Copperband Butterfly Fish

[El Camaron]

I just picked one up from Tropical fish world and was wondering how long does it usually take for them to start eating aiptasia? He did eat some live worms while i was there to pick it up and its doing fine with all other fish in the tank.

 

thanks

[cabrego]

Don't have experience with them eating aptasia but I have heard they are finicky eaters. When I had mine she would only eat enriched frozen mysis and rods frozen. But she ate like like a pig, the tangs took a few days to warm up to her but they eventually got the message after they ran into her spikes! Unfortunately she became an expensive meal for my Hadonni

[bshriver]

Keep them with plenty of live black worms and/or live brine shrimp ( gut loaded) while you get them moved to frozen food. I mixed my frozen mash with the live foods for both of my CBBs for a week or so until they started eating frozen foods well (table shrimp and mysis shrimp).

 

Mine started grazing on aiptasia in the first few days. The aiptasia slowly disappeared over a few weeks. He did not just eliminate them in one feeding. He nibbled them down over time like a steer grazing grass.

[El Camaron]

Cool, thanks guys. hopefully he will get going soon, he needs to catch up.

[lanman]

Mine started out by clearing the tank of all the little tubeworms. When he ran out of those, he started on TINY aiptasia. As he grew, within a month or so - he was munching down on any aiptasia he could find. I still find him an aiptasia-covered rock from another tank once in a while for a treat.

 

bob

[Almon]

The Copperband Butterfly is one of my favorite fish. It's always hunting for live food such as aiptasia and tube worms.

 

I'm sure he is already ridding your tank of the dreaded aiptasia. It will take a while, but they will eventually be eaten. As Bob suggested, they prefer really small aiptasia, but will eventually eat the bigger ones. I suggest kalking really large ones.

[Kevin Garrison]

My copperband started in on the aptasia almost right away and annihilated all of it. The only place I have any left is in the overflow box on the back side. Now if I could just find a majano eater that wouldn't eat my corals...

[Jon Lazar]

Before I had a CBB, I would kill my aiptasia with Joe's Juice, and they would reappear in a week or so.

 

When I added the CBB, the smallest aiptasia slowly started to disappear. I blasted the remaining, larger ones with JJ, and haven't seen one for several months.

[sportzfish]

My copperband started in on the aptasia almost right away and annihilated all of it. The only place I have any left is in the overflow box on the back side. Now if I could just find a majano eater that wouldn't eat my corals...

 

My peppermint shrimp have managed to reach inside small caves where my copperband cannot go to help me eliminate my aptasia problem.

[bshriver]

Good point on the tube worms. . Mine eliminated those and a flame scalop before he really took to the aiptasia.

[El Camaron]

well i dont see any tube worms and he did not really go after any mysis but still seems to be happy and picking on rocks and getting really close to aiptasia but no munching of it yet. Ill have to get a few peppermints to help out.