YES or NO: The Beautiful Copperband Butterfly Fish for Your Reef Tank?

Should the Copperband Butterfly Fish be attempted in our home aquariums?

  • Yes for every level of hobbyists

    Votes: 46 6.3%
  • Yes but for the more expert level of hobbyists

    Votes: 554 76.4%
  • No they should not

    Votes: 103 14.2%
  • Other (please explain in the thread)

    Votes: 22 3.0%

  • Total voters
    725

MightyMO

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Just got one today...
Here's a pic of him temp acclimating in the bag... lol
 

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dlaird76

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I voted no they should not.
Yes some people can keep them successfully but for every 1 person that can, 99 can't. That's not sustainable or right. Obviously I don't know the exact numbers but I think the cons far outway the pros. Leave them in the wild.
 

lba4590

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These were my rare bonded pair . Lost them in the big tank move last year after keeping for 3-4 years :( . Took me a lot of trial and error to pair them and was featured in masstick videos by Coralvue

You never ever keep a reef tank with a butterfly !!!

I remember turning down an offer for a trade of JF Jolt and JF Homewrecker colonies for theM :D .. I would have never ever traded them



Wow don’t think I’ve ever seen a bonded pair in a tank before! Beautiful! So sorry for your loss.. this scares me a bit because I’m planning on moving my 120g in a few years and absolutely dread the thought. I’ll be hiring the best of the best, I don’t care if it costs more than my tank. Can I ask what happened and why you lost them during the move? Would absolutely hate to lose any of my fish due to moving :( but especially my CBB that I babied back to health (and let’s me pet him!)
 

Nigel35

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I think it is really the same as the achilles tang or moorish idol. If you can get them to eat and dedicate time and care towards them then your set.

Nigel
 

Abhishek

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Wow don’t think I’ve ever seen a bonded pair in a tank before! Beautiful! So sorry for your loss.. this scares me a bit because I’m planning on moving my 120g in a few years and absolutely dread the thought. I’ll be hiring the best of the best, I don’t care if it costs more than my tank. Can I ask what happened and why you lost them during the move? Would absolutely hate to lose any of my fish due to moving :( but especially my CBB that I babied back to health (and let’s me pet him!)
Well last year we bought our first house and moved in February . The house move from old to new , brutal Minnesota winter and huge bacterial bloom cutting down oxygen in tank 2 days after the move cost me the CBB pair , a few wrasses and the powder brown . The loss in acros was even more - lost atleast 50 mini colonies that I have been growing since 2016 .
So all in all a fresh start was done last year :(
 

Injoynit

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I'm not an expert, but I continue to work on that. :)
I have a CBB and I love him. He is an aggressive eater and is always at the top of the tank at feeding time and is by no means scared of anything or anyone. I know this means I got way lucky as per previous post would suggest. Here are the things I did and such before I decided to give it a try and when I decided.

1.) I had an established tank with fish for 2 years.
2.) I had a small outbreak of aptasia. (After trying all other options, I went with CBB)
3.) I already had 2 baby yellow tangs. (Not sure if that matters but wanted to add. All 3 went through a sort of pecking order but calmed down after a week and they are all buddies now.)
4.) I also had 5 clowns, 3 pearlfish and a diamond goby.
5.) I also got the CBB as a baby from LFS that was eating without problems.
6.) I did not quarantine.
7.) I feed almost everything in rotation once a day ( Frozen variety with reef roids, pellet and 4 drops of garlic liquid). (CBB will not eat large food as it cannot get it into his mouth or spits it out because he cannot swallow it.)

He has been in the tank over a year and is always first to be ready to eat and is always swimming next to my hand when I clean the tank or I'm doing work in the tank.

I hope this helps some of you out there as this was my first attempt and it was extremely successful. Doesn't mean I did it right, may have just got lucky. Either way he is a great fish!
 

Abhishek

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One fact is if you think Copperband is tough to get to eat , you can try and see if you can get hold of a marginalia butterfly . They are atleast 3 times costlier than CBB as they are endemic to Australia but much much easier to get to eat !!!


However call it biased , I find a CBB much more beautiful than a marginalis butterfly missing a band - a marginalis is just a wanna be copperband
 

CanuckReefer

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I had one in my earlier tank and lost during my house move. Got the new tank up and now again I have one. They are interesting fish. Mine eats everything except pellets as its too small for the pellet size. But generally you can train them to eat pellet too. Always make sure they eating and healthy before you buy one. Here is mine with his big brother.

20210313_172005.jpg
Moorish and CBB? Now this....is success!
 

AJsReef

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Had one DOA for me, really want to try again but going to get a pre QT’d and adjusted fish next time. Somewhat nervous about their reputation to potentially bother some corals
 

Kevin_Mac

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Bought my Copperband Butterfly fish to eat Aiptasia , did great job getting rid of them.
now it eats any food I introduce, started with live brine shrimp then frozen
now it even eats pellets but the really small pellets
had it for about 2 years in 100 gallon tank
 

Rp8

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i absolutely loved mine. Ate well, got along with other tank mates. caught a bacterial infection and died in 48 hrs. that was my first real loss in reefing. and i was sad. he was the light of my tank:(
 

vetteguy53081

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1. Should the Copperband Butterfly Fish be attempted in our home aquariums?

Best said : There are fish that will are challenging and there fish that will challenge the most experienced hobbyist. Like the moorish idol, these CBB were one impossible to feed but have gotten easier to feed due to better collection practices (cyanide as an example) and quarantining and food processes. I would say at minimum, have an established tank that will more than support this species.

2. What are your personal experiences with the CBB? Also any tips for those of you who have been successful?

I have had three over last 5 years (one was sold , as it was an offer I couldnt refuse ) but ive never had an issue getting copperband to eat. Be patient with the feeding regimen especially if you seeing it grazing. It will come around. Seems LRS Herbivore diet has always been an enticer for them to eat. This one in pics, well over two years


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Steve Elb

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I’ve had mine for a year. He eats like a pig and wiped out my aiptasia problem. He’s been an easy keep but I understand that they are hit & miss. He’s a cool fish. Friendly with a great personality. He’s always pecking for pods and such.
 

dublinreefer

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I have had my CBB just over 6 months.
When I got him I was less than a year in the hobby.
The main thing to realise if you want one is that it is a commitment.
Many people do not want to over feed or pollute their tank to keep their fish healthy but this is nearly unavoidable when you first get this fish.
When an LFS says a CBB is eating it usually doesn't mean it can compete for food with other fast and aggressive fish.
So a great thing to do for the first while is to make a feeding device or feed by hand so that only the CBB can eat.
It took a good few months for my CBB to start eating vigorously from the water column so I used an algae clip to hold clams and mussels which were open just enough for the CBB to feed.
From my experience, the CBB is a creature of habit and eating Mysis from the water column took him months to perfect so when I feed other meaty foods of different sizes he can't eat them as aggressively as he can with the mysis. 20210211_203249.jpg
 

Steve Elb

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I’ve had mine for a year. He eats like a pig and wiped out my aiptasia problem. He’s been an easy keep but I understand that they are hit & miss. He’s a cool fish. Friendly with a great personality. He’s always pecking for pods and such.
I’ve had mine for a year. He eats like a pig and wiped out my aiptasia problem. He’s been an easy keep but I understand that they are hit & miss. He’s a cool fish. Friendly with a great personality. He’s always pecking for pods and such.
 

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Hilltop Aquariums

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CBBC2490-61B4-472F-8781-91CA1D696390.jpeg

I am one of the lucky ones as well. I’ve always wanted one and it took me 10 years to pull the trigger. I saw this guy at an LFS and was there for 3 months and eating great. Once I got him in my display he fit right in and loves to eat anything frozen. I also have a clam in the tank that he has never bothered in the 2 years I’ve had him. He will go right into the cup to get first dibs on the food and always eats the biggest pieces.
 

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Hilltop Aquariums

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CBBC2490-61B4-472F-8781-91CA1D696390.jpeg

I am one of the lucky ones as well. I’ve always wanted one and it took me 10 years to pull the trigger. I saw this guy at an LFS and was there for 3 months and eating great. Once I got him in my display he fit right in and loves to eat anything frozen. I also have a clam in the tank that he has never bothered in the 2 years I’ve had him. He will go right into the cup to get first dibs on the food and always eats the biggest pieces.
 

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Bj’s Reef

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I bought a small copper band a little over a year ago. So far things have gone well. He cleared my tank of aptasia. Then he started eating mysis shrimp the bigger the better. He even eats blood worms and now he has developed a taste for small pieces of scallops. My only problem is he likes to bully the snow flake eel. With tail slaps, a habit I think he picked up from the tangs. He even tail slaps the tangs at times.At feeding time he more than holds his own. I have to admit this is my second attempt at keeping a copper band. However I will agree copper bands do require more attention as my little guy will not take prepared foods.
 
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