Friday I picked up a Copperband Butterfly. I have always thought that these were outstanding fish. I am aware that they are a fragile difficult fish to keep. However, he was already eating frozen mysis at the fish store. I thought that this was a good sign. So I decided to take the chance. Tonight, I got him to eat frozen mysis from my hand. He seems to be doing very well so far. I did not QT him as I have read that they may be the one fish that does better without it. He immediately started pecking at my live rock. I have read that they like blood worms. So I will get some tomorrow. I really want to fatten him up. What other foods do you recommend? -JT
As I understand it....and I think it may have been "Sam the man" explaining this, but in the wild part of their diet consist of clams. They use their long pointy beak to get inside. That being said, I am actually about to purchase some filtering clams both as food and for filtering. I really want to see if mine will eat one. The order contains several clams....probably more than I need or have room for so if interested I think it's like 18 clams for 30$......... I'm also considering purchasing live salt water mysis for him and my other fish. That order is for 100+ and again I would be happy if you would like to split that as well, price on that.....like $36.  I think it's fun watching the natural hunt as opposed to frozen......though going completely live food is not possible for me. On another note.....if your CB is eating and acclimating with a QT then great. I tried that and mine would not eat or come out due to my regal tang. But after a 3week QT he was back in the display and doing very well. Everything I read on the CB says you must QT them and even then for no reason what so ever some will perish. But as anyone doing this for any length of time knows......their are no absolutes in reef keeping! Good luck with the CB.....oh and side note. Mine so far is completely worthless on anenome eating....haha....oh well
Hopefully Sam will see your post, he has a great way of training Copperbands that he learned from John Mann before he moved back to Washington state. Â He builds a cheap simple feeding vessel that only the copperband can feed out of with its long snout. It is amazing to see in action and it works great.
I ordered 15 filtering clams. I'll update once I get them whether or not the CB shows any interest. Oh, and Sams CB feeder is really cool.....
You well have to most likely train him onto clams. You need to buy some at like whole foods and make sure they are alive as that means they haven't been treated with any chems to preserve them. Freeze them in your fridge and then you thaw one out and open the shell up wide open to start with and let him check it out and he should start to eat eventually. This well have to be done in a well established and large enough QT, as any other fish in the tank well atteck the clam also. After getting him to eat the open clam when dropped in you can start dropping them in opened up less and less until he well eat from one that just opens a little when it thaws out. This can take a few months. Also I have found that the Austrailian ones learn better then the hawwain ones. The reason I developed the feeder mentioned above was the one Sam now has was mine before I moved and I could not get him to eat out of my hand or onto clams and I tried for several months in a QT. The feeder works great, but if you have aggressive fish they well tear the mysis out of the butterflies mouth before he can get it lined up to injest in his narrow beak, so be ready to fend off the others for a few minutes with some sticls or something simular for a few minutes while he eats. Talk to Sam about it. If you have him eating out of your hand, you have it made. Just feed him that way and you can very his food. Buy some live clams, freeze and as you want cut into samll julian pieces and feed with your hand, same with mysis or anything else. The main thing is to watch his belly area, it should look full and not hollow at all. Just dumping food in the tank with other aggressive fish don't work because he won't get his fair share. Also having a good sump/refug full of pods that make their way into the main tank is great as long as you don't have a mandarin or any wrasses as they well eat most of the pods, especially wrasses.
John, Thanks for chiming in on this one. I remember you being an expert on these fish. We miss you at the meetings and hope that someday you will be able to come back and visit. Hope all is going well for you. -JT
Thanks, I am by no means an expert, but have had alot of experience with them and they are one of my favorite fish. Sadly More don't make it then do I think because of tank conditions [wrong fish with them, aged tank, not enough pre knowledge] and they starve over months. Good luck on yours and I know you well do your best. Use Sam if need be, he is very good. Things are going great up here, I miss having a tank, longest I've been without one except for when we lived on our sailboat, but then I had the ocean as my tank. Good luck. PS  after 30+ yrs though it is nice to be able to go somewhere and not have to worry about getting someone to watch it.
