Copperband with neurological or vision problem

[paul b]

This  (about) 10 year old copperband normally will eat all the clams you give him.  But for the last few months he misses the food 9 out of 10 times.

In this video he gets one piece but misses all others.  He aims short almost every time.

 

I am sure it is neurological and can't be fixed.  Fish get tumors and cancers just as we do and you can't fix everything.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW8vEZNbrG8&feature=youtu.be

[paul b]

I have been searching for information on the lifespan of copperband butterflies and it seems that ten years isn't bad.

I have also read that they are very hard to keep (which I totally disagree with).

 

I also read their lifespan is between 4-7 years. Then I read an informative article about them that says they live about ten years. Then I realized that I wrote that article so it doesn't help me. 

 

I think a fish of that size should live about 15 years, of course I am guessing but maybe thats it. I have had many of them but I don't remember ever keeping them over ten years. They don't get sick, they normally just stop eating at about that age.

 

Mine wants to eat, it just can't focus on the food and misses almost 100% of the time so maybe that is her lifespan. If it is, I am happy. If it isn't, then she is not happy. 

[paul b]

My copperband used to eat like this.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKAgDhaLwYU

[DFR]

Hope he gets better, but if an article you wrote says they have a 10 years lifespan it must be true  

[paul b]

I must have written that because for some reason I can't keep them longer than 10 years.  

[paul b]

Copperband is still with me even though she has not eaten in almost two months.  Healthy, non drugged fish can live a very long time.

 

The lack of food is showing in her fins and scales as she doesn't have that velvety smooth skin and perfect fins that a healthy fish should have.  Her eyes are not as clear and her "expression" shows me how she is feeling.  

(stop laughing, some day you will be able to know what a fish is thinking)

 

She is dying of either old age or a neurological condition, maybe a brain tumor as her vision is askew.

She still swims all over the tank and gets excited when I feed, but she knows she can't eat.

 

I am not sure how long Copperbands live but being a butterfly and not an angel, Maybe 10 years is close to their natural lifespan.  But I doubt it.  I don't remember ever keeping one for 10 years.

I am also not sure of her exact age as I don't keep records but this one is on my book cover and that picture is at least 5 years old and she is an adult there.  I got her as a baby as I like to buy all my fish If I can.

 

This is her yesterday.  She looks better than this as the picture is out of focus

 

[Sharkey18]

What are you feeding in that first video? Clam? 

 

[paul b]

Yes that is clam, his favorite food along with live worms. 

[paul b]

My Copperband finally passed away peacefully.  And she had the courtesy to die stuck to a powerhead near the front of the tank so it was simple to remove her and she didn't become bristleworm food.

 

No Ich, velvet, dropsy, bacteria , no nothing.  Just old age, or maybe Alzheimers

 

If she was near the bottom, It wouldn't have been pretty .

She is the copperband that appears on the cover of my book.

 

I will get another one when I find a small, good one. 

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

My condolences.... At least she will always love on via the book!

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk

[paul b]

Thanks, she lived a good long life. 

[treesprite]

RIP fishy.

[paul b]

I think Copperbands are a little more delicate than most fish but I also think some of that has to do with quarantine. Some fish, like copperband butterflies, moorish Idols, mandarins, and some others do not take well to quarantine unless you can do it in a large well decorated tank filled with some sort of natural looking caves. They need to feel secure and have constant places they can stick their nose looking for worms.

They are just a nervous fish and they let their nerves get the best of them.
I have been keeping them since the 70s and have had many. I don't think I ever had one live past ten years, maybe that is close to their lifespan but I doubt it.
Here is one I had probably in the 80s or 90s.



I took this in Tahiti. Long nose butterflies are almost the exact same fish, they just don't know it. Copperbands come from southern Africa,



I see I had one here (In my Log Book) in 1974. This was before there were salt water medications and reefs. The tank at that time was 40 gallons and decorated with dead coral skeletons which I removed every two weeks to bleach.
Look at the medications I used. I am surprised the thing lived at all. I killed it with medication.

I didn't write everything in my Log Book. Just when something got sick or died. Thank God after losing so many fish, I saw the light.



I also had these fish in 1976. Including a moorish Idol



All those fish, including a French Angel, copperband, hippo tang, Moorish Idol etc. were in this tiny 40 gallon tank. If the tang police were born then, they would have put a bag of burning fish poop on my doorstep, rang the bell and ran away.