My tank has been up for a month
Forget the Copperband in this case. Its a hard fish and takes a ton of food. Most people loose them for one reason or another. If you do eventually want a copperband, then just put shy small fish in for now and make the copperband the first real fish in there... about 8 months from now. You have a whole mess of algae cycles to go through first. Not all copperbands will chow down on aiptasia like there was nothing else on the planet to eat. They have to be over 3 inches to be more of a sure thing and perferrably 3.5 inches. And then we start talking about a medium fish, not a small one. You need lots of critters, zoos, shrooms and so on to absorb all the extra food you will throw in there. I saw one once that someone thought was healthy. It would only ever eat 3 mysis shrimp. That is what happens to copperbands when their gut collapses from lack of food. Then they waste away and die at the best. This is not a fish of a new tank or one that doesn't have a refugium up going well, a good skimmer, and a mature reef. Exceptions with an experienced reefer or a lucky new reefer don't count. There are always exceptions but, trying to be one is what kills high a number of the copperbands. They also need their own space, so if the tank is not large enough for the other fish to each have a space and leave some for the copperband, it won't go very well for the copperband. A healthy one will defend itself to a point but not against an established tang or other aggressive fish. I had thousands of little aiptasia the copperbands couldn't get to. Those stinking anemones learned to live under shells to be safe or between corals and rocks. A swear they lived in holes and caves. The copperbands couldn't get them and they grew up between corals and messed things up good. Then I put in 8 Berghia. Why 8? Seemed like a reasonable number to establish a colony with. End of aiptasia, no worries with other things, end of story... I still haven't had that aiptasia free party yet. GaryP, did you say you're buying?