Quarantine Experience with Copperband Butterfly Fish

[Tcook]

I put a mirror up for my fish as well when I added my CBB to DT. Made a huge difference for agression.

My CBB is fat and happy now!! He is a beast going after food in open water. Doesn’t fit the profile haha!

Looks great. How often and what do you feed him? I purchased one of those special CBB feeders but he doesn't seem interested. Was thinking of slivering some clam and have a few poke through the holes.

 

[EakTheFreak]

Looks great. How often and what do you feed him? I purchased one of those special CBB feeders but he doesn't seem interested. Was thinking of slivering some clam and have a few poke through the holes.

He primarily eats LRS REEF FRENZY that I cut up into cubes and store in my freezer.

I’ve also turned into one of those weird reefers who now cultured white worms. It’s super super easy cheap food for all marine fish but the CBB & mandarin gobies go absolutely mad for them.

I feed LRS Reef Frenzy every day and the white worms 3 times a week. I used to mince up some clams but realized it’s already in LRS frenzy.

Have not been able to ever get him on pellets, he will however pick at MASSTICK as well!

 

[Tcook]

He primarily eats LRS REEF FRENZY that I cut up into cubes and store in my freezer.

I’ve also turned into one of those weird reefers who now cultured white worms. It’s super super easy cheap food for all marine fish but the CBB & mandarin gobies go absolutely mad for them.

I feed LRS Reef Frenzy every day and the white worms 3 times a week. I used to mince up some clams but realized it’s already in LRS frenzy.

Have not been able to ever get him on pellets, he will however pick at MASSTICK as well!

Ok. I'll see if petco or petsmart carries lrs as my lfs does not. I do have some masstick. Maybe I'll give that a try.

 

[EakTheFreak]

Ok. I'll see if petco or petsmart carries lrs as my lfs does not. I do have some masstick. Maybe I'll give that a try.

Interested to hear how yours takes to the MASSTICK. My advice is to try it a handful of times. He didn’t show much interest first time but by 3rd was pecking at it!

Any tangs in your tank?

 

[Tcook]

Interested to hear how yours takes to the MASSTICK. My advice is to try it a handful of times. He didn’t show much interest first time but by 3rd was pecking at it!

Any tangs in your tank?

Just a tomini

 

[EakTheFreak]

Just a tomini

That may help your CBB eat it. My yellow eye Kole tang I think got my CBB interested!!

 

[LaloJ]

He primarily eats LRS REEF FRENZY that I cut up into cubes and store in my freezer.

I’ve also turned into one of those weird reefers who now cultured white worms. It’s super super easy cheap food for all marine fish but the CBB & mandarin gobies go absolutely mad for them.

I feed LRS Reef Frenzy every day and the white worms 3 times a week. I used to mince up some clams but realized it’s already in LRS frenzy.

Have not been able to ever get him on pellets, he will however pick at MASSTICK as well!

How do you manage to grow white worms? I've read that finicky fish like them a lot, also black worms, but I've never known for sure what the heck they mean, lol.

 

[EakTheFreak]

How do you manage to grow white worms? I've read that finicky fish like them a lot, also black worms, but I've never known for sure what the heck they mean, lol.

I’m not at home but I will send you my setup with some photos and explanations when I am.

You start by ordering a culture off eBay with trusted source. Lots of people sell them. Then it’s legit topsoil in a container.

you heat the topsoil up to kill bad bacteria and pests for 3:00 minutes in microwave in the plastic container you will keep worms in. I use ziplock container of Amazon.

After that you make the soil damp with water plug some holes in the air tight lid and add worms. Then the best part is I toss is a few pieces of cat food I order from Costco and that’s it. Harvest a day or two later. It does take an about a month to get the culture going though. I run about 6 at a time.

Not sure where you live but they can live in 55-75 sure without issues. I personally become a lunatic and got a wine cooler that holds @ 58 degrees because it was easier to store and they reproduce faster.

 

[LaloJ]

I’m not at home but I will send you my setup with some photos and explanations when I am.

You start by ordering a culture off eBay with trusted source. Lots of people sell them. Then it’s legit topsoil in a container.

you heat the topsoil up to kill bad bacteria and pests for 3:00 minutes in microwave in the plastic container you will keep worms in. I use ziplock container of Amazon.

After that you make the soil damp with water plug some holes in the air tight lid and add worms. Then the best part is I toss is a few pieces of cat food I order from Costco and that’s it. Harvest a day or two later. It does take an about a month to get the culture going though. I run about 6 at a time.

Not sure where you live but they can live in 55-75 sure without issues. I personally become a lunatic and got a wine cooler that holds @ 58 degrees because it was easier to store and they reproduce faster.

Thanks for the information, I was just curious because I have read countless times that many aquarists use this worms for fish that refuse to feed, I just didn't know where they got them from. I'm in Mexico, I think eBay doesn't work here, but Amazon does, so I'll keep that in mind if it's something worth trying.

 

[Tamberav]

Ok. I'll see if petco or petsmart carries lrs as my lfs does not. I do have some masstick. Maybe I'll give that a try.

Pretty sure neither of those carry it.

You can order it at premium aquatics, I recommend them only for shipping frozen food as they ship with dry ice. Not ice packs other retailers use. It will start to melt with ice packs.

 

[EakTheFreak]

Thanks for the information, I was just curious because I have read countless times that many aquarists use this worms for fish that refuse to feed, I just didn't know where they got them from. I'm in Mexico, I think eBay doesn't work here, but Amazon does, so I'll keep that in mind if it's something worth trying.

For sure, definitely awesome for picky fish like CBB & mandarins. My mandarin goby crushes them and then I’m not always as concerned with pod population.

 

[LaloJ]

For sure, definitely awesome for picky fish like CBB & mandarins. My mandarin goby crushes them and then I’m not always as concerned with pod population.

What percentage of help do you think these worms can have on coral butterflies?

 

[EakTheFreak]

What percentage of help do you think these worms can have on coral butterflies?

I would Anecdotally say it plays a massive factor in success. From reading forums and researching, the #1 factor that inhibits healthy CBB is diet and starvation. Giving the white worms which you can feed relatively heavy since they are a live food gives them ample opportunity to get lots of food and nutritional meal.

 

[LaloJ]

I would Anecdotally say it plays a massive factor in success. From reading forums and researching, the #1 factor that inhibits healthy CBB is diet and starvation. Giving the white worms which you can feed relatively heavy since they are a live food gives them ample opportunity to get lots of food and nutritional meal.

I agree with that although CBB is not obligated coralivore, although I suspected that these worms could be helpful for feeding this type of butterflyfish, since failure in captivity is about success with long-term nutrition.

 

[EakTheFreak]

I agree with that although CBB is not obligated coralivore, although I suspected that these worms could be helpful for feeding this type of butterflyfish, since failure in captivity is about success with long-term nutrition.

I like this article from ReefBuilders for CBB and diet:

You Can Succeed with the Copperband Butterflyfish | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Copperband butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) are among my favorite fish and have almost always been a staple in my tank since the saltwater hobby started in the 70s. It’s not just the beauty of the…

reefbuilders.com

 

[LaloJ]

Thanks for the link, I'm trying to search and download some documents on coralivore butterflies feeding but I've been quite busy lately, I'll share them here as soon as I can.

 

[th365thli]

My copperband didn't eat at all the first few days. It would peck at some rock but showed absolutely no interest in hikari mysis, PE mysis, brine, hikari angel food, reef frenzy, fish frenzy, v2o fish foods etc. I literally threw the kitchen sink at it. My LFS even carries the hikari frozen half shell clams and it didn't care.

I bought some fresh mussels/oysters/clams and it FINALLY started going after the oyster. After that I saw it pecking at some nori. I tried the hikari frozen half shell again and it started going at it.

How do I get it to start going for floating food? Still no interest in mysis shrimp. I saw it go after a floating piece of clam a little. The problem with the hikari clams is the other fish go for it too.

 

[EakTheFreak]

My copperband didn't eat at all the first few days. It would peck at some rock but showed absolutely no interest in hikari mysis, PE mysis, brine, hikari angel food, reef frenzy, fish frenzy, v2o fish foods etc. I literally threw the kitchen sink at it. My LFS even carries the hikari frozen half shell clams and it didn't care.

I bought some fresh mussels/oysters/clams and it FINALLY started going after the oyster. After that I saw it pecking at some nori. I tried the hikari frozen half shell again and it started going at it.

How do I get it to start going for floating food? Still no interest in mysis shrimp. I saw it go after a floating piece of clam a little. The problem with the hikari clams is the other fish go for it too.

You may want to look into some live foods just to ensure it can get its health and energy up.

Do you have access to white worms or live worms? Even adult brine shrimp gut loaded could be an option. One other thing you could try is Masstick on your glass. Once he gains some energy he should start going for water in the food column!

 

[th365thli]

You may want to look into some live foods just to ensure it can get its health and energy up.

Do you have access to white worms or live worms? Even adult brine shrimp gut loaded could be an option. One other thing you could try is Masstick on your glass. Once he gains some energy he should start going for water in the food column!

I don't have access to those worms or live brine right now. He has gone at oyster and frozen claim so maybe I should keep feeding it that

 

[LaloJ]

I don't have access to those worms or live brine right now. He has gone at oyster and frozen claim so maybe I should keep feeding it that

Get enough food for your CBB daily, eventually you should start testing the food in the water column, how long do you have with your fish?
Copps emphasizes feeding new fish as many times as you can throughout the day, and worrying about calories first in the beginning, making the fish eat whatever it likes, the entire diet of food will be completed with the new fish time passes while the fish gains confidence little by little.