Copperband Tips

[Painter]

I got a copperband today and thought it would be a good time to make my first post. I have seen a lot of post that say it can be a hard fish to feed or get to start eating. Is this true? I also read that it can not be netted to get out of the tank. If they are they will not live. That sound weird Is there any truth to that? I was hoping to get some input or tips to help with my new tank member. Thanks

[allan]

Welcome to MAAST.

CB, IME, are difficult to keep primarily because their difficulty to get eating. But there are a lot of reefers that have them nice and healthy.

[cowboy572]

Welcome to MAAST!

I agree with Allan on Copperbands, they can be difficult to start feeding. This is one of the fishes you see in the LFS and one of the first questions to ask is "Is this fish eating, and if it is, what is it eating?". Some LFS will even feed them, to show that they are eating.

[Big_Pun]

Welcome to MAAST!

I agree with Allan on Copperbands, they can be difficult to start feeding. This is one of the fishes you see in the LFS and one of the first questions to ask is "Is this fish eating, and if it is, what is it eating?". Some LFS will even feed them, to show that they are eating.

that goes for any fish, I will always tell a customer if a fish is eating or not. any store shouldn't have a problem showing you

[Painter]

Yeah I have been on the fence because of this. I did ask if it would be hard to get to start eating. The LFS owner said he will not sale any copperbands until they are eating good. We will see after a day or two. I do think my yellow tail dams will have to go though. One seems to not to let the CB get near his rocks without running him off. But he's like that with the other tank mates too.

[blupez]

I'm by no means a pro and just giving ya my opinion based on my experience. We have one and he began eating within a couple days. He was a fairly large size than most we found at the LFS, about the size of my hand. From what I've read this helps. Also having an already established non aggressive tank helps a lot too I'd guess. I would definitely get rid of the damsels. Even if they weren't aggressive, it's not worth the chance. We had a smaller CB once, about the size of my palm, and it did well as far as eating goes. Unfortunately we did a tank move and he didn't make it. I did net him and not sure if that was the reason but the stuff I've read is conflicting. I think it was just too stressful. We didn't do anything special to get either of them eating. We feed our fish mysis shrimp daily and both times the CB's began eating like normal on their own. It picks off what ever little tasty stuff it finds in the live rock too. Our foxface is best friends with our CB and they follow each other around all day long. I'd guess it's just like most other fish...hit or miss with how much attention and work they require. We have a tribal blenny that won't eat anything we feed it and just feeds off what he can scavenge. He's healthy and everything...just picky for some odd reason. Maybe he's just shy and doesn't like to eat when everyone else does. Good luck and let me know how it goes for you.