long term success w/ copperband butterfly ???

[K' Family Reef]

hello
w/ not being able to keep peppermints in my system now bec of the addition of a tiger pistol

i am now looking into gettting a CBB to help control the aiptasia that have since gotten out of control (since pmints disappeared)

have heard a lot of people report
that the CBB can be a hard fish to keep alive long term... or after they eat all the aiptasia then they die etc...

anyone have luck w/ this fish - is it a hit or miss type deal - do the majority of them seem to die in our tanks - is there a trick to keeping them alive ?

regards

[roberts722]

I know people that have kept these successfully in a reef environment. The key is to get then to accept prepared foods. if you can accomplish that (try Rod's Food - www.rods-reef.com) you should be good.

The reason they tend to die after the aptasia is gone is because they stop eating.

As a general rule all butterflies should really be avoided in this hobby. Their survivability is terrible. But if you are going to try one, this is the best one to attempt.

[Reefer Wannabe]

I'm 0 for 2...

:(

[K' Family Reef]

.

[bmwaaron]

I have not known 1 person to keep a CBB for any length of time, Even the ones that eat prepared foods seem to perish before there time.
I think it can be done but just don't know anyone who has had one a long time.

[poppin_fresh]

im 0/2 also. First one lasted a couple months, #2 only made 3 days. :mad:

They are one oif my favorites and I would so like to keep one alive.

[K' Family Reef]

thanks for the replies!

not the answers i wanted to hear
:(

0/4 = not acceptable to me to try

but i would still like to hear if anyone has had any success keeping these fish - hardly seems worth it to buy one w/ those odds.

did anyone see if it would eat at the fish store before they brought it home? - thought that would be a good 'starting' point if i was going to buy one.



ps POPPIN FRESH - you are the MAN w/ that FUNKADELIC HAIR DEW!

regards

[roberts722]

in order to increase your chances of success this fish must be placed in a large reef with over 100 lbs of live rock and your pod population needs to be supplimented in order to keep it high enough.

[srb5046th]

I'm 0 for 3. They all did a great job at getting rid of fan worms and aipt. anem. but after they were gone it didn't last long.
Then all the damn pests grow right back. AHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[sunfish11]

I bought one and I still have one. So I am 1/1. It has been 1 year and she is doing great. The key is to never buy one of these unless you see it eating prepared foods first. Some will only eat mysis but some like blood worms, clam, etc. I purchased mine from Fosters & Smith. Start with a good speciman and you will succeed. Here is a recent shot of mine. Good luck.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/lmiller11/Copperband-1.jpg

Lisa

[roberts722]

he is a beauty. just one question. if you bought him online, how did you see him eat???

[Soxx]

Warren,Amy & Maddy,
I've got one right now. I was so lucky. It ate prepared foods from the 1st day on. The CBB also wiped out ALL my Aptasia the 1st week. This CBB has been with me for 3 months. She is eating like a horse! I've only had one other one; it died after 6 months; wouldn't eat prepared foods but, wiped out all my aptasia. So I'm 1/2. Beautifiul Fish! I got my latest one from That Fish Place.com.
It arrived healthy and in great shape. I say "go for it"
Soxx

[Brandon M]

I too am 0/2, but am probably going to try one last time here soon.

Good luck!

[sunfish11]

I bought him at their retail store up in Rhinelander, WI.

My recomendation is to stop killing these fish. Losing one I can see because that fish may have had something wrong with it that was beyond what you could do for it. Once you lose two or three you need to really think about the situation because you are continually purchasing bad specimens or you don't have the correct environment and husbandry for that particular type of fish. These fish are generally considered difficult to keep so whatever you decide to do, you should do lots more research and find more people who have success before you buy another one. Here are a couple more good threads.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1190459&highlight=Copperband+butterfly+thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=741748&highlight=The+Copperband+Butterfly+Thread

[wizzbane15]

I'm 0 for 2 as well. I will say that of all of the people that I know that have had some success, the majority for them got real small ones to start.

[JRPhd]

I had one take worms, mysis, and brine regularly. Did well for a year, then started to waste away and died in 2 weeks time out of nowhere.

[rcerulli]

0/2 here, both didnt last a week

[sunfish11]

They seem to really need to eat a lot of amphipods as well (and stuff off the rocks) in thier diets. So they need a lot of live rock to hunt all the time. I try to add some aiptasia occassionally for mine as well. I am hoping mine doesn't waste away like JRPhd's did. A year does seem to be a critical stage for them and I just went over a year a month ago.

Lisa

[GlobaLPimP]

0/2 here as well...unfortunately it's one of my favorite types of marine fish. However, they both made it a little over a year. They both ate Mysid shrimp like it was going out of style. Strange thing is that they both looked healthy before they passed without warning. Keep in mind that they are a pretty passive fish and do not do well with teritorial conflict induced my other tank mates. Good luck;)

[sunfish11]

Mine is actually fairly aggressive for a CBB. He actually picks on my convict tang every now and then. He doens't appreciate other fish with vertical stripes. The other fish stay out of his way.

GlobalPimP, did they get skinny or stop eating? Did they just look great and then disappear or drop dead? Did they act funny in ANY way? It just seems strange that they would be active and healthy/eating well one day and dead the next with no decline in health or activity levels.

Lisa

[GlobaLPimP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11103981#post11103981 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunfish11
Mine is actually fairly aggressive for a CBB. He actually picks on my convict tang every now and then. He doens't appreciate other fish with vertical stripes. The other fish stay out of his way.

GlobalPimP, did they get skinny or stop eating? Did they just look great and then disappear or drop dead? Did they act funny in ANY way? It just seems strange that they would be active and healthy/eating well one day and dead the next with no decline in health or activity levels.

Lisa

They both passed with no visible warnings (that I noticed). They are also the only 2 fish I have lost over the past couple years:( They're just difficult fish to keep in captivity.

[K' Family Reef]

hey thanks to everyone for the replies!
i just returned from 2 week vacation hence my late response

i believe i am going to get one of these
what i am going to do is basically leave all the aiptasia in the fuge/sump area (added filtration - have even seen them eat xenia pieces!)... thus perhaps providing continued food source for the CBB in the main display and perhaps extra filtration overall for the system.

right now the aiptasia are out of control
everywhere in the system... one rock in main display must have 15-20 aiptasia... some of them have even grown to monster size proportions lol. this of course after an added pistol shrimp (it appears atleast) to have eaten the 5-6 peppermints (and a fire shrimp) that were acting as my aiptasia control.

thanks again for the replies!

regards

[kzickovich]

I have mine for a year now that I bought off of dr forster and smith. Within two weeks all the aptasia was gone and went right to prepared food. But every day I'm happy to see him swimming. They could go from one day to the next. Brine, mysis, and sometimes he even takes flake food.

[K' Family Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11214192#post11214192 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kzickovich
I have mine for a year now that I bought off of dr forster and smith. Within two weeks all the aptasia was gone and went right to prepared food. But every day I'm happy to see him swimming. They could go from one day to the next. Brine, mysis, and sometimes he even takes flake food.

thats great to hear!

i just put one of these and a long horn cowfish on hold at LFS

they told me that one of the things to be concerned about in success w/ this fish is to make sure their 'beak' or snout isnt damaged in shipping or in taking it home from lfs... iow people might be sure (if the specimen looks healthy at lfs) that they bag the fish in a LARGE bag so that it has a lot room and avoids any damage on the way home to your tank.

i am excited about getting one of these -
it should get fat off all the aiptasia that is in the tank now - since pmints disappeared... only hope it will continue to thrive - if it doesnt eat after the aiptasia is gone i can always take it back to the lfs to for a 1/3 buy back purchase price (what a deal ayyy?!?!???)... that is only 33% of purchase price... either way if it stops eating i am going to get it out of the main display - then after it cleans all the aiptasia up in the fuge well might pass it on to someone else!

anyone in phoenix area have aiptasia problems???
if so after this fish has done its number - perhaps you might be interested in this fish?

regards

[sunfish11]

My advice is, aiptasia or no, work on getting it to eat prepared from day one. Get some live brine shrimp (adult) if you can and mix it with some frozen mysis. Depending on the size of the fish you buy PE Mysis might be too big so try different sizes of mysis. Soak the mysis in vitamins like selcon, vita-chem, and garlic. Good Luck!

If cowfish die, aren't they one of the ones who can crash the tank?

Lisa

[K' Family Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11279775#post11279775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunfish11
My advice is, aiptasia or no, work on getting it to eat prepared from day one. Get some live brine shrimp (adult) if you can and mix it with some frozen mysis. Depending on the size of the fish you buy PE Mysis might be too big so try different sizes of mysis. Soak the mysis in vitamins like selcon, vita-chem, and garlic. Good Luck!

If cowfish die, aren't they one of the ones who can crash the tank?

Lisa

hi Lisa
hmmm - have used garlic additive before but havent used the vitamin additives - might have to give it a try... what type of garlic do you use (there was a thread recently debating whether garlic had any benefit???)... from what i read i might just mash up some garlic and soak food/nori in it overnite before feeding

was posting re adding the long horned cowfish if you care to read here is the link.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1260410#newpost

regards

[sunfish11]

I use the jars of garlic that they sell in the produce section of grocery stores (minced). Then I use the juice from that. I use the rest of it to cook with, LOL. I really don't know for sure if it works but I have never lost a fish to ick. So I continue to use it. I also feed an extrememly varied diet to all the fish each day.

Lisa

[sunfish11]

Here is another picture of my CBB. I took this the other day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/lmiller11/CBBeye.jpg

[K' Family Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11283211#post11283211 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunfish11
Here is another picture of my CBB. I took this the other day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/lmiller11/CBBeye.jpg

hey Lisa great shot! - your talented w/ the camera i see... my wife and i have camera (that we dont know how to use) so i have a long way to go to learn to get good shots like that

i am probably getting a CBB in next few days - will try to get some photos posted as soon as it arrives.

regards

[burks]

Another Butterfly that i have had success with, are Auriga's eating aiptasia and thriving in the aquarium afterwards.

[K' Family Reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11283494#post11283494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by burks
Another Butterfly that i have had success with, are Auriga's eating aiptasia and thriving in the aquarium afterwards.

were you able to keep any invertbrates in your tank along w/ it ???

regards