Copperband Butterflies bought at CB Pets

[MikeyBoy]

Just wanted to share my experience with my Copperband.


After much research, debate, and battle with Aptasia, I decided to try my luck at a CBB.

Richard and Mark at CB Pets are know for their Quarenteed process and I decided if I were going to get one, this is where I was going to buy it.

Todd told me he had just been up there and they had 3-4 of them in Quarentine and an especially large one.

I called there and asked that Mark and Richard hold the biggest one till I could get there the next day.

Went there and saw this Monster eat some blood worms and found out he had been in low salinity quarentine for a few weeks and although he was kind of shy, he was really healthy.

Brought him home and for about the first three weeks, he still seemed shy, staying just in the left side of the tank almost constantly.
Feeding didnt seem to be going well either.
I tried Black mussles, white blood worms, red blood worms, mysis, brine, everything and didnt seem to touch all of the aptasia.

Well a great update................I walk by the tank last night and it just dawned on me, I cannot find a SINGLE piece of aptasia! NOT ONE!
I had some pretty big pieces and they are ALL gone! And I had a bunch!

I have also seen him eat a little bit of frozen, but not agressively, but he seems to be munching down on all the Aptasia I had!!!!

I just want to take a second and convey my appreciation for CB's and thank them for taking the time to Quarentine these CBB which can be a VERY hard fish to keep.

I have bought great fish from FinnAddict and Aquatic Warehouse, but I really wanted my CBB to be treated and quarentined b4 I purchased.

So, if you have aptaisia, and a good tank that could house a difficult fish, CB is the place to get a CBB.

Oh, and it was very reasonably priced, $38 for a large!!
Attached is a pic. He is about 5"

Thanks Richard and Mark.

[TheOtherGuy]

I am glad to hear that your CBB is doing well!

[LoneStar]

I've seen a lot of posts on here about what to feed and take care of a CBB. I'd love to get one cause I think they are gorgous fish, but am a little weary on purchasing one. I hear they LOVE aptasia, but have been known to nibble on clams. I have two clams, one or two pieces of aptasia in the tank. (I'm close to doing the Brian method, blow torch 'em :)) I feed brine and mysis to my other fish and they gobble it up. What would the CBB like to eat? Would it eat the mysis and brine, or would it not do so well since I do not have a big aptasia outbreak??? I'm kinda curious so if anyone has any info on the CBB's I would greatfull to hear it.

[Richard]

Copperbands like most other butterflies are one one of the more difficult fish and are generally a high loss animal. This does not mean that you can't or shouldn't keep one but simply means you might have to go through more than one bfore you get one that for lack of a better term "takes" to your aquarium.

As far as diseases go, they are not especially prone to ick (like tangs for example). They commonly arrive with flukes which are easily dealt with via a 4-5 minute fw bath. They also have a tendency to develop lymphocystis following the stress of capture/shipping. This is a viral disease which is not contagious and will clear up in short order provided excellent water quality and feeding. Probably the most serious disease common to CBB's and other butterflies is septicemia (internal bacterial infection). This is easily identified by red streaks either on the fishes body or fins. I have not much success treating this with various antibiotics and the fish usually die within a week. Septicemia is caused by stress and poor water quality which is why it is common in new arrivals and also why it is pretty much impossible to keep a CBB in less than ideal water quality for any length of time.

The next challenge is getting to eat. It really varies, some fish are little piggies right out of the bag while others take quite awhile to begin taking prepared foods. I usually start them on mysis, bloodworms or brine shrimp in that order. Mysis is much more nutritious so it's best to get them started on that first if they will cooperate. One thing I have noticed is that most of the time it is pretty easy to get them eating in a fish only type of setup but once they get moved to a reef tank they will often go back to hunting the rocks for food and will stop taking the prepared foods that they were eating previously. If this happens, I always recommend that people make a real effort to get them eating again by feeding frequently and turning down the current so that the food can settle on the rocks and that gives the cbb time to stare at his food for while (they like to do that). Otherwise they will quickly clean up all critters on the live rock and end up starving. Another issue is competition from more aggressive feeders. Feeding at dusk or dawn can help in this regard because cbb's are usually the last to go to bed and the first to get up in the morning.

Once they are well settled in they are really a great fish. Mine was taking all kinds of food including flake before I brought him home but once he got in my reef he spent about a week just hunting the rocks and not eating anything I offered. Now he is very bold and will even compete with my tangs for food. He eats mysis, brine, bloodworms, and even seaweed selects (I think he's just trying to be one of the tangs).

[Richard]

Oh yeah...Glad to hear he is doing well Mikeyboy!

If you haven't already, the next time you come out pick up some PE mysis shrimp. It's good stuff and mine loves it. It does a great job of keeping him nice and fat.

www.mysis.com

[LoneStar]

Thats good to know....I have a lot of mysis in the freezer :)

[FISHYBUSINESS]

hi.

[LoneStar]

hi.


Hello....

[TruonkQ]

Well glad to hear yours is eating Aptasias. Mine doesn't want it at all. Got afraid that he would nibble on my clams, but he learned to back off. Been about 4 months and this guy doesn't touch any of my aptasias. Instead he goes for mysis.