Copperband Butterfly fish won’t each much.

Fisherman Joe · Sep 5, 2024

Had this fish 2-3 weeks and it’s settled down. The yellow tang was hassling it a little but it’s ok now.

Tried mysis and copepods and it’s so picky. Looks at the food but won’t each much. Maybe 1-2 mysis when I feed.

It is eating masstick 80 paste that I stick to the glass.

Is this enough? Any tips? How can I tell when it’s really struggling?

dakoop · Sep 5, 2024

They are tough to get eating. Try different frozen foods

vetteguy53081 · Sep 5, 2024

Fisherman Joe said:
Had this fish 2-3 weeks and it’s settled down. The yellow tang was hassling it a little but it’s ok now.

Tried mysis and copepods and it’s so picky. Looks at the food but won’t each much. Maybe 1-2 mysis when I feed.

It is eating masstick 80 paste that I stick to the glass.

Is this enough? Any tips? How can I tell when it’s really struggling?

Masstik a good choice but not total diet. See if you can get live brine shrimp or blackworms as an enticer. Mine immediately ate LRS herbivore frenzy. small plankton also good

Oldreefer44 · Sep 5, 2024

CBB's like to forage for food on live rock etc.

jamesb07 · Sep 5, 2024

I haven’t had any personal experience with one (first one just showed up in the mail today) but from what I’ve read on these forums they’re very picky and hard to get eating. I’ve heard good luck with live brine and live blackworms and sometimes clam from the grocery store. as far as if it is enough I’m not sure but signs to look out for that it isn’t enough would be sunkin stomach, lethargic, etc.

SanFernandoValleyAIOReef · Sep 5, 2024

Fisherman Joe said:
Had this fish 2-3 weeks and it’s settled down. The yellow tang was hassling it a little but it’s ok now.

Tried mysis and copepods and it’s so picky. Looks at the food but won’t each much. Maybe 1-2 mysis when I feed.

It is eating masstick 80 paste that I stick to the glass.

Is this enough? Any tips? How can I tell when it’s really struggling?

Try the little frozen clams and open just a bit so only he can pick inside it

Makara23 · Sep 5, 2024

You can't just drop a Copperband Butterfly into a DT unless it's already conditioned to eat well. They can't compete with other fish, especially if they're still picky eaters.

My first CBB from DrReefsQuarantinedFish arrived skinny and starved. I put him in his own QT tank to train it eating, but no matter what I tried it wouldn't eat (mysis, clams, shrimp, scallop, pellets, salmon, squid, worms, masstick) from either the water column or tied inside a clam to the rock. A week later, it died.

Dr.Reef made it right by sending another one because the first one arrived unhealthy. The replacement CBB was not skinny, but also didn't have an appetite. I also tried almost everything but it didn't care, however what did the trick FINALLY was live black worms. The movement from the worms triggered an eating response. I eventually mixed live black worms with frozen blood worms and this tricked it into the start of eating frozen and non-moving food. Eventually it was weened off of live food, where I'd then mix the blood worms with mysis, scallop, salmon, clam, etc.

Once it was eating well in QT by itself, I put it in a very large acclimation box in the DT to make sure it can still eat in a new environment, although without competition, but with other fish still visible. It was finally released in the DT to eat with the other fish a few weeks later. My CBB is now one of the most aggressive eaters, but it's not without a lot of conditioning efforts. This training process took me about 4 months. Very painful but rewarding.

Uncle99 · Sep 5, 2024

Mine eats PE mysis as they are a larger mysis.
The seller let me know that info.

Usually, the source will share what they’ve been feeding…..do you know what they were fed before you got it?

Fisherman Joe · Sep 6, 2024

Thanks all.

I’ll try some of these tricks. I’ll call the LFS too.

Paul B · Sep 6, 2024

In the sea they eat live worms and thats what they should be fed. I use live whiteworms and pieces of earthworms as well as small pieces of clam. They are big eaters.

exnisstech · Sep 6, 2024

I've had mine a bit over two years. PE mysis and rods original are the staple diet and it will compete with the tangs for food. I've yet to get it to eat pellets even mixed in with the frozen. It also loves live black worms and earthworms. I have a larger display and it grazes the rocks non stop.

I agree with @Makara23 that CBB is not a fish you drop into a DT and hope for the best. This is my second one getting ready for a display. This is my current observation QT that I use. No sterile pvc. Live rock with critters and even had some aiptasia that it took care of. You have to get get these guys eating out of the water column before adding them to the DT to be succesful with them IMO. I added a melanurus wrasse to get the CBB used to some competition.