial in my experience.

Step two and a half.
If it still will not eat mysis, try frozen angel and butterfly food. That also helped mixed with Live brine. Also take a clam on the halfshell and rubberband or wedge it into a rock, this will let them peck at something naturally.

Step three. you can buy live or frozen black worms to mix into whatever food you desire, this ususally works. After the above steps with mixing live brine into frozen it usually take only a day or two and they will eat frozen.

Now if there is aggression going on at feeding time, then the feeding response part is null and void, and I believe this is the single most important part.

Some things you can try right off the bat if you have access, just to get it to eat, beside live brine are live black worms or white worms, both will do. Also you can take masstick and stuff it into a rock crevice.

 

[chipchipbro]

Well, one of my fish dealers here is known to bring every Copperband to eat within days.
He once told me his secrte are white moscito larvae (even frozen)

My CBB loves that stuff too.. its incredible.. maybe you can try this

Ocean Nutrition is a manufacturer of premium fish food for marine and fresh water tropical fish

Preserving Life and Beauty through Nutrition is our mission and a continuous drive to create the freshest, highest quality fish feeds, mimicking the natural diet of marine and fresh water tropical fish

www.oceannutrition.eu

 

[chipchipbro]

Plus u can also try Masstick which should also be a good way to bring them to eat.

 

[dennis romano]

Yea I’ve read these guys are pains in the butt to get eating. This spotfin is one of the most spunky I’ve seen, very active, swims all over the place, no signs of any disease.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a try as well. Anyone have a good vendor for live black worms?

Where did you get the butterfly? How large is it? I have found that the larger the fish, the harder it is to get it to eat.

 

[c_johns89]

Where did you get the butterfly? How large is it? I have found that the larger the fish, the harder it is to get it to eat.

The butterfly was caught in the Manasquan inlet two weeks ago. It's ~1 in. long I would say. This has been one of the most active ones we've caught, so I had high hopes that I would be able to get it eating.

So far after a few days of feeding the live black worms, it still hasn't taken food immediately. The Melanurus wrasse has been enjoying them though.

Those who have tried the black worms in the past, was it an immediate feeding response to them or has it taken a couple of days?

 

[lion king]

The butterfly was caught in the Manasquan inlet two weeks ago. It's ~1 in. long I would say. This has been one of the most active ones we've caught, so I had high hopes that I would be able to get it eating.

So far after a few days of feeding the live black worms, it still hasn't taken food immediately. The Melanurus wrasse has been enjoying them though.

Those who have tried the black worms in the past, was it an immediate feeding response to them or has it taken a couple of days?

Yes a live food offering to a healthy fish is usually immediate. If you have offered a variety of live foods including brine shrimp, black worms, amphipods, and copepods. and they haven't eaten, then it's a good possibility they have internal parasites. At this point if you do not immediately treat with general cure, it is unlikely they will make it.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Baby Brine Shrimp, found that Adult Brine Shrimp maybe too big for them.

 

[dennis romano]

The butterfly was caught in the Manasquan inlet two weeks ago. It's ~1 in. long I would say. This has been one of the most active ones we've caught, so I had high hopes that I would be able to get it eating.

So far after a few days of feeding the live black worms, it still hasn't taken food immediately. The Melanurus wrasse has been enjoying them though.

Those who have tried the black worms in the past, was it an immediate feeding response to them or has it taken a couple of days?

Manasquan Inlet???!!! That is so cool. A Jersey fish. Try Taylor ham LOL. Seriously, you should keep it in a smaller tank so that it doesn't have to look for the worms. Is the Melanurus in the same tank? If yes, it may be intimidating the fly. A frozen clam on the half shell usually gets them interested. If you happen to have a rock with Aiptasia on it, that is another thing to attempt. Saw a video today where a guy got his four eye butterfly to eat by giving it Aiptasia. Here is another idea. If the fly is by itself, go back to the Shore, get a small rock with growth on it. It may pick on the life on the rock. How many fish did you catch?

 

[c_johns89]

Manasquan Inlet???!!! That is so cool. A Jersey fish. Try Taylor ham LOL. Seriously, you should keep it in a smaller tank so that it doesn't have to look for the worms. Is the Melanurus in the same tank? If yes, it may be intimidating the fly. A frozen clam on the half shell usually gets them interested. If you happen to have a rock with Aiptasia on it, that is another thing to attempt. Saw a video today where a guy got his four eye butterfly to eat by giving it Aiptasia. Here is another idea. If the fly is by itself, go back to the Shore, get a small rock with growth on it. It may pick on the life on the rock. How many fish did you catch?

Taylor Ham

So we made some progress today! I actually saw it eat live brine shrimp. I'm not sure if the butterfly liked these cause they were a little bit bigger than the small recently hatched ones I was feeding earlier, but definitely went after them over the black worms. I currently have it in a 20 long with the wrasse for observation. I'll try ordering some of the clams from BRS to see if it will pick at them.

I think that's a good idea though, maybe I'll go back to the inlet to find a rock and throw it in the tank. My dad caught two so far this fall, but he sees them pretty much every year. I think last year we caught 3 but it's always a pain to get them to eat.

 

[dennis romano]

Taylor Ham

So we made some progress today! I actually saw it eat live brine shrimp. I'm not sure if the butterfly liked these cause they were a little bit bigger than the small recently hatched ones I was feeding earlier, but definitely went after them over the black worms. I currently have it in a 20 long with the wrasse for observation. I'll try ordering some of the clams from BRS to see if it will pick at them.

I think that's a good idea though, maybe I'll go back to the inlet to find a rock and throw it in the tank. My dad caught two so far this fall, but he sees them pretty much every year. I think last year we caught 3 but it's always a pain to get them to eat.

Atlantic butterflies usually don't take food from the water column. That is the mistake people make. They are grazers, picking on rocks. Pick up a cone worm feeder like the ones that Discus keepers use. Fill it with live black worms. That may get them interested. Love spotfins but can never find any for sale. I am about an hour north of you, so if you get more, please let me know.