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

[N1Husker]

I’ve had mine for about four years. He eats like a pig. He doesn’t bother the corals or any of the other fish. I would highly recommend it.

 

[misserica22]

so hard to keep but so beautiful and unique! I wouldnt even mind if he ate some of my corals

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Yes for me.

 

[Neptune 555]

When I first got mine, he was a picky shy eater. Although I saw him eat in the LFS when he was with other CBBs, he was a little intimidated at first in my DT. I used to rotate different types of food for my other fish but found that the only thing he would eat was Mysis shrimp. Trying to feed him, and only him, with Mysis shrimp was impossible. The others would just swarm in and take it all. Well that just wasn't going to do. How do you take a vacation with fish that won't eat flakes and pellets out of an automatic feeder?
So to make sure he got his fair share of food I made a typical CBB feeder out of a clear closed bottom plastic tube that has several small holes melted through it (soldering iron for no sharp edges) just big enough that only he can get into the feeder. Then I mixed all the different fish foods I had (frozen, flake, pellet, Masstick,) along with some fresh chopped up mixed seafood (which included clams, squid, shrimp, mussels, oysters, scallops)..... just anything I could think of. I even put in some Reef Roids, Reef Chili and other coral foods for good measure. Ground it up into small enough bite sized pieces for the CBB and froze it into cubes.
Now when I drop one of these into the feeding tube the other fish know they have to wait for the CBB to come pull it from the tube. So now he's everyone's best friend.;Drool The best part is that now he will eat flakes from an automatic feeder. So vacation here I come....(DANG you Covid!;Mask)... well maybe not yet.

Awaiting the "Lord and Master" to arise from the deep.

"May we have another bite sir?"

Can I order that feeder from you?

 

[Reefer Reboot]

LOL, seriously?! It's just a tube I attached to the inside of my DIY feeder ring, nothing special.

You could even make one out of a short piece of PVC tubing with a couple of end caps and hang it from some fishing line. I'm sure there a how to videos on you tube showing this. I never planned on starting another business now that I am retired but... if the price is right....;Playful!
PS, If you're nearby I'd be happy to help you make one if need be.

 

[Neptune 555]

Ive had a few over the years my current one is about 5-6 years old. I think ive had 4 total over the last 20 years, 1 died within 2 months but the others lasted years.

My secret for success is live black worms. They love them. I start mixing frozen blood worms with the live ones after a few feedings, then switch solely to frozen. Before long they seem to eat anything that goes in.

What size is your reef? I want to add a CBB to my 180 gallon reef I currently also have a blue tang and a yellow tang as you do.... and my blue tang eats the same way an absolute pig. and this still allows your CBB to get enough food? I was going to supplement with a dedicated feeder as others show in the thread just in case. thanks.... I am thinking of also adding a sailfin tang... I was unsure if aggression would exists between the sailfin and the yellow tang. Your tank is my model : )

 

[Paul B]

A healthy copperband has no problem competing with all other fish for food. They are large eaters but because of their weak, small mouth can't really bite anything. They are also pretty fast.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

What size is your reef? I want to add a CBB to my 180 gallon reef I currently also have a blue tang and a yellow tang as you do.... and my blue tang eats the same way an absolute pig. and this still allows your CBB to get enough food? I was going to supplement with a dedicated feeder as others show in the thread just in case. thanks.... I am thinking of also adding a sailfin tang... I was unsure if aggression would exists between the sailfin and the yellow tang. Your tank is my model : )

Its a 265 gallon but a cbb would do fine in a 180. If your tank is newer id wait til you have alot of growth on the rocks til you add one. And even with all the tangs and faster eaters the cbb still gets plenty of food. I feed pretty heavily. My sailfin and yellow tang get along but not every tang is the same and aggression can always be an issue with tangs. All you can do is try and let them work things out. Just make sure it doesn't get too bad and be ready to seperate them if need be.

 

[lba4590]

I’ve had my CBB for a little over a year. He’s a big eater and can get his fair share even with the crazy tang and foxface. Mine will eat anything frozen, but no pellets or flakes. He will however devour certain corals.. trachys, scolys, favia, plates, and acans are his favorite.. so I just don’t keep those anymore and he doesn’t touch anything else

 

[Miami Reef]

YES! I love these fish! I have one in QT and I can’t stop looking at it. I can’t wait to see him in my display.

 

[Rjmul]

Skill level doesn't even matter. All levels of experienced fish keepers can and do lose this fish.

I'm confident 99.999% of the specimens harvested don't make it past a year in captivity.

Even the most dedicated of owners still lose them.

If you REALLY want this fish it truly needs a dedicated tank, or a very lightly stocked tank where it is the most dominant.

This fish is a perfect example of the level of negligence and selfishness we have in this hobby. For years I've heard and been told by irresponsible LFS Owners/Associates about how easy the CB or Moorish Idol, etc. are to keep alive of you just do XYZ.

I know there are a lot of responsible aquarists and LFS around, but this fish really doesn't belong in our tanks.

My copperband eats any and all frozen food. Nori, pellets and flake.

 

[N1Husker]

I’ve had one for about 4 years now. I had a bunch of those white feather duster all over my tank and aiptasia all over my rocks. He, within several weeks, he eradicated all of the feather dusters and aiptasia. In my tank. He eats well, always the first one to show up at chow time. He cruises around the tank and looks happy.

 

[OrionN]

I keep a few CBB over the years. Over the last few years, I have been research on how to pair them. Getting a WC CBB to acclimated to captivity is doable if the reefer is dedicated and spend the resources plus able to get a reasonably healthy fish to start with.
The secrete IMHO is acclimated the CBB in a stress free system full of fauna so the CBB able to wean off live food to captive food. Once acclimated they will eat everything, flakes, pellets and frozen food.
I recently able to obtain a pair of CBB by correctly sex the two fish and acclimated them together. I don’t QT these fish in the sense most reefer think of in QT. IME, slope of the forehead is the key. I can easily sex CBB in person. From photo, I need a profile picture of the fish at 90 degree and at camera level.
Attached below are two pictures of my pair. One can clearly see the slope different in these two fish. The larger is the male and the smaller is the female.
My pair is doing great, eating well and hang around each other without fighting. I am happy to be able to keep this pair, hopefully for years to come.

 

[MnFish1]

I keep a few CBB over the years. Over the last few years, I have been research on how to pair them. Getting a WC CBB to acclimated to captivity is doable if the reefer is dedicated and spend the resources plus able to get a reasonably healthy fish to start with.
The secrete IMHO is acclimated the CBB in a stress free system full of fauna so the CBB able to wean off live food to captive food. Once acclimated they will eat everything, flakes, pellets and frozen food.
I recently able to obtain a pair of CBB by correctly sex the two fish and acclimated them together. I don’t QT these fish in the sense most reefer think of in QT. IME, slope of the forehead is the key. I can easily sex CBB in person. From photo, I need a profile picture of the fish at 90 degree and at camera level.
Attached below are two pictures of my pair. One can clearly see the slope different in these two fish. The larger is the male and the smaller is the female.
My pair is doing great, eating well and hang around each other without fighting. I am happy to be able to keep this pair, hopefully for years to come.

Nice. I think it's basically luck - based on how they were collected. I have kept them in new tanks - and well established tanks. I think they do best in 'established - algae-illed' tanks

 

[OrionN]

 

[taulgrl]

I had my CBB for two years but had to give it away because we were away last month and it didn’t eat pellets in autofeeder. It was my favorite fish and I had it over 2 years. I’m not an expert but this is what I did to ensure its happiness:
A. Started white worm culture before purchasing
B. Watched it eat mysis at lfs
C. Unmedicated QT for two weeks to make sure eating more than 1 thing
D. Put in DT of peaceful fish. It immediately bonded w my foxface
E. Fed a variety of frozen mysis, frozen blood worms, live white worms, shaved frozen clams.
I miss him. He was so fat and happy

 

[taulgrl]

When I first got mine, he was a picky shy eater. Although I saw him eat in the LFS when he was with other CBBs, he was a little intimidated at first in my DT. I used to rotate different types of food for my other fish but found that the only thing he would eat was Mysis shrimp. Trying to feed him, and only him, with Mysis shrimp was impossible. The others would just swarm in and take it all. Well that just wasn't going to do. How do you take a vacation with fish that won't eat flakes and pellets out of an automatic feeder?
So to make sure he got his fair share of food I made a typical CBB feeder out of a clear closed bottom plastic tube that has several small holes melted through it (soldering iron for no sharp edges) just big enough that only he can get into the feeder. Then I mixed all the different fish foods I had (frozen, flake, pellet, Masstick,) along with some fresh chopped up mixed seafood (which included clams, squid, shrimp, mussels, oysters, scallops)..... just anything I could think of. I even put in some Reef Roids, Reef Chili and other coral foods for good measure. Ground it up into small enough bite sized pieces for the CBB and froze it into cubes.
Now when I drop one of these into the feeding tube the other fish know they have to wait for the CBB to come pull it from the tube. So now he's everyone's best friend.;Drool The best part is that now he will eat flakes from an automatic feeder. So vacation here I come....(DANG you Covid!;Mask)... well maybe not yet.

Awaiting the "Lord and Master" to arise from the deep.

"May we have another bite sir?"

Genius! Wish I saw this before I had to give mine away. I couldn’t get it to eat the autofeeder dry food

 

[OrionN]

What is everybody experiences on the various CBB feeders on sale these days on the internet?