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View Full Version : Copper banded butterfly-Should I??


Canadian Man
12-11-2002, 05:44 PM
So My tank is a 90g, lots of live rock.
-A few clams-large and small
-Sps,lps and some softies
-current fish are Scopas tang, scooter blennie, 2 cardinals, 4 chromis, and 1 clown fish but will be 2 again soon. Also 2 cleaner shrimp and lots of other clean up crew critters.

So I would like to hear anyones experience with a copper banded and my main consideration would be my corals and clams. I don't want this fish if it's going to bother my corals or clams.

I don't have an aptasia problem but my live rock is covered with feather dusters on the underside of every rock.

Thanks All :D

AJ_77
12-11-2002, 06:33 PM
If you read the bulk of available online articles, you'll find yourself questioning this even more, because of the "dismal" success rate with this fish. But isn't it much like the tang question? Some people do well with a variety of tangs; others fail and subsequently use their experiences as a warning to others.

My experience is rather a cautionary encouragement: if I can keep one, you should be able to as well. Coolest (reef-safe) fish ever. (And kiss your feather dusters goodbye, I think. You can get some aptasia from some other locals. :wink: )

How territorial is your Scopas? I think you have to be aware of the animals in your care and their characteristics and temperament. After the research, it's largely an intuitive decision.

HTH,

Alan :D

Canadian Man
12-11-2002, 07:20 PM
Well my scopas is now quite a relaxed fish.
At one point I had my yellow tang and the scopas in the tank together. They fought at first but became good buddies and followed eachother around the tank like two kids. :)

If you read the bulk of available online articles, you'll find yourself questioning this even more, because of the "dismal" success rate with this fish. But isn't it much like the tang question?

The more searches I do the more I find my self questioning getting a CB.
I do see alot of members on Reefcentral with a tank full of SPS and CLAMS with a CB so I know some don't have problems.

Anyone currently have one of these in a reef tank???

stephane
12-12-2002, 05:46 AM
Here is mine!

http://zapzap.zwf.net/albums/Album-de-stephane/aci.jpg

http://zapzap.zwf.net/albums/Album-de-stephane/ach.jpg

I have it for more three month now and did a lot reseach before buying it and found it mostly reef safe if you feed im well and dont have feather duster

the tricky part is to feed him at first mine was full off ick and one ulceration when I brouth it home I drop it in my reef and start to feed the reef severale time a day with mysis and after a couple of day he was feeding I continue the feast for 2 week feeding the tank several time a day to fat him a bit then I slowly give him different kind of food and now he is a pig heating waht ever I put in the tank

I feed him on time a day and he alway look a copepod and worm the rest of the day he is fat and healty the ick and ulceration have gone 10 day after the purchase and now he look awsome

I have 3 clam lps sps softy cleaner shrimp......... and he dont bother anyting for now IMO it is a great add because he is beautiful and easy non agressive fish but there alway exeption in all fish, I even have 5 years ago buy a hyppo tang who have develop a taste for star polyp and thoastoll so notting is realy 100% safe but this one seem to be relativaly safe from all the search I made IMO it is a way more safe than a flame angel but people still trying them most fail and I fail severale time with them

good luck



I dont have aiptasia

Canadian Man
12-12-2002, 03:48 PM
Thanks Stephane,
That's a great opinion on them.
I think a CB will be the next addition to my tank when I can find a healthy one to bring home.
Very nice pictures, Thanks :D

AJ_77
12-12-2002, 10:04 PM
Very nice pics Stephane, but now they're gone... :o Doesn't Jamie Cross have a Copperbanded also?

Jon, when my CBB first started feeding, there was 2-3 dozen aptasia for him. They seemed to get him used to the idea that there was food available in the tank, but they lasted only a few days. Then I put mysis in without chopping it up - the pieces would drift over the surface of the rocks and the CBB would stalk them and pick them off. After another few days they were snatched much faster, and now they disappear at an astounding rate. :)

I've heard of other people using aptasia as a feeding stimulus - and there's that hand-feeding photo at Palmetto Reefs (cool).

Alan :D

Delphinus
12-12-2002, 10:08 PM
Alan, would you happen to have the URL for those pictures at Palmetto?

EmilyB
12-13-2002, 03:44 AM
I was really thinking about getting one and putting it in my 44g, cuz it still had some aiptasia. But taking on another fish just wasn't for us right now. I've only got 40 years :roll: to give....... :lol: So, I finished off the job in there manually. :shock: (Mostly kalk paste- this is a worrisome method with fish in the tank, they will bite it, if they think you are feeding...)

And finally got the last remaining ones at the back of the 120g with a really great invention I read about, but can not find the link yet. I don't know if it would work for bad dusters... :?

Boiling water (must be DI - for pH)...plastic coated coat hanger, hose taped on, and squeeze bottle. Apparently, the heat/and low pH toasts (..potentially coraline) about a nickle shaped spot at worst, that quickly grows over. I never saw any real coraline damage, just melted aiptasia. The hangar allows you access to anything you can see.

Butterflys really like small polyps, that I can attest to with my blackback. Don't know about the copperband.

Why are feather dusters bad?


:D

AJ_77
12-13-2002, 04:47 AM
Tony: http://www.palmettoreefs.com/pests.htm

Deb: Feather dusters are fine, but they'll be gone as sure as the aptasia, all the ones within reach anyways. (Or so I've read - never had more than a couple myself, of course those are gone.)

Alan :D

EmilyB
12-13-2002, 05:10 AM
Oh, okay, I misread Jon's post...

I thought he wanted to get rid of the feather dusters... :lol:

Delphinus
12-13-2002, 03:28 PM
Doing some random reading last night in Anthony Calfo's book, and while looking up something completely unrelated I came across a sentence where he used the phrase "moderately reef safe" or some such to describe the CBB ... he echoed that the feather dusters, and those little-red-calcareous-thingies-whose-name-I-can't-remember-but-you-sometimes-see-on-LR, whatever they're called ... they'll be toast, too.

So, my guess is, it's probably fine, but in the end you likely never know 100% until the fish is in your tank, how it will get on.

Just some random musings ... good luck ... they are a pretty fish (I think they're all pretty though ... 8) )

Canadian Man
12-13-2002, 10:59 PM
Well I went to visit My friend Danny Wai's to purchase my first fish from him.
I got a 3" or so copperbanded butterfly. It's in the process of floating right now and soon to be released.
The Tang seems cool so far. 8)

Canadian Man
12-14-2002, 07:48 AM
Well just an update:
I had(yes past tense!)this fish in my possesion for aprox 9 hours.
It was acclimated for 2 hours.
When I came hometonight I was checking on the tank with a flashlight and found my new beauty to be doing the upside down reverse circle gold medal move. Unfortunatley all my new Copper Banded won was a porceline medal! :cry:

Very upsetting :cry:
So the fish is now in fishy land.

MitchM
12-14-2002, 01:44 PM
:(

Any idea what happened Jon?

Mitch

Tau2301
12-14-2002, 03:07 PM
Sorry to hear about what would have been a great fish. :(

I've been wondering lately if a person should take along his/her test kit to the LFS just to verify what the tank parameters are before a purchase. :?:

You would also think that two hours of acclimatization would be enough.

stephane
12-14-2002, 03:13 PM
tree ting could happen :( IMO

bad aclimatation and I woulb be very surprise this was the case here sinc your not a newbe

the fish was about to die and and he do unfotunatly in you tank (go for refun)

your tang have beat him to death. Very possible since tang are sometime realy bad fish depend on there caractere and I have heard a couple of story of yellow and purple killing then realy fast. I have tree tang and no one have even look at mine when I introduce him but some are realy bad guy

sorry

Bob I
12-14-2002, 03:41 PM
I am sorry to hear that. At least the last fish I bought from your friend lasted for a week. I am beginning to think one should not purchase anything unless one knows for sure the animal has been in the store's possession for a couple of weeks. I just bought a Lemonpeel from Pisces. It had been there for a while. I noticed it was scratching a bit, so the girl suggested a 10 minute fresh water dip. She also showed me the animal was eating. I did as suggested, and to date the fish seems fine. I guess I will keep my fingers crossed. :)

AJ_77
12-14-2002, 05:01 PM
Very sorry, Jonny. :cry:

Bummer.

Delphinus
12-14-2002, 05:33 PM
:cry:

I'm very sorry too. :(

Canadian Man
12-14-2002, 06:22 PM
Thanks guys, I didn't get much sleep last night. I felt quite bad :cry:

Mitch:
I don't know what happened?

After the 2 hour acclimation period (the longest of any critter I have ever added to my tank) I let him go into the tank and he was swimming around checking things out. He did not go and hide and the tang and him were swimming right beside eachother. The CBB even started to eat the feather dusters from the sand. Katie and I went out for a few hours and came back and that was it.

I am so skeptical now from buying anything living from ANY store. I feel it's always such a big gamble. I couldnt imagine purchasing a $300 fish and having this happen.

stephane
12-14-2002, 06:55 PM
If you have see him eat in your tank I realy doubt about a sick fish cause fish dont heat like this before to dye of a sickness or aclimatation problem

I would blame more on the tang

Canadian Man
12-14-2002, 07:48 PM
Could have been,
I wasnt home to see what was going on??? :?

MitchM
12-14-2002, 09:15 PM
I would guess the tang also, but it is just a guess at this point, of course.
I recently put my hippo tang back into my main tank, after a stay in the hospital tank, and my Kole tang immediately started to beat the living daylights out out of him! :evil: I placed a sheet of eggcrate in the tank to separate them, and after 3 days separated, they are now getting along fine. That's in a 204 gallon. Tangs can be very aggressive, and I've even seen a purple tang repeatedly stab an already dead fish. :shock:

The more I learn about fish, the more I'm convinced that the bigger a tank is, the better. Instead of buying a $300 fish, I would rather put that money into a bigger tank. The results of stress caused by a smaller tank is too unpredictable.

Now I want a bigger tank! :roll: ( honey..........)

Mitch :wink:

Canadian Man
12-14-2002, 10:27 PM
Done!
I see a 250ish gallon in my future built into the basement wall with it's own equipment room behind that will also be a fish room.
ENMAX Here comes my money!
Soon :D

Yea I gotta agree with you Mitch. When I had my scopas tang and my yellow tang in my 90 it took alot of work to get them to get along but once they did they were buddies.
Oh well. Bigger tank=more fish=not now :roll:

EmilyB
12-14-2002, 10:41 PM
Sorry for your loss Jon. :cry:

I couldnt imagine purchasing a $300 fish and having this happen.

That reminded me of a story.......sometimes fish are expensive because of their hardiness. Take the Chevron tang for example - remember that resounding splat............? :shock:

Of course the beauty of the juvenile Chevron, and it's hardiness both enter into the price. And of course, it only makes sense that I bought a Chevron weeks from adulthood so it could loose all those markings and just look boring....... :roll: