TLDR pics and vid of the new CBB below the ramble 
Several months ago I lost my pair of CBBs to mystery deaths a month apart. One had been in 2 years the other 14 months. All fish were fine at night and I found male dead on the sand the next morning. A month later found the female the same way. No recent losses and no deaths since. Rigor hadn't even set in.
I'm giving it one more try. This one has been in observation for 5 weeks now. It wasn't eating when I bought it. It had only been at the store for 2 days. It looked healthy and out of three they had it approached the glass when I walked up and we checked each other out and the decision was made.
It took a few days before it showed interest in food. The observation tank is basically a reef tank with nothing fancy but it's mature and has pods and worms and such and the fish was hunting from day one. I keep a clown and a Springer damsel in the tank as full time inhabitants. They are peaceful and I think having them in the tank helps the CBB learn how to feed from the water column which is critical if they are to survive in a DT with other fish. I started it on live black worms. I tried clams on the half shell and strips attached to a piece of rubble but it showed no interest. It ate frozen blood worms a few times then stopped. All along I fed the tank what I feed my other tanks which is frozen PE mysis and rods with several different pellets and flakes mixed together with selcon and vitachem. It's targeting the mysis and some pieces if rods now which is what I expected. My previous female took to flake but the male wouldn't touch it. It's already getting excited when it sees me and follows when I leave the room. This is behavior I like to see. I think a fish that hides isn't going to do well if added to a tank with aggressive feeders.
Chow time
Several months ago I lost my pair of CBBs to mystery deaths a month apart. One had been in 2 years the other 14 months. All fish were fine at night and I found male dead on the sand the next morning. A month later found the female the same way. No recent losses and no deaths since. Rigor hadn't even set in.
I'm giving it one more try. This one has been in observation for 5 weeks now. It wasn't eating when I bought it. It had only been at the store for 2 days. It looked healthy and out of three they had it approached the glass when I walked up and we checked each other out and the decision was made.
It took a few days before it showed interest in food. The observation tank is basically a reef tank with nothing fancy but it's mature and has pods and worms and such and the fish was hunting from day one. I keep a clown and a Springer damsel in the tank as full time inhabitants. They are peaceful and I think having them in the tank helps the CBB learn how to feed from the water column which is critical if they are to survive in a DT with other fish. I started it on live black worms. I tried clams on the half shell and strips attached to a piece of rubble but it showed no interest. It ate frozen blood worms a few times then stopped. All along I fed the tank what I feed my other tanks which is frozen PE mysis and rods with several different pellets and flakes mixed together with selcon and vitachem. It's targeting the mysis and some pieces if rods now which is what I expected. My previous female took to flake but the male wouldn't touch it. It's already getting excited when it sees me and follows when I leave the room. This is behavior I like to see. I think a fish that hides isn't going to do well if added to a tank with aggressive feeders.
Chow time
