Help with copperband

[t5Nitro]

My CBB picks at the rocks, but he won't eat prepared food yet. He has been in the tank for 1 week. Does it just need more time? I feed the tank formula two flakes, prime reef flakes, formula 1 pellets, frozen brine shrimp, and frozen mysis shrimp (hikari).

Thanks.

[CMcNeil]

try some blood or black worms this might get him eating.also you could try some fresh clams from the grocery store.crack one open and put it on the bottom.do you have any tube worms or feather dusters in your tank?if so he may be eating those.

[t5Nitro]

Do they have to be live? That would gross me out lol, freeze dried maybe. I just target fed him frozen mysis soaked in garlic xtreme again and today out of all of the mysis, he took 2 pieces, but spit them back out. Do you think he may start to eat soon?

[danfrith]

I think if he gets hungry enough and you keep target feeding him consistently he would start feeding on the mysis. Is there anyway you could offer live brine or mysis?

[t5Nitro]

Where would you find live mysis? I think I can find brine shrimp eggs, but what I don't get is why do you need the hatching system with it? Isn't that what you do, drop them in water and they hatch? Why can't you turn the return pump off and drop the eggs in the tank and they hatch?

Can you explain really on how to use it? I have never tried hatching brine shrimp.

[PJSEA]

If it doesn't start eating soon, I would recommend returning it to where it was bought. I had one that did the same thing and it died about a month after it was placed in the tank. It was supposed to have been eating at the LFS but it never ate anything I fed my fish. I though it was getting the food it needed by picking at the rocks.
It may have starved to death although I can't be completely sure since I have a Purple tang that harrassed it on occasion.

[danfrith]

I really don't know if you can just add them to the tank. But I'm sure you could use the simplest thing that you have lying around (bucket). I just use a 2 gal. tank, add some saltwater, put the brine eggs in, and thye hatch within 24 hrs.

[Asuran]

try frozen PE mysis.. its meatier than other brands of mysis and all my fish go nuts over it... thats how i got my CBB to eat too... and i guess the feeding frenzy that happens when i feed... they are slow eaters so i have to target feed mine.

[t5Nitro]

Is PE a brand? I've never found it in any stores around here.

[Duddly01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10425117#post10425117 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by t5Nitro
Is PE a brand? I've never found it in any stores around here.
PE is is short for piscine energetics, and I agree it is the absolute best you can buy. They have a store list on their web site, check there for something near by or call them and ask. Hikari is also whole mysis and is a good substitute, but I still like pe the best.

Piscine Energetics Mysis (http://www.mysis.com/)

[Serioussnaps]

PE is what I recommend to all people trying to get a CBB to eat. It works like a charm. Also, you must illicit a feeding response. Live Brine will do this, when the CBB starts taking the live brine flood the tank with PE mysis and he will sample it associating it with the live brine. He will like it and begin to undertand to eat it. Also, I know you have tangs...bet they are bullying the crap out of your CBB.

Whats up with all the buying stuff before knowing how to keep it lately T5?

[Big Boy69]

Can you get a rock that has aiptasia on it? Start there then go to live brine and mix in PE mysis when feeding the live stuff.

[t5Nitro]

Serioussnaps, yes, I got two fish that are a little more difficult to keep, so I have been asking more questions on them. How would you know my tangs are "bullying the crap out of him" without you ever seeing the tank? The tangs do not care that he is in there one bit.

Ya, I had a lot of aiptasia, that was the main reason to get the CBB, so he has been eating that it seems every day and there are only a few left. I thought of maybe getting it for the aiptasia and taking it back to the store when I first got the idea of getting the CBB, but now I really like it since I got it, so I wanted to get it eating so I can keep it.

Seems like the dealers for PE mysis are too far away.