Copperband Help!

[mythesis]

Monday Update:

Tried to feed live brine & an oyster from the grocery store

The snails/crabs/other fish *loved* the oyster. CBB didn't touch it.

The pacing seems more calm, but the CBB still chills on one side of the tank (as in the video). I put up construction paper on that wall to minimize light/reflection.

Also decreased lights & flow a little bit.

It seems the pattern is:
- Pace for a few minutes
- Go into the rocks and visit the Fire Shrimp. It may even be getting a quick "cleaning"?

The two shrimp hang out in the rocks next to that wall, and the CBB goes in and chills out for a little while, they come out and "feel" it, and then it goes back to pacing.

Will keep giving a little bit of live Brine Shrimp a few times a day (the other fish eat up whatever gets left over, I try to feed them on one side & it on the other, so the CBB has tons of opportunity to eat if it wants, but nothing is getting left in the water column after 10 mins)

 

[code4]

Turn down the lights if you can a bit. Feed it multiple foods. Frozen thawed in a pouch feeder. Feed it in the column. Don't hover over the tank. They are a bit shy at first. Freeze the clams and mussels first. Then thaw a bit and open. Be patient. If it doesn't eat something at first try it again later. As it settles it might like it later. Look for frozen foods with a photo of the Copper Band on it. Mine seem to eat them a bit better than others.

Mine has been in a fully cycled 40 breeder with corals for almost 8 months. It is really just now eating out of the column. And ate a mussel last night. It picks the guts out of the clams. Then the clean up crew finishes it. Beaker is always begging for more. I hope he does well in the new tank.

I wouldn't move it. Seems like it has been moved enough lately. This is my opinions from my experience with picky fish.

Shelley

 

[code4]

The pouch feeder allows food to last longer in the tank. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bZwxGxs8L._AC_UL232_SR232,232_.jpg

Shelley

 

[code4]

Also, mine does not like oysters. Or nutramar. But I will try them again later.

 

[mythesis]

Turn down the lights if you can a bit. Feed it multiple foods. Frozen thawed in a pouch feeder. Feed it in the column. Don't hover over the tank. They are a bit shy at first. Freeze the clams and mussels first. Then thaw a bit and open. Be patient. If it doesn't eat something at first try it again later. As it settles it might like it later. Look for frozen foods with a photo of the Copper Band on it. Mine seem to eat them a bit better than others.

Mine has been in a fully cycled 40 breeder with corals for almost 8 months. It is really just now eating out of the column. And ate a mussel last night. It picks the guts out of the clams. Then the clean up crew finishes it. Beaker is always begging for more. I hope he does well in the new tank.

I wouldn't move it. Seems like it has been moved enough lately. This is my opinions from my experience with picky fish.

Shelley

So do you freeze and crack a little open, but not all the way?

 

[mythesis]

The pouch feeder allows food to last longer in the tank. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bZwxGxs8L._AC_UL232_SR232,232_.jpg

Shelley

I did buy one of those circular feeder things, waiting for it to arrive hopefully tomorrow

 

[Tuan Black]

I had to put my CB in my sump for 2 weeks slowly getting to eat frozen food, be patient. Stop moving it back and forth you're just stressing it out. They are a very sensitive fish. FYI my sump had Pods already established so if it was hungry it would eat the pods but still feed it frozen. When u see it no longer getting picky eating frozen them move it to you DT. That worked for me.

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

Live black worms were fantastic for getting mine to feed & hunt for food.
Masstick is great for a peace of mind food that you can either hide in tubing or watch the CBB feed on.
A large supply of pods keeps them constantly picking too.
I was giving two feeds of masstick a day but went down to one & it keeps him picking at rocks for second half of day which is the natural foraging behaviour I wanted.
They seem happiest when picking food out of crevices as in nature

 

[Duane family]

Hi, Copperbands are extremely sensitive fish even when healthy and not stressed keep this in mind. Some more food for though

1. The LFS keeping the fish at 1017 is common practice for multiple reasons. It will help fish acclimatize, metabolize and also increases the amount of available oxygen for the fish to make use of. Also it helps the LPS reduce their consumable costs wrt salt mix so its a win for them. As someone already mentioned that parasites find it harder to thrive in lower salinity but 1017 is not significant in this regard but for sure its going to assist in this regard. I suspect the LFS runs at 1017 mostly for acclimatization and cost reasons. His reaction to the shrimp might be an indication that he does have something for them to remove but it could also be a natural instinct playing out, we hope for the latter.
2. The fish has likely dealing with stress after being moved from the LFS environment to your holding tank with very different water and then shortly afterwards to your display tank. The swimming against glass behavior is not uncommon for CBB's.
3. I would suggest that the stress combination of multiple moves is why the fish has slowed down its eating. But that being said it clearly ate a fair amount of food (although note: not high in nutrition for a CBB)
4. I would suggest that you monitor from a distance and try not to stress him out anymore, let him get a little hungry over a day or two and see if he is feeding off the rocks at all. Its unlikely though that there is much there for him to peck at after 1month but its still possible. As someone mentioned reducing the light to a min is a great idea.
5. Keep in mind that even if you are doing the right thing combined with 3 other methods at the same time you will cause stress and the fish will deteriorate further. This is typical of CBB's, instead you need to observe the fish as much as possible then act with only one method and have confidence that its right based on previous experience or research done. Don't fuss to much with him and don't overfeed out of desperation. I would leave him for 2 days then try what you felt he liked best and see what he's response is.

In future, rather research the new fish for at least a week before you purchase. Once purchased hold in your QT tank for at least 4 weeks until you make a go/no go decision on moving to the display. There is lots of advice on Reef2Reef regarding quarantining of livestock. I am also new to R2R and I'm amazed at the quality of info available on QT processes, so read through as much as your time allows.
What you are experiencing now is what 99% of reef keepers go though (myself included) so don't beat yourself up to hard but learn from it. We hope you can nurse this CBB back to a calm and heathy state.

 

[mythesis]

Thanks for the overnight thoughts. This morning the CBB is still pacing against the wall that has construction paper on it, dipping in occasionally to the rocks to visit the Fire Shrimp or hang out for a bit.

I dropped the lighting down some more (20% of max, on a 5 day acclimation back up to where I had it at 60%). I am a little worried about stressing corals, but I assume they'll be fine for a couple days.

Today I will do regular feedings of the frozen & fresh shrimp for the other fish. If the CBB grabs some, great, but I'll feed on the other side of the tank to not stress.

Will plan to go get Black Worms & Masstick tomorrow when I can make the hike to the store.

 

[mythesis]

Tuesday Afternoon Update:​

So, we had purchased a Leather Toadstool over the weekend which we were concerned about hitchhikers (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tiny-white-eggs-worms-on-rock.1070031/). It was chilling in the QT, but I noticed today it was starting to get what looked like "Shedding skin" building up. The QT doesn't have a Wavemwaker, so figured it needed some flow.

We decided that since the rock may have critters the Copperband liked (plus maybe some aptasia), may as well put it in the DT rather than go buy a 'maker.

Sure enough, right after we put it in, the Copperband stopped pacing and came to check out the rock and started picking at it:
Now, it's not pacing anymore and is swimming around the tank picking at rocks all over the place (and looks like it ate at least one shrimp detritus that was in the rock).

Hoping that means when I feed this afternoon, it may try to eat....

At the very least, it's swimming around the tank comfortably now, which I assume is step 1

 

[Duane family]

Tuesday Afternoon Update:​

So, we had purchased a Leather Toadstool over the weekend which we were concerned about hitchhikers (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tiny-white-eggs-worms-on-rock.1070031/). It was chilling in the QT, but I noticed today it was starting to get what looked like "Shedding skin" building up. The QT doesn't have a Wavemwaker, so figured it needed some flow.

We decided that since the rock may have critters the Copperband liked (plus maybe some aptasia), may as well put it in the DT rather than go buy a 'maker.

Sure enough, right after we put it in, the Copperband stopped pacing and came to check out the rock and started picking at it:
Now, it's not pacing anymore and is swimming around the tank picking at rocks all over the place (and looks like it ate at least one shrimp detritus that was in the rock).

Hoping that means when I feed this afternoon, it may try to eat....

At the very least, it's swimming around the tank comfortably now, which I assume is step 1

Well done that was a good move and exactly what the CBB needed.

I think you might need some stress relief now.

Good job

 

[mythesis]

_preach_

And, the nice thing is so far it doesn't seem too "jumpy".

The tank is right behind my desk in the office, so I have to walk by "his" corner every time I come in/out. Doesn't seem to be responding at all when I walk by, so that's nice.

 

[mythesis]

Tuesday Evening Update:​

​

WE HAVE FEEDING!

It ate some (live) brine shrimp, picked a few off the rocks and then ate a couple from the water column. Saw it eat at least 3-5 and it's picking for more.

I have a feeder coming this week that attaches to the glass w/ holes, and will start putting food in there to pick at when it arrives.

But, hopefully, we're on our way!


Thank you all SO MUCH for helping me!

 

[TBSB2019]

Tuesday Evening Update:​

​

WE HAVE FEEDING!

It ate some (live) brine shrimp, picked a few off the rocks and then ate a couple from the water column. Saw it eat at least 3-5 and it's picking for more.

I have a feeder coming this week that attaches to the glass w/ holes, and will start putting food in there to pick at when it arrives.

But, hopefully, we're on our way!


Thank you all SO MUCH for helping me!

I use a feeder on mine. It lets her pick and choose what she wants to eat and the Tangs and wrasse clean up the rest.

 

[code4]

open the clam all the way/. mine tries to eat it out of my hand now/.

 

[code4]

here is my guy asking for an extra meal.

 

[mythesis]

Love it!

Just fed more brine shrimp and he ate 5-6 pieces quickly out of the water!

I'm so relieved.

Will likely do shrimp only for a few more days and then give him the other oyster I have frozen just to get rid of it.

 

[Shooter6]

I've had my cbb for a year now. I ran mine through qt, feeding it live pods every day. After 40 days I transfered it to my display. It cleared out the aptasia and constantly hunts pods worms and other micro fauna. It will come and inspect stuff at feedings but still never eats any thing.

 

[code4]

I would continue the shrimp. As long as he keeps eating you will be able to offer new foods that are more nutritious. Last thing you want is for him to stop. I am looking forward to adding mine to my empty display tank. Since Beaker wants to eat, Chowder, my crocea clam I have had for years. He needs out of his temporary home. I had to cover Chowder with a plexiglass dome to keep it safe. I wish you and your CBB fish all the luck