Teaching Copperband To Eat

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[@Reefkpr1]

I've had my CBB about 6 years now. What worked for me was live blackworms. I also discovered it liked Easy Reefs Masstick. I smashed frozen mysis, flakes and pellets into the Masstick. It started picking on the masstick with the bits of food smashed into it. Now it eats everything. Including Nori off the Nori clip I feed to my tangs. Good luck

[@simongrimwood5942]

Mussels are a brilliant feed for them, and gets them eating! Leave them in the shells.

[@PnCBio]

That's a commendable effort! I appreciate you documenting what will clearly be a maximum effort attempt to get a CB eating. You're a good guy Dmitry

[@TreasureCorals]

I can just be stubborn sometimes, and this time around I got so much advice I'm really hoping to follow through on it :)

[@diacanthusreef3609]

Whiteworms (Enchytraeus albidus) in a hamster ball with a ton of small holes mounted to a small bit of pvc was usually the best method for me. Whiteworms (unlike blackworms) stay alive in the saltwater for a little while and their movements helps entice the feeding response. Once you have a strong feeding response, moving over to masstick mixed with various foods smashed into a clam half-shell is a good carry over until the copperband realizes the stuff in the water column is food too. Then the benthic whiteworms/clam/clam half-shell foods serve as enrichment/variety.

[@BankersReef]

Glad the clown tang got a relocation. It’s such a beautiful species. The CBB is a roughy and I’ve only bought them from people that had them for awhile, and even then… one just decided it wouldn’t eat after the transfer. Good luck on training it

[@StressfulReefer]

I have a small plastic container with small holes in it. I have it on my Instagram account. Works very well other fish can nibble but not take everything, copper band can get all the food it needs.

[@Cgraseck]

I collect wild juvenile Atlantic Butterflyfish that ride the Gulf Stream up to South Eastern NY. I have had both good and bad luck with Chaetodon ocellatus, and Chaetodon capistratus. Getting wild butterflies to eat is a challenge. I always try to get mine on an established reef right away because they will graze on the reef while they learn (or don't learn) to eat prepared foods. An irresistible snack for juvenile Atlantic Butterflies is those small feather duster worms that many LFSs sell. They are sometimes called Cluster Dusters. If your LFS has some, it might be worth the purchase to get some calories into your fish. Like others have said many people recommend Black Worms. Frozen Blood Worms might work as well. I recently heard a podcast where it was recommended not to overwhelm them with food. If there is only one item to inspect then they are more likely to give it a try. Live Baby Brine Shrimp are another irresistible item for many fish. Start them on live, switch to frozen and on from there. The bottom line is that wild butterflies are tricky some learn to eat some don't. Good Luck, Chris

[@MACNTOSFAM]

you’re providing it with different ways to eat.. he better eat 😂

[@TreasureCorals]

I hope he gets the memo

[@antoniofaustino2548]

I would leave him there until starting to eat, and he n eeds to get to know know the food devices you made so he goes after when you put him back in the DT. I would put Masstick as well, I think Masstick leaves a smell or test in the water and may help. You need a plastic mess on the clam shell when he starts to pick at it will pull it all out, and it goes in water flow .good luck! I was just wondering, did you get the emails I sent you with photos?

[@danielfallon5131]

A grocery store clam thrown in to a freezer for 8 hrs or till frozen works as I just run it under water after frozen and out a little crack in it soo he can pick in the begining when he’s new with aggressive fish.you can throw live brine shrimp in or black worms but I did not have to.i only did once a week clam for the first 5 weeks cause i wanted him fattened up and comfortable.adding the purple and clown tang was the best thing for me to do soo the yellow tang would completely leave the copperband alone for good like he has no clue the copperband exists

[@TreasureCorals]

Why do you freeze a fresh clam before unfreezing it and giving it to the fish?

[@timjohnson3913]

It depends how you buy them I think. I bought a 2 pound bag of mussels so into the freezer they went. I thaw in RO water for a few minutes and cut just enough so CBB nose can reach in.

[@MoeReefs]

I also just recently got a copperband. My 3rd one. The 2 other before this one did not survive. This recent one was doing good the first day then showed signs of stress over the next few days and almost stopped eating completely. I lowered the flow very slow and he bounced right back and began to eat again and is now doing great. I gradually increased the flow back up to acclimate him and all is well now.

[@TreasureCorals]

that's great to hear, what was the food that he started with?

[@MoeReefs]

@@TreasureCorals Frozen mysis, luckily.

[@TheJohnny220]

Yeah they always eat at the store because there using something in the brine shrimp that makes them irresistible. They don't tell you what they use because they want the fish to die and have you buy another fish. Where did you buy it?

[@ArrickthaRed]

Have you tried using Masstick? I have found that triggers a response like no other food. I would try adding frozen food flakes and pellets to Masstick and sticking it to the rock. Also there was just a video from Tidal Gardens where Than spoke with Elliott from Marine Collectors and they discussed getting fish like this to feed and how not every frozen food is equal. How freshness and smell dictate a lot especially with a copperband. Good luck.

[@CJSAQUARIUMS]

I’m on the same CBB mission in my tank. Mine appears to be eating off the rock so far

[@TreasureCorals]

what is it eating off the rock?

[@CJSAQUARIUMS]

@@TreasureCorals I’m assuming microfauna or aptasia… not sure it’s enough to sustain it tho. Ima gonna try using small piece live rock like you did in the display with food attached

[@timjohnson3913]

I know it is exciting to see CBB eating off the rock, but I would think rock pecking is not enough. Many people, even seasoned fish keepers like Sanjay Yoshi and people on Humble Fish’s forum, see their CBBs survive for around a month in their tanks and then suddenly die. My medium sized CBB can basically put down a whole mussel each day, and I doubt there is a single mussel’s worth of food on my entire 90 pounds of live rock in the tank. Definitely try to get it eating on clams/mussels and it will eventually learn to go for frozen with the other fish (mine took 5 weeks to really start going for frozen).

[@danielfallon5131]

If your fish did eat in front of you than he’s an eater but you need to turn that flow down for now,my copperband pushes my clown tang around to attack frozen mysis shrimp.he stopped eating when I introduced him to an angry yellow tang tank cause of bullying but I added a purple and clown tang soo the yellow tang completely forgot about my copperband and soo like I said my copperband eats out of my hand or pushes other tangs around to get to mysis shrimp for the past 5 months.when they are new to a system you should not have high flow or angry yellow tangs in the begining.i still have the printed reef butterfly feeder but he doesn’t need it anymore cause he’s out in front all the time cause the yellow tang is only now worried about my purple and clown tang.

[@timjohnson3913]

Awesome job! He should be attacking those clams, so I have some suggestions. I actually think fish like a good amount of light in the aquarium so they can see the food and see what’s going on near them. But what you don’t want is light outside the aquarium (including light spillage from the aquarium lights) so they aren’t worried about keeping track of everything outside the aquarium; and they have excellent eyesite and can see movement even 100 feet away. So how to get rid of light spillage? This is where the black paper/plastic/cardboard/towels/clothes taped around the outside of the aquarium comes in. What I would suggest is wrap the walls of the tank in something black, brighten the tank, one particle of food at a time, and remove everything else from the tank if you are able (rock, cleaning magnet, etc).

[@TreasureCorals]

I will do just that. So far he showed zero interest in either of the clams.

[@timjohnson3913]

@@TreasureCorals I forgot to mention, it may be difficult to confirm whether Copperband is eating with the tank wrapped, so you could aim a type of webcam down from the top of the tank to monitor from another room and confirm whether Copperband eats.

[@TreasureCorals]

@@timjohnson3913 now you are just coming up with more challenges! :D

[@lorenzospina3174]

I love Chelmon rostratus ❤.

[@PanRybka22]

👍👍👍

[@TreasureCorals]

fingers crossed

[@ajj_gamer]

Hey Dmitry, you think your AI 64 signature series light schedule is good for my 6 foot frag tank - only 12 inches tall tank

[@TreasureCorals]

For sure yes. How many do you have?

[@ajj_gamer]

@@TreasureCorals 3 total on the 6 foot, but since its so shallow, didn't feel like 4 would be just overkill? may just add a AI blade or if need be down the road. Didn't know if i had to adjust the intensity down or not due to the shallowness.

[@Stuart-ty5ds]

I have had a CBB now for 2 years. Oysters are the only thing it will eat.

[@TreasureCorals]

oh wow, so oysters, not clams? how often to you feed him and how do you store the oysters?

[@Stuart-ty5ds]

@@TreasureCorals I buy live oysters from Whole foods. I open the oysters and store them in the freezer in half of thier of shell and then cut out portions as needed. At first I put the oysters into a Two little Fishes pouch feeder, but it will now eat them eat them from the water if the current is not to high. I feed it 2 to 3 times a day. I was feeding oysters to my Regal angel fish before I got CBB. The Regal will now eat pellet food, but at first oysters were the only thing it would eat.